Samuil Abramovich Samosud (russian: Самуи́л Абра́мович Самосу́д) (

Tbilisi Tbilisi ( ; ka, თბილისი ), in some languages still known by its pre-1936 name Tiflis ( ), is the capital and the largest city of Georgia, lying on the banks of the Kura River with a population of approximately 1.5 million p ...

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, —

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, 6 November 1964), PAU, was a

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and

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conductor Conductor or conduction may refer to: Music * Conductor (music), a person who leads a musical ensemble, such as an orchestra. * ''Conductor'' (album), an album by indie rock band The Comas * Conduction, a type of structured free improvisation ...

. He started his musical career as a cellist, before becoming a conductor at the Mariinsky Theater,

Petrograd Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...

in 1917. From 1918 to 1936 he conducted at the Maly Operny,

Leningrad Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...

. In 1936 he became musical director at the Bolshoi Theater,

. He founded what became the Moscow Philharmonic Orchestra in 1951. He premiered several important works, including Shostakovich's '' Lady Macbeth of the Mtsensk District'', '' The Nose'' and the Seventh Symphony; as well as Prokofiev's '' War and Peace'' and '' On Guard for Peace''. Shostakovich "had a high opinion" of Samosud's theatrical performances, and regarded him as "the supreme interpreter" of operatic works including ''Lady Macbeth''. Nonetheless, after hearing Samosud conduct the Seventh Symphony, the composer wrote that he wanted to hear Yevgeny Mravinsky perform the symphony, as he didn't "have great faith in Samosud as a symphonic conductor".

References

External links

Samuel Samosud — Biography on Prokofiev.org
(on

Internet Archive The Internet Archive is an American digital library with the stated mission of "universal access to all knowledge". It provides free public access to collections of digitized materials, including websites, software applications/games, music ...

, captured on 4 February 2012) 1884 births 1964 deaths Soviet conductors (music) 20th-century Russian conductors (music) Russian male conductors (music) 20th-century Russian male musicians Russian Jews Musicians from Tbilisi Burials at Novodevichy Cemetery {{russia-conductor-stub