Simonov, Yuri (Ivanovich)

Simonov, Yuri (Ivanovich), prominent Russian conductor; b. Saratov, March 4, 1941. He received training in violin at a Saratov music school, where he made his debut as a conductor of the school orch. when he was only 12. He pursued his studies with Kramarov (viola) and Rabinovich (conducting) at the Leningrad Cons. (1956–68), where he made his formal conducting debut as a student in 1963. In 1966 he won first prize in the U.S.S.R. conducting competition and in 1968 took first prize in the Accademia di Santa Cecilia conducting competition in Rome. He was conductor of the Kislovodsk Phil. (1967–69) and asst. conductor to Mravinsky and the Leningrad Phil. (1968–69). In 1969 he made his debut at the Bolshoi Theater in Moscow conducting Aida. From 1970 to 1985 he was chief conductor of the Bolshoi Theater, where he established a notable reputation for his idiomatic performances of the Russian masterworks. He also restored Wagner’s operas to the active repertoire after a hiatus of some 40 years. He conducted the company on acclaimed tours abroad, including visits to Paris, Vienna, N.Y. (Metropolitan Opera, War and Peace, 1975), Milan, Washington, D.C., and Japan. During these years, he also appeared as a conductor with the leading Russian orchs. at home and on tours abroad. In 1982 he made his first appearance with a Western opera company when he made his debut at London’s Covent Garden with Eugene Onegin. He returned to Covent Garden in 1986 to open the season with La Traviata. He also appeared with most of the major British orchs. During the 1991–92 season, he conducted the Junge Deutsche Philharmonie and the Buenos Aires Phil, on tours of Europe. He made his debut at the Hamburg State Opera conducting Don Carlo during the 1992–93 season. In 1994 he became music director of the Orchestre national de Belgique in Brussels.

—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire