Artur Rodzinski was an American conductor active during the first half of the 20th century. He was known for both his fiery and impulsive style, and his ability to train and develop orchestras.

Rodzinski was born in 1892 in Spalato, Croatia, to a Polish family. When he was six years old, he became interested in music and he started to learn the piano. Around this time, his family moved to Lemberg, Austria, where his father worked as a general in the Austro-Hungarian military. Rodzinski later became a law student at the University of Vienna due to pressure from his father, but he also continued his music education. He studied conducting with Franz Schalk, and he also received instruction from Emil von Sauer, Joseph Marx, and Franz Schreker. He served in the Austro-Hungarian military and fought in World War I before embarking on a professional career in music. In his first appointment, he worked as a choral conductor in Lwów, and then in 1920 he made his operatic conducting debut in a production of Verdi's Ernani. The following year, Rodzinski became the conductor of the Warsaw Philharmonic Orchestra and the National Opera. He directed many important Polish premieres, including Strauss' Rosenkavalier and Ravel's L'heure espagnole.

While visiting Poland, Leopold Stokowski heard Rodzinski conduct Wagner's Die Meistersinger con Nurnberg, and he was very impressed. He invited Rodzinski to work with the Philadelphia Orchestra as guest conductor, which led to his American conducting debut in 1925, and an appointment as assistant conductor in 1926. He also became the head of the opera and orchestral departments at the Curtis Institute of Music. Three years later, he left his position with the Philadelphia Orchestra and he moved to Los Angeles, where he started conducting the Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra as a replacement for Georg Schnéevoigt. In 1933 Rodzinski began an appointment as the musical director of the Cleveland Orchestra and developed it into a world-class ensemble. He introduced opera and more modern works into the orchestra's repertoire, including composers such as Stravinsky, Jerome Kern, and others. The climactic point of his time in Cleveland was in 1935, when he conducted the U.S. premiere of Lady Macbeth of the Mtsensk District by Shostakovich.

By 1937, Arturo Toscanini was aware of Rodzinski's reputation and requested that he assemble and train the NBC Symphony Orchestra, to be conducted by Toscanini. He also worked with the New York Philharmonic, as a popular guest conductor. Beginning in 1943, he served as its musical director, but he did not get along with orchestra manager Arthur Judson and was dismissed in 1947. This was followed by a tumultuous season with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. Rodzinski was once again unable to cooperate with the orchestra management and was dismissed after 11 months. Regardless of his professional controversy, his season with the CSO was a huge success among audiences and critics. His health began to deteriorate after this point in time, but he remained active as a guest conductor and was very successful in opera. Rodzinski passed away in Boston in 1958, just days after a performance with the Chicago Lyric Opera. Throughout his career, he was a champion for women's rights in the classical music community, and he was an advocate for female employment in professional orchestras during World War II. ~ RJ Lambert, Rovi