Michael Andreas Gielen (born July 20, 1927) is an Austrian conductor and composer.   Gielen was born in Dresden, Germany, to Rose and Josef Gielen, his father, an opera director. Through his mother, Rose, he is the nephew of Eduard Steuermann and Salka Steuermann Viertel. His father was Christian and his mother was Jewish.He began his career as a pianist in Buenos Aires, where he studied with Erwin Leuchter and gave an early performance of Arnold Schoenberg's complete piano works in 1949 (the South-American première). While serving as conductor and répétiteur at the Wiener Staatsoper (1950–60), he conducted much contemporary music outside the opera house. His next operatic appointment was as conductor of Royal Swedish Opera from 1960 to 1965, followed by posts at the Netherlands Opera and the Opern- und Schauspielhaus Frankfurt from 1977. He was principal conductor of the Belgian National Orchestra (1969–73), the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra ...