Rudolf Bial (26 August 1834 – 23 November 1881) was a German violinist, composer, conductor and theater director.
Born in Bystrzyca Kłodzka, Province of Silesia, Bial received his musical education in Breslau, where he was employed at the age of 15 as the first violinist in the chapel of the local municipal theatre. He was Kapellmeister in Lübeck from 1854 to 1856, then made a concert tour to Australia as a violin virtuoso together with his brother Karl, became Kapellmeister in 1864 at
August Conradi's place at Wallner-Theater in Berlin and from 1876 to 1879 was the director of the Krollschen Theater, whose repertoire he refined by cultivating German and Italian operas. In the latter year he moved to New York. There he led a concert band and died at the age of 47.
His brother Karl Bial (1833-1892) worked as a piano virtuoso, composer and music teacher in Berlin. He left behind several pieces for piano and songs.
Among Rudolf Bial's partly popular compositions (in total 130 numbers) his operetta Der Herr von Papillon (1868) had the greatest success.
