Kirill Tikhonov (1921–1998) was a Russian conductor and a recipient of the
People's Artist of Russia
People's Artist of the Russian Federation (russian: Народный артист Российской Федерации, ''Narodnyy artist Rossiyskoy Federatsii''), also sometimes translated as National Artist of the Russian Federation, is an h ...
award.
Biography
Kirill Tikhonov graduated from
Moscow Conservatory in 1947 and by 1952 was graduated from symphonic conducting department of the
Saint Petersburg Conservatory
The N. A. Rimsky-Korsakov Saint Petersburg State Conservatory (russian: Санкт-Петербургская государственная консерватория имени Н. А. Римского-Корсакова) (formerly known as th ...
as well. His first public appearance took place at the
Moscow Theater of Drama in 1945 and later on he appeared at the
Saint Petersburg Comedy Theatre
The Nikolay Akimov Saint Petersburg Comedy Theatre (russian: Санкт-Петербургский академический театр комедии им. Н. П. Акимова) is a theatre at 56 Nevsky Prospect, Saint Petersburg
Saint P ...
and both
Perm and
Sverdlovsk Theatre of Opera and Ballet. In 1977 he became a lecturer at the
Moscow State University of Culture and later became a professor there. By 1990 he was promoted to a chief conductor and then became musical director of
Helikon Opera Helikon Opera is a Russian opera company based in Moscow, specializing in unconventional productions. Their main performing base is the 250 seat Mayakovsky Theater, the former ballroom in the palace of the Shakhovskoi-Glebov-Streshneva family who we ...
which he co-founded along with
Dmitry Bertman and became his friend and helper till his death on December 29, 1998.
[
During his life he has toured throughout Russia and overseas conducting such operas as ]Mikhail Glinka
Mikhail Ivanovich Glinka ( rus, link=no, Михаил Иванович Глинка, Mikhail Ivanovich Glinka., mʲɪxɐˈil ɪˈvanəvʲɪdʑ ˈɡlʲinkə, Ru-Mikhail-Ivanovich-Glinka.ogg; ) was the first Russian composer to gain wide recogni ...
's ''A Life for the Tsar
''A Life for the Tsar'' ( rus, "Жизнь за царя", italic=yes, Zhizn za tsarya ) is a "patriotic-heroic tragic opera" in four acts with an epilogue by Mikhail Glinka. During the Soviet era the opera was known under the name ''Ivan Susanin' ...
'', Alexander Borodin
Alexander Porfiryevich Borodin ( rus, link=no, Александр Порфирьевич Бородин, Aleksandr Porfir’yevich Borodin , p=ɐlʲɪkˈsandr pɐrˈfʲi rʲjɪvʲɪtɕ bərɐˈdʲin, a=RU-Alexander Porfiryevich Borodin.ogg, ...
's '' Prince Igor'', Modest Mussorgsky's ''Boris Godunov
Borís Fyodorovich Godunóv (; russian: Борис Фёдорович Годунов; 1552 ) ruled the Tsardom of Russia as ''de facto'' regent from c. 1585 to 1598 and then as the first non-Rurikid tsar from 1598 to 1605. After the end of his ...
'' and '' Khovanshchina'', and both '' The Queen of Spades'' and '' Eugene Onegin'' of Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, among others. Besides operas he also conducted ballet music as well, including Sergei Prokofiev's '' Cinderella'', ''Peer Gynt
''Peer Gynt'' (, ) is a five- act play in verse by the Norwegian dramatist Henrik Ibsen published in 1876. Written in Norwegian, it is one of the most widely performed Norwegian plays. Ibsen believed ''Per Gynt'', the Norwegian fairy tale on wh ...
'' and Rodion Shchedrin
Rodion Konstantinovich Shchedrin ( rus, Родион Константинович Щедрин, , rədʲɪˈon kənstɐnʲˈtʲinəvʲɪtɕ ɕːɪˈdrʲin; born 16 December 1932) is a Soviet and Russian composer and pianist, winner of USSR State ...
's ''The Humpbacked Horse
Pyotr Pavlovich Yershov (russian: link=no, Пётр Павлович Ершов; – ) was a Russian poet and author of the famous fairy-tale poem ''The Little Humpbacked Horse'' (''Konyok-Gorbunok'').
Biography
Pyotr Yershov was born in the vil ...
''. For Helikon Opera alone he has conducted over 23 operas including Giovanni Battista Pergolesi
Giovanni Battista Draghi (; 4 January 1710 – 16 or 17 March 1736), often referred to as Giovanni Battista Pergolesi (), was an Italian Baroque composer, violinist, and organist. His best-known works include his Stabat Mater and the opera ''L ...
's '' La serva padrona'', '' The Tsar's Bride'' of Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov
Nikolai Andreyevich Rimsky-Korsakov . At the time, his name was spelled Николай Андреевичъ Римскій-Корсаковъ. la, Nicolaus Andreae filius Rimskij-Korsakov. The composer romanized his name as ''Nicolas Rimsk ...
, Georges Bizet
Georges Bizet (; 25 October 18383 June 1875) was a French composer of the Romantic music, Romantic era. Best known for his operas in a career cut short by his early death, Bizet achieved few successes before his final work, ''Carmen'', whi ...
's ''Carmen
''Carmen'' () is an opera in four acts by the French composer Georges Bizet. The libretto was written by Henri Meilhac and Ludovic Halévy, based on the Carmen (novella), novella of the same title by Prosper Mérimée. The opera was first perfo ...
'', Prokofiev's '' Rotschield’s Violin'' and both ''La traviata
''La traviata'' (; ''The Fallen Woman'') is an opera in three acts by Giuseppe Verdi set to an Italian libretto by Francesco Maria Piave. It is based on ''La Dame aux camélias'' (1852), a play by Alexandre Dumas ''fils'' adapted from his own 18 ...
'' and '' Aida'' of Giuseppe Verdi
Giuseppe Fortunino Francesco Verdi (; 9 or 10 October 1813 – 27 January 1901) was an Italian composer best known for his operas. He was born near Busseto to a provincial family of moderate means, receiving a musical education with the h ...
. Many future conductors such as Lev Lyakh, Wolf Gorelik
Wolf Gorelik (russian: Вольф Михайлович Горелик) (1933–2013) was a Russian conductor, specialising in theatre work.
Born in Pervouralsk, Sverdlovsk Oblast, Gorelik studied at the Urals Mussorgsky State Conservatoire, wher ...
, Eugene Kolobov, Valery Kritskov, Evgeny Brazhnik, Alexander Voloshchuk and Victoria Unguryanu among others did some practical work under his guidance.[
]
References
1921 births
1998 deaths
People's Artists of Russia
20th-century Russian conductors (music)
Russian male conductors (music)
20th-century Russian male musicians
Belarusian conductors (music)
Soviet conductors (music)
{{Russia-conductor-stub