Leonid Vladimirovich Nikolaev (
Russian: ''Леонид Владимирович Николаев''; 18 October 1940, in
Arzamas – 26 July 2009, in
Moscow) was a Russian conductor and a
professor.
Biography
Leonid Nikolaev graduated from the
Moscow Conservatory as a symphony and opera conductor under Balashov in 1963, and completed his postgraduate studies at the same institution under Shereshevsky in 1966. In 1972 - 1973 he studied in
Vienna with
Hans Swarowsky
Hans Swarowsky (September 16, 1899September 10, 1975,) was an Austrian conductor of Hungarian birth.
Swarowsky was born in Budapest, Hungary. He studied the art of conducting under Felix Weingartner and Richard Strauss. Jiří Vysloužil, ...
.
In 1969 - 1989 he was a chief conductor of the
Moscow Conservatory Music College Symphony Orchestra. With this orchestra in 1974 he received a 1st prize at the conducting competition organized by
Herbert von Karajan's Foundation. In 1982 he conducted piano finals of the
7th International Tchaikovsky Competition. In 1988 together with
Zubin Mehta and
Leonard Slatkin he co-founded what became the
American Russian Young Artists Orchestra
The American Russian Young Artists Orchestra (ARYO), founded in 1987 as the American Soviet Youth Orchestra, was a philanthropic and diplomatic training orchestra for young musicians, vocalists and conductors from the United States and the former ...
. Nikolaev held vast symphonic repertoire. During the last season of his college tenure he conducted
Beethoven's 5th piano concerto,
Mozart's Symphony no. 40,
Debussy's Nocturnes
A nocturne is a musical composition that is inspired by, or evocative of, the night.
History
The term ''nocturne'' (from French ''nocturne'' 'of the night') was first applied to musical pieces in the 18th century, when it indicated an ensemble ...
and
Kabalevsky's violin concerto.
In 1989 he became a conductor of the
Moscow Conservatory junior Symphony Orchestra. His first program there included Beethoven's
triple concerto
A triple concerto (Italian: ''Concerto triplo'', German: ''Tripelkonzert'') is a concerto with three soloists. Such concertos have been composed from the Baroque period, including works by Corelli, Vivaldi, Bach and Telemann, to the 21st century ...
and
Symphony no. 5. In 1992 he began conducting conservatory's senior Symphony Orchestra.
From 1986 Nikolaev taught conducting at the
Moscow Conservatory. Among his notable former students are Vladimir Ryzhaev, Vasily Valitov and
Alexander Vedernikov.
Titles and awards
*
Merited Artist of Russia
Merited Artist of the Russian Federation (russian: link=no, Заслуженный артист Российской Федерации, ''Zasluzhenny artist Rossiyskoy Federatsii'') is an honorary title in the Russian Federation. The title is ...
- 1981
*
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 ...
- 1993
*
Government of Moscow prize - 1995
References
Profile at Moscow Conservatory official website(in Russian)
Page on Vasily Valitov's official website(in English)
Tchaikovsky Competition, 58:00
{{DEFAULTSORT:Nikolaev, Leonid
Soviet conductors (music)
1940 births
2009 deaths
20th-century Russian conductors (music)
Russian male conductors (music)
20th-century Russian male musicians
Moscow Conservatory alumni