Kubelik, Rafael, << KOO buh lihk, rah fah EHL >> (1914-1996), was a Czech-born conductor. From 1950 to 1953, he conducted the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. He served as director of the Covent Garden Opera in London from 1955 to 1958. Kubelik was artistic director of the Metropolitan Opera in New York City in 1973 and 1974.
Jerinym Rafael Kubelik was born in Bychory, near Kolin, Czechoslovakia (now Czech Republic). He studied violin with his father, Jan Kubelik, a famous violinist. Kubelik conducted in Czechoslovakia from 1936 until he left the country in 1948.
