Rankl, Karl (1898–1968)

Austrian conductor and composer. He studied composition privately with Schoenberg and Webern. He was an opera conductor at Beichenberg (1925–27); Königsberg (1927–28); at the Berlin Staatsoper (1928–31); Wiesbaden (1931–33); Graz (1933–37); at the German Theatre, Prague, (1937–38), where he conducted the first performance of Krenek's Karl V); and at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, London, (1946–51). He did much to re-establish opera in London after World War II. From 1952 to 1957 he was conductor of the Scottish National Orchestra, and in 1957 was appointed conductor of the Elizabethan Trust Opera Company in Australia.

Works opera Deirdre of the Sorrows (based on Synge's play, 1951); eight symphonies; string quartet; choruses; songs.