Yuri Simonov
Yuri Simonov is a prominent Russian conductor whose colorful career has been as varied as his reportorial tastes have been eclectic. He has led operatic and ballet performances of the Bolshoy, conducted major orchestras throughout the former USSR, and led performances abroad as a guest conductor of the world's leading orchestras and at the major opera houses. In the post-Soviet era, Simonov held important conducting posts in Europe and South America and since 1998 has served as music director of the Moscow Philharmonic Orchestra. While Simonov has conducted many of the operatic standards by Verdi, Wagner, Tchaikovsky, and Prokofiev, as well as orchestral staples by Mozart, Beethoven, Dvorák, Mahler, Stravinsky, and Shostakovich, he has also been an advocate for contemporary Soviet and Russian music, championing works by Rodion Shchedrin, and numerous younger Soviet and Russian composers. Simonov has made many recordings over the years for a variety of labels, including Melodiya, Collins Classics, Intersound, and Vanguard. Many of the Melodiya recordings have been reissued on Russian Disc, Brilliant Classics, and Kultur Video.
Simonov was born in Saratov, Russia, on March 4, 1941. The son of opera singers, he studied violin as a child and later, viola and conducting at the Leningrad Conservatory (1956-1965). He conducted student orchestras on the side and later on took conducting lessons from Nikolai Rabinovich.
Simonov was principal conductor of the Kislovodsk Philharmonic Orchestra from 1967-1969, and debuted at the Bolshoy in the latter year leading a performance of Aida. He served as principal conductor at the Bolshoy from 1970-1985, often leading high-profile performances with the company in Moscow and abroad, including at the Met. He was also busy during this period guest-conducting at major venues like Covent Garden.
After holding two lesser posts with Russian orchestras and serving as a guest conductor for the Buenos Aires Philharmonic Orchestra (1991-1994), Simonov accepted the appointment of music director of the Belgian National Orchestra in 1994. Since 1998 Simonov has served as music director of the Moscow Philharmonic Orchestra.
In the new century, Simonov has led the MPO on several acclaimed tours abroad, including to the U.S., Czech Republic, and Japan (2004-2005) and to the U.K., Korea, and Spain (2005-2006). Among Simonov's later releases were two Kultur Video DVDs issued in 2005 of Bolshoy performances of Mussorgsky's Khovanshchina (from 1979) and Tchaikovsky's The Queen of Spades (1983). During the 2009-2010 season, he made guest appearances with the Riga, Wuppertal, and Eindhoven orchestras and he continued tours throughout the U.K. and South Korea.
© TiVo
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Shostakovich - Symphonie No. 4 (Original)
Yuri Simonov, Yuri Simonov, Orchestre National de Belgique
Classical - Released by Russian Music Society on Dec 15, 2007
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Liszt: Mazeppa & Wagner: Die Walkiire, Gotterdammerung and Lohengrin
Classical - Released by Russian Music Society on Dec 12, 2007
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Mussorgsky: A Night on a Bare Mountain - Tchaikovsky: Violin Concerto & Chardash from Swan Lake
Classical - Released by Russian Music Society on Dec 12, 2007
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Beethoven: Symphony No. 4 in B-flat Major, Op. 60 & Symphony No. 1 in C Major, Op. 21
Classical - Released by Russian Music Society on Oct 27, 2011
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Wagner - Remembered - Part 1
Yuri Simonov, Philharmonia Orchestra
Classical - Released by Collins Classics on Jul 1, 2013
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Wagner: Overtures Vol.1
Yuri Simonov, Philharmonia Orchestra
Classical - Released by Collins Classics on Mar 7, 1991
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Yuri Simonov 70 Jubilee Tour: 2 CDs - Dvorak, Wagner, Stravinsky, Brahms
Classical - Released by Royal Music Society on Apr 3, 2012
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Wagner: The Flying Dutchman
Yuri Simonov, Philharmonia Orchestra
Classical - Released by PMI Collins Classics on Feb 15, 2019
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo