Kout, Jiri (1937– )

Czech conductor. He studied in Prague and conducted at the National Opera there. He was principal of the Deutsche Oper am Rhein, Düsseldorf, 1978–84, conducted Der Rosenkavalier at Munich in 1985, and made his debut with the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra in 1987. Subsequently he became resident conductor at the Deutsche Oper, Berlin, leading Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk, Tristan und Isolde, Mathis der Maler, and Tannhäuser (in 1992). He also worked in Los Angeles from 1988, leading Káta Kabanová, Boris Godunov, and Parsifal, and made his debut at the Metropolitan Opera House, New York in 1991 with Der Rosenkavalier. Two years later he made his Royal Opera House, Covent Garden debut with Jenůfa.