Yuri Temirkanov ends his career

The great Russian maestro has stepped down as music director and chief conductor of the St Petersburg Philharmonic, a post he held for a third of a century, since 1988.

Most musicians in St Petersburg have known no other symphonic leader and their regret at his retirement is being voiced on social media.

Temirkanov, who is 83, negotiated Soviet and post-Soviet realities with great adroitness. He avoided joining the Communist Party while head of the Kirov (now Mariinsky) Theatre from 1976 and he never became an acolyte of either Yeltsin or Putin, though the latter showered him with offers and honours.

Abroad, he headed the Baltimore Symphony from 2000 to 2006 and held an honorary position with the Royal Philharmonic in London. In recent years he has lived mostly in Britain. His son Vladimir was a violinist in the St Petersburg Philharmonic.

Temirkanov has been replaced at the St Petersburg Philharmonic by his deputy Nikolai Alekseev, who has held that post since 2000. Alekseev is practically unknown outside Russia. He holds an obscure post as Chief Conductor of the Ulsan Philharmonic in South Korea.

It will take St Petersburg years to regain the world reputation it held under Temirkanov.