CONDUCTORS from Russia

Top 10

The following people are considered by Pantheon to be the top 10 most legendary Russian Conductors of all time. This list of famous Russian Conductors is sorted by HPI (Historical Popularity Index), a metric that aggregates information on a biography’s online popularity. Visit the rankings page to view the entire list of Russian Conductors.

1. Yuri Temirkanov (1938 - 2023)

With an HPI of 57.20, Yuri Temirkanov is the most famous Russian Conductor.  His biography has been translated into 23 different languages on wikipedia.

Yuri Khatuevich Temirkanov (Russian: Ю́рий Хату́евич Темирка́нов; Kabardian: Темыркъан Хьэту и къуэ Юрий; 10 December 1938 – 2 November 2023) was a Soviet and Russian conductor, People's Artist of the USSR.

2. Serge Koussevitzky (1874 - 1951)

With an HPI of 55.75, Serge Koussevitzky is the 2nd most famous Russian Conductor.  His biography has been translated into 27 different languages.

Serge Koussevitzky (born Sergey Aleksandrovich Kusevitsky; Russian: Сергей Александрович Кусевицкий, IPA: [sʲɪrˈɡʲej ɐlʲɪkˈsandrəvʲɪtɕ kʊsʲɪˈvʲitskʲɪj]; 26 July [O.S. 14 July] 1874 – 4 June 1951) was a Russian and American conductor, composer, and double-bassist, known for his long tenure as music director of the Boston Symphony Orchestra from 1924 to 1949.

3. Semyon Bychkov (b. 1952)

With an HPI of 54.13, Semyon Bychkov is the 3rd most famous Russian Conductor.  His biography has been translated into 17 different languages.

Semyon Mayevich Bychkov (Russian: Семён Маевич Бычков, IPA: [sʲɪˈmʲɵn ˈma(j)ɪvʲɪdʑ bɨtɕˈkof]; born November 30, 1952) is a Soviet-born American conductor. He is currently chief conductor and artistic director of the Czech Philharmonic.

4. Leo Borchard (1899 - 1945)

With an HPI of 53.78, Leo Borchard is the 4th most famous Russian Conductor.  His biography has been translated into 16 different languages.

Lew Ljewitsch "Leo" Borchard (31 March 1899 – 23 August 1945) was a German-Russian conductor and briefly musical director of the Berlin Philharmonic.

5. Yevgeny Svetlanov (1928 - 2002)

With an HPI of 52.89, Yevgeny Svetlanov is the 5th most famous Russian Conductor.  His biography has been translated into 22 different languages.

Yevgeny Fyodorovich Svetlanov (Russian: Евгений Фёдорович Светланов; 6 September 1928 – 3 May 2002) was a Soviet and Russian conductor, composer, and pianist.

6. Armas Järnefelt (1869 - 1958)

With an HPI of 50.96, Armas Järnefelt is the 6th most famous Russian Conductor.  His biography has been translated into 15 different languages.

Edvard Armas Järnefelt (14 August 1869 – 23 June 1958), was a Finnish conductor and composer, who achieved some minor success with his orchestral works Berceuse (1904) and Praeludium (1900). He spent much of his conducting career at the Royal Swedish Opera in Stockholm, Sweden.

7. Vasily Agapkin (1884 - 1964)

With an HPI of 49.06, Vasily Agapkin is the 7th most famous Russian Conductor.  His biography has been translated into 19 different languages.

Vasily Ivanovich Agapkin (Russian: Васи́лий Ива́нович Ага́пкин; 3 February 1884 – 29 October 1964) was a Russian and Soviet military orchestra conductor, composer, and author of the well-known march "Farewell of Slavianka" (composed in 1912). Agapkin was born in Ryazan Governorate in 1884. From 1912 to 1915, he studied at the Tambov musical school, where he composed the popular Russian patriotic march "Farewell of Slavianka"; he later served in the army. After the October Revolution, Vasily Agapkin voluntarily joined the Red Army in 1918 and organized a brass band in the 1st Red Hussar Regiment. In 1920, Agapkin returned to Tambov, directing the music studio and the orchestra of the GPU troops. On August 5, 1922, Agapkin and his orchestra gave a farewell concert in Tambov, after which they moved to Moscow. In January 1924, the Agapkin Orchestra took part in the ceremony during the state funeral of Vladimir Lenin. In 1928, Agapkin organized a brass band of street children, which for many of them was the beginning of a professional career as a musician. In the 1930s, he headed the orchestra of the Higher School of the NKVD of the USSR, with which he made a number of recordings. He was notably the bandmaster for the Band of the Dzerzhinsky Division of the NKVD. Agapkin led the combined Russian military bands during the famous Red Square October Revolution Parade in Moscow on 7 November 1941. "Farewell of Slavianka" was one of the four marches that were played in that Parade, and in honor of his role there it has been played as the final march in Victory Day Parades all over Russia. His music has appeared in many films including The Cranes Are Flying (1957) and 72 Meters (2004).

8. Georg Schnéevoigt (1872 - 1947)

With an HPI of 47.84, Georg Schnéevoigt is the 8th most famous Russian Conductor.  His biography has been translated into 16 different languages.

Georg Lennart Schnéevoigt (8 November 1872 – 28 November 1947) was a Finnish conductor and cellist, born in Vyborg, Grand Duchy of Finland, which is now in Russia, to Ernst Schnéevoigt and Rosa Willandt.

9. Kirill Petrenko (b. 1972)

With an HPI of 47.53, Kirill Petrenko is the 9th most famous Russian Conductor.  His biography has been translated into 20 different languages.

Kirill Garrievich Petrenko (Russian: Кирилл Гарриевич Петренко, Latin script: Kirill Garrievič Petrenko; born 11 February 1972) is a Russian-Austrian conductor. He is chief conductor of the Berlin Philharmonic.

10. Nikolai Golovanov (1891 - 1953)

With an HPI of 46.91, Nikolai Golovanov is the 10th most famous Russian Conductor.  His biography has been translated into 15 different languages.

Nikolai Semyonovich Golovanov (January 21 1891 [O.S. January 9] – August 28, 1953) PAU, was a Soviet conductor and composer, who was married to the soprano Antonina Nezhdanova. He conducted the premiere performances of a number of works, among them Nikolai Myaskovsky's Sixth Symphony in May 1924. Golovanov held some of the highest musical positions in the USSR, including an extensive association with the Bolshoi Opera. In her autobiography, Galina Vishnevskaya terms him the theater's chief conductor, and tells of his dismissal from the Bolshoi and his death - which she attributed to the humiliation of the experience of losing this position. It has been reported that Golovanov's firing was the result of Stalin's displeasure at Golovanov's having tried to use a Jewish singer, Mark Reizen, in the title role of Tsar Boris Godunov in his recording of Mussorgsky's opera. Golovanov actually did record the opera with Reizen as Boris, but later remade Reizen's part with another Boris, Alexander Pirogov. Golovanov's recorded output was substantial and quite individual in interpretive approach. In his discography we find all but one of the Liszt tone poems, the complete Scriabin symphonies and Piano Concerto, Tchaikovsky's First and Sixth symphonies, as well as shorter works, Beethoven's First Symphony, Violin Concerto and Triple Concerto, Rimsky-Korsakov's Scheherazade and his operas Sadko and Christmas Eve, Mussorgsky's Boris Godunov and Pictures at an Exhibition, Rachmaninoff's Second and Third symphonies, the opera Aleko and other compositions, Glazunov's Fifth, Sixth and Seventh symphonies, and scores by Grieg, Mozart and others. Based upon the evidence of his recordings, Golovanov's characteristic performance mode was full-blooded and nearly vehement in tone, with a powerful, almost overloaded sense of sonority, and extreme flexibility in matters of tempo, phrasing and dynamics. Others have characterised his approach as heavily controlling after the manner of Toscanini, excessively wayward in the way he often ignored the markings in the written score to suit his own inflated sense of musical importance, and generally self-indulgent in the extreme. The timing of the orchestral ensemble often suffered in trying to keep up with his inconsistent and demanding beat. In addition to audio recordings by Golovanov, there is a film of Golovanov conducting the USSR State Symphony Orchestra in a performance of Tchaikovsky's 1812 Overture. As was the practice in Soviet times, the Tsarist anthem was replaced with the chorus "Glory, Glory to you, holy Russia!" from Mikhail Glinka's A Life for the Tsar. The film does not feature synchronous sound, but has short segments of Golovanov conducting. Golovanov was also a composer; his works include the opera "Princess Yurata", a symphony and other orchestral works as well as choral music.