Joseph Rosenstock

Joseph Rosenstock was a German-American conductor and composer. Born in Kraków, he studied at the Vienna Academy of Music under Franz Schreker. Although he initially trained as a pianist, he shifted his focus to conducting, holding early positions in the Vienna Philharmonic Choir, Stuttgart, and Darmstadt, where he became General Music Director in 1925. After a brief and unsuccessful stint at the Metropolitan Opera in 1928, he returned to Germany to lead the Mannheim Opera.

Following the rise of the Nazi regime in 1933, Rosenstock was appointed chief conductor of the Jewish Cultural League (Jüdischer Kulturbund) in Berlin, where he notably conducted Verdi's Nabucco. In 1936, he emigrated to Japan via the Trans-Siberian Railway, becoming the conductor of the Japan Symphony Orchestra. During his tenure in Japan, he introduced numerous works to the country, including Stravinsky's Petrushka, Bartók's Music for Strings, Percussion and Celesta, and Mahler's Das Lied von der Erde. He also taught prominent students such as Hideo Saito.

Forced to resign in 1944 due to German pressure on Japan, Rosenstock moved to the United States after World War II. He served as the musical director of the New York City Opera from 1952 to 1956 and later as General Music Director in Cologne. He returned to the Metropolitan Opera in 1961, where he enjoyed significant success, particularly with the Wagnerian repertoire, conducting works such as Tristan und Isolde and Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg until 1969.

In his later years, Rosenstock continued to perform and record, accompanying Elena Obraztsova in Tokyo in 1972 and conducting commemorative concerts in Japan. Although primarily known as a conductor, he composed music in his early years, including a Symphonic Concerto for Piano and Orchestra (1920).

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