Julius Rudel, Music Director of the BPO from 1979-1984, passed away at the age of 93.
He last conducted the BPO in 2003. Here is the program page from that performance: Rudels_last_concert.pdf
From his obituary in The New York Times:
Julius Rudel, the Austrian-born conductor who raised the New York City Opera to a venturous golden age with highbrow music for the masses and a repertory that, like him, bridged the Old and New Worlds, died on Thursday at his home in Manhattan. He was 93.
His death, announced by his son, Anthony, came eight months after his beloved and financially struggling City Opera filed for bankruptcy and closed its doors.
“I never imagined in my wildest dreams that I would outlive the company,” he told The New York Times shortly afterward.
Mr. Rudel was the maestro and the impresario, the principal conductor and the director of City Opera for 22 years (1957-79), working in the orchestra pit while running the company on shoestring budgets, signing contracts, casting productions and nurturing young singers like José Carreras, Plácido Domingo, Sherrill Milnes and Beverly Sills. Read more in the New York Times.