Legendary New York Conductor Julius Rudel Is Dead At 93

The maestro (left) with Beverly Sills (center)

"Julius Rudel, the Austrian-born conductor who raised the New York City Opera to a venturous golden age with highbrow music for the masses and a repertory that, like him, bridged the Old and New Worlds, died on Thursday at his home in Manhattan. He was 93. His death, announced by his son, Anthony, came eight months after his beloved and financially struggling City Opera filed for bankruptcy and closed its doors. 'I never imagined in my wildest dreams that I would outlive the company,' he told The New York Times shortly afterward. Mr. Rudel was the maestro and the impresario, the principal conductor and the director of City Opera for 22 years (1957-79), working in the orchestra pit while running the company on shoestring budgets, signing contracts, casting productions and nurturing young singers like José Carreras, Plácido Domingo, Sherrill Milnes and Beverly Sills." [Source] Watch a video of the National Endowment for the Arts paying tribute to Julius Rudel in 2010, and see more pictures of the conductor with opera singers, after the jump.

With Mary Curtis-Verna

With Sherrill Milnes

With Renée Fleming