Background
Rudolf Bing was born on the 9th of January, 1902 in Vienna, Austria, the son of Ernst and Stefanie Hoenigsvald Bing. He grew up in a musical household.
Rudolf Bing was born on the 9th of January, 1902 in Vienna, Austria, the son of Ernst and Stefanie Hoenigsvald Bing. He grew up in a musical household.
Rudolf Bing studied music and art history at the University of Vienna.
Bing first worked in theatrical agencies casting singers for opera houses. From 1928 to 1935 he assisted Carl Ebert in managing opera companies in Germany and England. In 1935 Bing was appointed general manager of the Glyndebourne Opera Company. In 1947 he helped found the Edinburgh Festival, establishing it as a major European festival.
Three years later Bing was appointed general manager of the Metropolitan Opera Company in New York City. He shaped the repertoire to ensure success at the box office and was therefore often criticized for his musical taste: Italian Romantic operas became the mainstay, while Baroque and 20th-century works were rarely programmed. He concentrated on attracting singers of international fame but neglected to retain conductors of equal stature, which resulted in some lackluster performances. Bing’s imperious and autocratic manner contributed to the conflicts that flared during his successful and tempestuous career at the Met.
While living in Berlin, Bing married the Russian ballerina Nina Schelemskaya-Schlesnaya in 1928. They remained married until her death in 1983. In January 1987, he married Carroll Douglass, a 45-year-old woman who then took him with her to the Caribbean. However, she had a history of mental illness, and as Bing had been suffering for some years from Alzheimer's disease, an American court eventually declared him incompetent to enter into a marriage contract and annulled the union.