Yuri Temirkanov devoted his entire life to music. He never betrayed his vocation, even in those short moments of his life when the maestro did not have a conductor's baton in his hands. Serving art for Yuri Khatuevich has become a way to serve his homeland.
From the biography of Yuri Temirkanov
Yuri Temirkanov was born in 1938 in Nalchik. There were three more children in the family. Yuri was the youngest of them. His father's childhood fell on hard and harsh times. But a simple mountain guy managed to get a higher education in Moscow.
Returning to his homeland, Khatu headed the educational institutions of Kabardino-Balkaria, and before the war he became the head of the committee on art and culture. During the war, Yuri Khatuevich's father led a partisan detachment, was captured and was shot there. Yuri's mother raised four children alone. All of them subsequently chose creative professions.
After the outbreak of the war, many prominent cultural figures went to Kabardino-Balkaria. Some of them visited the Temirkanovs. So Yuri met the composer S. S. Prokofiev. Could the great master in those years have known that the boy, whom he repeatedly took to his knees, would become a world famous conductor?
At the music school in Nalchik, where Yuri entered, the teachers immediately noted the rare talent of a teenager. In 1953, Yuri was sent to study in Leningrad, to a music school at the conservatory. The city on the Neva opened for Temirkanov a world of delightful music, unique architecture and wide possibilities.
The creative path of Yuri Temirkanov
In 1965, Yuri Khatuevich became a student at the Leningrad Conservatory. Here he diligently mastered the basics of conducting. His first creative work was the opera La Traviata at the Maly Opera and Ballet Theater. He conducted so successfully that he attracted the attention of professionals.
Since the mid-70s, Yuri Temirkanov has become the chief conductor of the Mariinsky Theater. Over the next 12 years, he staged operas by Shchedrin, Prokofiev, Tchaikovsky, Petrov. In 1988 the conductor became the head of the Philharmonic Orchestra of the city on the Neva. In those years, many world-class impresario expressed a desire to cooperate with the talented and charismatic maestro.
The life of Yuri Temirkanov was not very easy. He knows very well how much effort it takes for talent from the hinterland to be at the top of great art. Since 1998, Yuri Khatuyevich has been presenting a personal award to young talented musicians.
Kabardino-Balkaria is proud of its famous countryman. His contribution to the cultural development of the country was awarded the title of People's Artist of Kabardino-Balkaria. Yuri Temirkanov is also a full holder of the Order of Merit for the Fatherland.
Personal life of the maestro
The maestro is reluctant to talk about his personal life. His wife Irina became his only love. But, unfortunately, she died early. Yuri and Irina had a son, Vladimir, who also became a musician.
Yuri Khatuevich maintained warm relations with his brother Boris, a well-known conductor in his homeland. Temirkanov maintains close contact with relatives and tries to visit them more often.
