Temirkanov, Yuri (1938– )

Russian conductor. He made his debut with the Leningrad Opera, after graduating in 1965. He conducted the Leningrad Symphony Orchestra 1968–76 and made his Salzburg debut, with the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra, in 1971. In 1977 he was made conductor of the Kirov Opera and Ballet 1977. Following his London debut with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra in 1977, he became the orchestra's principal conductor in 1992. He took the Kirov to the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, London in 1986 with Boris Godunov, Eugene Onegin, and The Queen of Spades. He succeeded Mravinsky as chief conductor of the Leningrad (later St Petersburg Philharmonic Orchestra) in 1988; with the orchestra he undertook Tchaikovsky cycles in Japan and Europe, 1992/93.