Yevgeny Svetlanov

{{Infobox person

| name = Yevgeny Svetlanov

| image = Yevgeny Svetlanov 1967.jpg

| caption = Yevgeny Svetlanov in 1967

| native_name = Евгений Фёдорович Светланов

| native_name_lang = ru

| birth_date = September 6, 1928

| birth_place = Moscow, Soviet Union

| death_date = May 3, 2002 (aged 73)

| death_place = Moscow, Russia

| burial_place = Vagankovo Cemetery

| education = Moscow Conservatory

| occupation = Conductor, composer, pianist

}}

Yevgeny Fyodorovich Svetlanov ({{langx|ru|Евгений Фёдорович Светланов}}; 6 September 1928 – 3 May 2002) was a Soviet and Russian conductor, composer, and pianist.

Life and work

Svetlanov was born in Moscow and studied conducting with Alexander Gauk at the Moscow Conservatory. From 1955 he conducted at the Bolshoi Theatre, being appointed principal conductor there in 1962. From 1965 he was principal conductor of the USSR State Symphony Orchestra (now the Russian State Symphony Orchestra). In 1979 he was appointed principal guest conductor of the London Symphony Orchestra. Svetlanov was also music director of the Residentie Orchestra (The Hague) from 1992 to 2000 and the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra from 1997 to 1999.

In 2000 Svetlanov was fired from his post with the Russian State Symphony Orchestra by the minister of culture of Russia, Mikhail Shvydkoy. The reason given was that Svetlanov was spending too much time conducting abroad and not enough time in Moscow.

Svetlanov was particularly noted for his interpretations of Russian works – he covered the whole range of Russian music, from Mikhail Glinka to the present day. He was also one of the few Russian conductors to conduct the entire symphonic output of Gustav Mahler.

His own compositions included a String Quartet (1948), Daugava, Symphonic Poem (1952), Siberian Fantasy for Orchestra, Op. 9 (1953), Images d'Espagne, Rhapsody for orchestra (1954), Symphony (1956), Festive Poem (1966),{{YouTube|qdlMuJiNWg4|Svetlanov's Festive overture}} Russian Variations for harp and orchestra (1975), Piano Concerto in c minor (1976) and Poem for Violin and Orchestra "To the Memory of David Oistrakh" (1975).{{cite web|last=van Rijen|first=Onno|date=2007-11-18|publisher=Onno van Rijen's Shostakovich & Other Soviet Composers Page|title=Yevgeny Svetlanov: Internet Edition|url=http://home.wanadoo.nl/ovar/svetlan.htm|access-date=2007-12-05}} He composed Siberian Fantasy in 1953/54, in collaboration with Igor Yakushenko [1932-1999].

Svetlanov was also an extremely competent pianist, three notable recordings being Sergei Rachmaninoff's Piano Trio No. 2 in D minor{{YouTube|UC-jip4cJCs|Kogan, Luzanov and Svetlanov performing Rachmaninoff's Trio No. 2}} (2013-02-05). Retrieved on 2014-04-01. and Cello Sonata op. 19,[https://www.amazon.co.uk/Rachmaninov-Cello-Sonata-Op-19/dp/B000001LMN Svetlanov and Luzanov performing Rachmaninoff's Cello sonata op. 19]. Amazon.co.uk. Retrieved on 2014-04-01. and a disc of Nikolai Medtner's piano music.

Warner Music France has issued an "Édition officielle Yevgeny Svetlanov" featuring Svetlanov's legacy of recordings as conductor and pianist, which by July 2008 had run to 35 volumes of CDs, often multiple-CD boxed sets. The biggest of these is the 16-CD box of the complete symphonies of Nikolai Myaskovsky, to whose music Svetlanov was devoted.

Legacy

The first Airbus A330 for Aeroflot and the asteroid 4135 Svetlanov were named after him.[http://ikt.moyreys.ru/booking/ru/common/news/news0054.html?&startDate=2008-12&endDate=2009-01&pageIndex=5 Авиакомпания "Аэрофлот" презентовала свой первый самолет Airbus А330-200]. moyreys.ru. 11 December 2008 The State Academic Symphony Orchestra of the Russian Federation and an international conducting competition also carry his name.[http://izvestia.ru/news/471182 Во Франции названы имена лауреатов конкурса дирижеров им. Светланова]. izvestia.ru. 13 May 2010

References

External links

[http://www.svetlanov-evgeny.com/ Site about Yevgeny Svetlanov and the Svetlanov Competition in Monaco]
{{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20040822211321/http://www.svetlanov.net/ Japanese fan site]}}
[https://www.stihi-rus.ru/2/svetlanov-rus.htm About Yevgeny Svetlanov. Peter Solovjov] {{in lang|ru}}
{{IMDb name|0841251}}

{{succession box | title=Music Director, Bolshoi Theatre, Moscow | before=Alexander Melik-Pashayev | years=1963-1965 | after=Gennady Rozhdestvensky

}}

{{succession box | title=Music Director, State Academic Symphony Orchestra of the Russian Federation | before=Konstantin Ivanov | years=1965-2000 | after=Vassily Sinaisky

}}

{{succession box | title=Chief Conductor, Het Residentie Orkest | before=Hans Vonk | years=1992-2000 | after=Jaap van Zweden

}}

{{succession box | title=Principal Conductor, Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra | before=Esa-Pekka Salonen | years=1997-1999 | after=Manfred Honeck

}}

Category:1928 births

Category:2002 deaths

Category:Soviet classical composers

Category:20th-century Russian conductors (music)