A dispute in Chicago led to Rodziński's dismissal in 1948, whereupon he shifted his career to Europe, eventually settling in Italy, although continuing to maintain a home in Lake Placid, New York.

In November 1958, beset by heart disease, he made his professional return to the United States for the first time in a decade, conducting acclaimed performances of Richard Wagner's Tristan und Isolde with the Lyric Opera of Chicago.

Soon afterward his father, of Polish descent and a general in the Austro-Hungarian Army, returned with his family to Lemberg, Austrian Galicia, where Artur first studied music.

Under pressure from his father, enrolled in the University of Vienna to study law, where he eventually earned his diploma, but he was also simultaneously enrolled at the Royal Academy of Music and the Performing Arts where his teachers included Joseph Marx and Franz Schreker (composition), Franz Schalk (conducting), and Emil von Sauer and Jerzy Lalewicz [pl] (piano).

As a young man during World War I, Rodziński fought in the Austro-Hungarian Army; upon Poland's independence, he enlisted in the Polish Land Forces, where he was wounded in action.

It was there that while visiting Poland Leopold Stokowski heard Rodziński conduct a performance of Wagner's Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg.

[5] Rodziński's program consisted of the Act I prelude to Wagner's Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg, Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky's Sixth Symphony, the symphonic poem Powracające fale by Mieczysław Karłowicz, and two dances from the opera Halka by Stanisław Moniuszko.

[8] Rodziński thereafter adopted a number of the elder conductor's mannerisms and techniques, including how to style his hair, some of which he maintained until the end of his life.

"[T]he magic wielding of the baton by Dr. Rodziński made this the most satisfying concert I have attended in recent years," wrote one critic in South Carolina.

[12] In 1926, when the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra was reestablished after being defunct for 16 years, Rodziński, with the support of Stokowski, was considered for the role of music director.

[14] After conducting the New York City premiere of Nikolai Myaskovsky's Sixth Symphony in November 1926,[15] Rodziński came to the attention of William Andrews Clark Jr., a wealthy philanthropist from Southern California who had founded the Los Angeles Philharmonic in 1919 and himself had an acrimonious relationship with Judson.

[17] His demeanor and skill quickly won the admiration of the orchestra;[18] the concert itself drew praise from the Los Angeles Times: The word fiery best describes [Rodziński's] conducting.

The fire was restrained, however, and although on occasions he would break into long abandoned movements of the arms, his commands to the orchestra were usually given with significant gestures of the hand and descriptive curling of the fingers.

[19]Rodziński's subsequent successes as guest conductor in Los Angeles culminated with the announcement that he would succeed Schnéevoigt beginning October 1929.

[24][25] Soloists for Rodziński's first season in Los Angeles were announced in June; they included Sergei Prokofiev, Vladimir Horowitz, Jacques Thibaud, Josef Lhévinne, Gregor Piatigorsky, and Claire Dux.

Rodziński insisted on expanding the programming of new music: When people go into art galleries nowadays, they see new pictures by modern artists as well as the old masterpieces ... why shouldn't it be so in the concert hall?

[32] Under Rodziński's leadership, the orchestra presented the United States premiere of Shostakovich's opera, Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk, in 1935, a year after its debut in the Soviet Union.

During Rodziński's time on the podium the Philharmonic recorded extensively, again for Columbia, performed weekly live broadcasts on CBS Radio, and appeared in the feature film Carnegie Hall.

[citation needed] However, despite the quality of the orchestra's performances, numerous artistic matters such as the prerogative of the music director to dismiss musicians, select soloists and determine repertoire were persistent grounds of contention.

His short tenure still had a significant impact upon the orchestra and local audiences through performances such as an account of Wagner's Tristan und Isolde with Kirsten Flagstad.

Here his status as a major musician was recognized and he was invited to lead significant productions, such as the 1953 first performance of Prokofiev's War and Peace at the Maggio Musicale in Florence, as well as traditional repertoire works.