Julius Rudel, the guiding spirit of New York City Opera from 1944 to 1979, died in Manhattan on June 26; he was 93. Born in Vienna, where he later studied at the Academy of Music, Rudel left Austria after the Anschluss with his brother and travelled to the USA. He studied conducting at the Mannes College of Music in New York (during which time he supported his brother by working as a stock clerk, delivery boy and switchboard operator).

After graduation he joined New York City Opera as a rehearsal pianist and by 1957 was Principal Conductor and General Manager. His imaginative programming and eye for up-and-coming singers put the company on the musical map and, in 1966, he oversaw the move from Opera Center (at 131 West 55th Street in New York's Midtown) to the New York State Theater (now David H Koch Theater) at Lincoln Center. The first production there – Ginastera's Don Rodrigo – saw among its cast an unknown tenor called Plácido Domingo.

He was a low-profile conductor who was prized for his collegiality and his emphasis on the company as a family with himself as the father. 

He also programmed many American operas including Marc Blitzstein's Regina, Leonard Bernstein's Trouble in Tahiti, Douglas Moore's The Ballad of Baby Doe, Carlisle Floyd's Susannah and Hugo Weisgall's Six Characters in Search of an Author, Robert Ward's The Crucible and Jack Beeson's Lizzie Borden.

In addition to his work at New York City Opera, Rudel was Music Director of the Buffalo Philharmonic (1979-85) and worked frequently at the Philadelphia Lyric Opera, Washington Opera. He was also Music Director of Kennedy Center in Washington DC, the Wolf Trap Opera Company and th Caramoor Festival. He made his Met debut in 1978 in Massenet's Werther.

On record he recorded extensively for Westminster, RCA and EMI and opera projects on disc include frequent collaborations with Beverly Sills, the leading soprano with New York City Opera (Handel's Giulio Cesare, Massenet's Manon, Offenbach's Les contes d'Hoffmann, Donizetti's Anna Bolena, Charpentier's Louise, Lehár's Die lustige Witwe, Verdi's Rigoletto among them).

Sadly he outlived New York City Opera which ceased to give performances with the 2013-14 season.