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Yuri Temirkanov
 Praised as a "master of symphonic structure and breadth" by the New York Times, Yuri Temirkanov has over the last forty years forged a fiercely individual brand of music-making, marking him as one of the most dynamic conductors on the international concert circuit. In his primary role as Music Director and Principal Conductor of the St. Petersburg Philharmonic Orchestra, a position he has occupied since his predecessor Yevgeny Mravinsky's departure in 1988, Temirkanov frequently elicits performances lauded for their intelligence, precision, wide-ranging emotional depth, and an "uninhibited, gloriously flowing character" (New Jersey Star-Ledger). In addition to his tenure in St. Petersburg, the maestro currently serves as Principal Guest Conductor of the Bolshoi Opera, Principal Guest Conductor of the Danish National Symphony Orchestra, Conductor Laureate of the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, and Music Director Emeritus of the Baltimore Symphony. He has served as Principal Conductor of the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Music Director of the Kirov Opera and Ballet (now known as the Mariinsky Theatre), Principal Guest Conductor of the Dresden Philharmonic, and most recently, Music Director of the Baltimore Symphony. Mr. Temirkanov regularly appears with many of Europe's leading orchestras, including the Berlin Philharmonic, Vienna Philharmonic, Dresden Staatskapelle, London Philarmonic, London Symphony Orchestra, Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, Santa Cecilia of Rome, and La Scala. He is a regular visitor to the United States, where he conducts the major orchestras of New York, Philadelphia, Boston, Chicago, Cleveland, San Francisco and Los Angeles.
In addition to his eagerly awaited fall tour with the St. Petersburg Philharmonic, highlights of Mr.Temirkanov's 2007-08 season include conducting Verdi's La Traviata at Parma's Teatro Regio, leading Tchaikovsky's Queen of Spades and Bizet's Carmen at the Bolshoi Opera, programs of Prokofiev and Shostakovich with the Berlin Philharmonic and the London Symphony, the premiere of a new commission by Georgian composer Giya Kancheli with the Danish Radio Symphony, and a tour of Latin America with the St.Petersburg Philharmonic in summer 2008. Yuri Temirkanov's extensive discography features collaborations with the New York Philharmonic, the Kirov Opera Orchestra and Chorus, the St. Petersburg Philharmonic, the Bolshoi Theatre Orchestra and Chorus, and the Danish National Radio Symphony. He has recorded the complete Stravinsky ballets and Tchaikovsky's symphonic cycle with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, and many of the major works of Shostakovich, Prokofiev, Rachmaninov and Mussorgsky with the other ensembles. Mr.Temirkanov is the recipient of numerous distinguished citations and awards. He has received the State Prize of Russia (1999), the Association of Italian Music Critics' Abbiati Prize (2003), and has been made an honorary member of the International Academy of Sciences, Industry, Education and Art (1998). In 2003, he was awarded the President's Medal by Vladimir Putin, and was named Conductor of the Year in Italy. He has received Grammy nominations for his recordings of Prokofiev's Alexander Nevsky (1996) and Shostakovich's Symphony No.7 (1998). Yuri Temirkanov started his musical studies at the age of nine. After studying violin and viola as a boy, he eventually pursued viola and conducting at the Leningrad Conservatory. He took first place at the prestigious All-Soviet National Conducting Competition in 1966, and was subsequently invited by conductor Kiril Kondrashin to tour Europe and the U.S. with legendary violinist David Oistrakh and the Moscow Philharmonic Orchestra. Mr. Temirkanov debuted with the St. Petersburg Philharmonic a year later, and was invited to join the orchestra as Assistant Conductor to Yevgeny Mravinsky. He served as Principal Conductor of the Leningrad Symphony Orchestra from 1968 to 1976, then as Music Director of the Kirov Opera and Ballet until 1988, when he assumed his current position as Music Director and Principal Conductor of the St. Petersburg Philharmonic Orchestra. |
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