Boris Emmanuilovich Khaikin^[1] (Russian: Борис Эммануилович Хайкин; Belarusian: Барыс Эмануілавіч Хайкін; 26 October [O.S. 13 October] 1904 – 10 May 1978) was a Soviet and Russian conductor who was named a People's Artist of the USSR in 1972.

Biography

Khaikin was born in Minsk, then part of the Russian Empire. He studied at the Moscow Conservatory under Nicolai Malko and Konstantin Saradzhev.^[2] He was artistic director of the Little Leningrad Opera Theatre in 1936-43 and the principal conductor at the Kirov Theatre in 1944-53, where he conducted the première of Sergei Prokofiev's Betrothal in a Monastery on 3 November 1946. He moved to the Bolshoi Theatre in 1954.

He died in Moscow, and was buried in the Donskoye Cemetery.

Discography

Khaikin is noted for his two critically acclaimed recordings of Khovanshchina: a 1946 edition with Mark Reizen, and a 1972 version with Irina Arkhipova. His record of Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov's little known early first symphony received good notices. Khaikin also recorded several operas and ballets by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, notably a Eugene Onegin with Galina Vishnevskaya and Sergei Lemeshev.

Other opera recordings include:

• Mikhail Glinka; A Life for the Tsar (in the Ivan Susanin version), 1960.
• Alexander Dargomyzhsky; Stone Guest with the USSR Radio Chorus and Symphony, 1959.
• Anton Rubinstein; The Demon.
• Kirill Molchanov; The Unknown Soldier.
• Näcip Cihanov; Musa Dzhalil (opera-poem based on the life of Soviet Tatar poet Musa Cälil)^[3]
• Vlasov and Fere; The Witch (based on the story by Chekhov).