From 1950 to 1954 Krips was principal conductor of the London Symphony Orchestra. Afterwards he conducted the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra and the San Francisco Symphony (from 1963 to 1970). He gave his first performance at Covent Garden in 1963 and appeared at the Metropolitan Opera in 1966. From then on he often conducted there. In 1970, he became conductor of the Deutsche Oper in Berlin. Between 1970 and 1973, he was the principal conductor of the Vienna Symphony Orchestra.