Yuri Mikhaylovich Ahronovitch (; 13 May 193231 October 2002) was a

Soviet The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

-born Israeli

conductor Conductor or conduction may refer to: Biology and medicine * Bone conduction, the conduction of sound to the inner ear * Conduction aphasia, a language disorder Mathematics * Conductor (ring theory) * Conductor of an abelian variety * Cond ...

. Born in

Leningrad Saint Petersburg, formerly known as Petrograd and later Leningrad, is the List of cities and towns in Russia by population, second-largest city in Russia after Moscow. It is situated on the Neva, River Neva, at the head of the Gulf of Finland ...

, he studied music and the violin from the age of 4. In 1954 he graduated as conductor from the

Leningrad Conservatory The N. A. Rimsky-Korsakov Saint Petersburg State Conservatory () (formerly known as the Petrograd Conservatory and Leningrad Conservatory) is a school of music in Saint Petersburg, Russia. In 2004, the conservatory had around 275 faculty members ...

. He studied with Nathan Rachlin and

Kurt Sanderling Kurt Sanderling, CBE (; 19 September 1912 – 18 September 2011) was a German conductor. Early life and career Sanderling was born in Arys, Kingdom of Prussia, German Empire (now Orzysz, Poland) to Jewish parents. His early work at the Deuts ...

. Invitations to conduct leading Russian orchestras followed, including the

Leningrad Philharmonic The Saint Petersburg Philharmonic Orchestra (, ''Symphonic Orchestra of the Saint Petersburg Philharmonia'') is a symphony orchestra based in Saint Petersburg, Russia. Their home venue is the Saint Petersburg Philharmonia. History The roots of t ...

and the

Bolshoi Theatre The Bolshoi Theatre ( rus, Большо́й теа́тр, r=Bol'shoy teatr, p=bɐlʲˈʂoj tʲɪˈat(ə)r, t=Grand Theater) is a historic opera house in Moscow, Russia, originally designed by architect Joseph Bové. Before the October Revolutio ...

. After conducting in Petrozavodsk and Saratov, he was assigned to the Yaroslavl Symphony Orchestra 1956–1964, performing symphonic cycles by Beethoven and Tchaikovsky alongside Soviet music such as the works of

Aram Khachaturian Aram Ilyich Khachaturian (; 1 May 1978) was a Soviet Armenians, Armenian composer and conductor. He is considered one of the leading Music of the Soviet Union#Classical music of the Soviet Union, Soviet composers. Khachaturian was born and rai ...

and

Tikhon Khrennikov Tikhon Nikolayevich Khrennikov (; – 14 August 2007) was a Russian and Soviet composer, pianist, and General Secretary of the Union of Soviet Composers (1948–1991), who was also known for his political activities. He wrote three symphonies, f ...

. In 1964 he was appointed Chief Conductor of the USSR Ministry of Culture Symphony Orchestra and worked there until emigrating to

Israel Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...

in 1972. His recordings for Melodiya, notably Shostakovich's First Symphony, were well received in the West.The new records: 40-41 1972 Yuri Aranovich presses this music gloriously and elicits a fine performance from the Moscow Radio Symphony. He may have understated the first movement a bit ... " Immediate invitations followed to conduct and tour with major orchestras: the

London Symphony Orchestra The London Symphony Orchestra (LSO) is a British symphony orchestra based in London. Founded in 1904, the LSO is the oldest of London's orchestras, symphony orchestras. The LSO was created by a group of players who left Henry Wood's Queen's ...

Israel Philharmonic The Israel Philharmonic Orchestra (abbreviation IPO; Hebrew: התזמורת הפילהרמונית הישראלית, ''ha-Tizmoret ha-Filharmonit ha-Yisra'elit'') is a major Israeli symphony orchestra based in Tel Aviv. Its principal concert ...

Vienna Symphony Orchestra The Vienna Symphony (Vienna Symphony Orchestra, ) is an Austrian orchestra based in Vienna. Its primary concert venue is the Vienna Konzerthaus. In Vienna, the orchestra also performs at the Musikverein and at the Theater an der Wien. History ...

Yomiuri Nippon Symphony Orchestra The is a Japanese symphony orchestra administratively based in Tokyo. The orchestra primarily performs concerts in Tokyo at the Suntory Hall, but also gives concerts at the Tokyo Opera City Concert Hall and also performs in Yokohama at the Yokoha ...

Teatro Alla Scala La Scala (, , ; officially , ) is a historic opera house in Milan, Italy. The theatre was inaugurated on 3 August 1778 and was originally known as (, which previously was a church). The premiere performance was Antonio Salieri's ''Europa r ...

and others. From 1975 to 1986 he was Chief Conductor of the

Cologne Cologne ( ; ; ) is the largest city of the States of Germany, German state of North Rhine-Westphalia and the List of cities in Germany by population, fourth-most populous city of Germany with nearly 1.1 million inhabitants in the city pr ...

Philharmonic Orchestra (

Gürzenich Orchestra Cologne The Gürzenich Orchestra Cologne () is a German symphony orchestra based in Cologne. On some recordings, the orchestra goes under the name "Gürzenich-Orchester Kölner Philharmoniker". Its name comes from its past principal concert venue, the G ...

) and from 1982 to 1987 Chief Conductor of the

Stockholm Stockholm (; ) is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, most populous city of Sweden, as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in the Nordic countries. Approximately ...

Philharmonic Orchestra. Simultaneously Yuri Ahronovitch was also an opera conductor. He conducted at the Royal Opera House in London's Covent Garden, the Lyric Opera in

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

, important Italian opera houses and Symphony Orchestra (Orchestra Sinfonica Siciliana), the Royal Opera in

Opera, the

Bavarian State Opera The Bavarian State Opera () is a German opera company based in Munich. Its main venue is the Nationaltheater München, and its orchestra the Bavarian State Orchestra. History The parent ensemble of the company was founded in 1653, under El ...

Munich Munich is the capital and most populous city of Bavaria, Germany. As of 30 November 2024, its population was 1,604,384, making it the third-largest city in Germany after Berlin and Hamburg. Munich is the largest city in Germany that is no ...

. He made a number of premiere recordings, mainly with the London Symphony, the Stockholm Philharmonic and the Vienna Symphony Orchestra. Yuri Ahronovitch was a member of the

Royal Swedish Academy of Music The Royal Swedish Academy of Music (), founded in 1771 by King Gustav III, is one of the Royal Academies in Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in ...

from 1984, and in 1987 he was decorated by the King of Sweden as "Commander of the Royal Order of the Polar Star". In 1988 in

Jerusalem Jerusalem is a city in the Southern Levant, on a plateau in the Judaean Mountains between the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean and the Dead Sea. It is one of the List of oldest continuously inhabited cities, oldest cities in the world, and ...

he was awarded the "Ettinger Prize for the Arts". In

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

Yuri Ahronovitch was awarded the prize "Arca d'Oro 1991" by the leading Italian newspaper ''

La Stampa (English: "The Press") is an Italian daily newspaper published in Turin with an average circulation of 87,143 copies in May 2023. Distributed in Italy and other European nations, it is one of the oldest newspapers in Italy. Until the late 1970 ...

'' and the

University of Turin The University of Turin (Italian language, Italian: ''Università degli Studi di Torino'', UNITO) is a public university, public research university in the city of Turin, in the Piedmont (Italy), Piedmont region of Italy. It is one of the List ...

. Yuri Ahronovitch conducted at numerous international music festivals, such as Bergen, Bregenz, Canary Islands, Florida, Israel, Locarno, Luzern, Munich, Savonnlina, Spoleto, Stresa, and Verona. He conducted his last concert with the

Orchestre de Paris The Orchestre de Paris () is a French orchestra based in Paris. The orchestra currently performs most of its concerts at the Philharmonie de Paris. History In 1967, following the dissolution of the Orchestre de la Société des Concerts du ...

in October 2002.

Discography

Ful
Yuri Aronovitch discography
* Bruckner - Symphony No. 7, Gürzenich-Orchester Köln * De Frumerie - Singoalla, Stockholms Philharmonic Orchestra * Dvorak - Symphony no. 6, Stuttgart Radio Symphony Orchestra * Franck - Symphony D minor, Vienna Symphony Orchestra * Glazunov - Symphony Nr. 5, Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks * Listz - Les Preludes, Vienna Symphony Orchestra * Listz - Symphony to Dante’s Divina Commedia, Frankfurt Radio Symphony * Mussorgsky - Night on The Bare Mountain, London Symphony Orchestra * Rachmaninov - The Piano Concertos & Paganini Rhapsody * Sibelius - Symphony No. 2, Gürzenich-Orchester Köln * Shostakovich - Katarina Ismalova, Orchestra Sinfonica della RAI di Milano * Shostakovich - Symphony No.1, * Shostakovich - Symphony No. 5., Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra * Shostakovich - Symphony No. 7, "Leningrad", Stuttgart Radio Symphony Orchestra * Shostakovich - Sinfonia No 14, Orchestra Sinfonica della RAI di Milano * Khachaturian - Orchestra dell'Accademia di Santa Cecilia * Tchaikovsky - 1812 Overture, Marche Slav, Romeo & Julie * Tchaikovsky - Suite nr. 3, Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks * Tchaikovsky - Swan Lake suite op. 20, SWR Sinfonieorchester Baden-Baden und Freiburg * Tchaikovsky - Manfred, London Symphony Orchestra * Weinberg - Symphony No. 6, Jerusalem Symphony Orchestra

References

External links

Yuri Ahronovitch official Web site
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ahronovitch, Yuri Soviet conductors (music) Soviet emigrants to Israel Israeli male conductors (music) Jewish classical musicians Musicians from Saint Petersburg 1932 births 2002 deaths 20th-century Israeli conductors (music) Deutsche Grammophon artists Decca Records artists Principal conductors of the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra Kapellmeisters of the Gürzenich Orchestra Cologne