RODZINSKI, ARTUR (2 Jan. 1892-27 Nov. 1958), second conductor of the CLEVELAND ORCHESTRA, was born of Polish parents in Dalmatia, Yugoslavia, graduated from the University of Vienna as a Doctor of Law to please his father, while studying music at the Vienna Academy of Music. When WORLD WAR I started and his father, a general, was separated from Rodzinski, he began to pursue his first love, music. He continued at the Vienna Academy, studying piano with Saur and Lalewicz. When the war ended, Rodzinski became conductor of the Lemberg Opera. In 1925, he accepted a position as assistant conductor of the Philadelphia Orchestra. He also directed the Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra before coming to Cleveland as conductor for the Cleveland Orchestra in 1933. Under his direction, the orchestra flourished, impressing a national audience. Rodzinski initiated opera productions; helped select and train the NBC Symphony Orchestra, conducting it with Arturo Toscanini; and was the first American conductor selected for the Salzburg Festival. He conducted the Cleveland Orchestra from 1933-43, leaving because of strained relations with the management. He conducted the New York Philharmonic Orchestra but spent the rest of his life guest-conducting. He received an honorary Doctor of Music degree from Oberlin College. Rodzinski was married twice. His first marriage in 1917 to Mme Ilse, a concert pianist, ended in divorce in 1934; they had one child, Witold. In July 1934, he married Halina Lilpop Wieniawski and had a son, Richard. Artur Rodzinski died in Boston, Mass.

Marsh, Robert C. The Cleveland Orchestra (1967).

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