Conductor Yuri Temirkanov.
In Thursday’s (11/2) Washington Post, Tim Page writes, “Yuri Temirkanov, an esteemed Soviet-born conductor who rebuilt the once-storied St. Petersburg Philharmonic after the collapse of communism and led the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra for seven inspired years at the turn of the 21st century, died Nov. 2 at a hospital in St. Petersburg. He was 84…. The cause was not immediately available. Mr. Temirkanov was known for his expansive and colorful performances of Russian music and especially of the works of Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, Sergei Rachmaninoff, Sergei Prokofiev and Dmitri Shostakovich, the last of whom he worked with personally…. He was never much for podium glamour, preferring the role of master facilitator working among colleagues, letting the musicians play within a controlled but unfettered framework…. Temirkanov made his first appearance with Baltimore in 1992 and became the ensemble’s music director in 1999. His years there were judged a distinct musical success….Yuri Khatuyevich Temirkanov was born in Nalchik, the capital city of the southern Russian republic of Kabardino-Balkaria, on Dec. 10, 1938.” He studied viola and violin at “the Leningrad Conservatory … subsequently won what was then known as the Soviet All-Union Conductors’ Prize, and appeared as a guest conductor with the Philadelphia Orchestra, the Royal Philharmonic in London and other prestigious symphonies…. Temirkanov was chief conductor of Leningrad’s Kirov Opera when, in 1988, he [became] principal conductor of the [St. Petersburg] Philharmonic Orchestra…. Temirkanov stepped down as the Philharmonic’s music director in 2022.”
