Yevgeny Svetlanov

Conductor

By VARIETY STAFF

Yevgeny Svetlanov, renowned conductor who specialized in works by Russian composers, died May 3 at his home in Moscow of unspecified causes. He was 73.

He was chief conductor of the Bolshoi Theater 1963-65, when he was named artistic director and chief conductor of the Soviet State Symphony. He was named a People's Artist of the Soviet Union in 1968 and was awarded the Lenin Prize in 1972 and the Order of Lenin in 1978. He received the Soviet State Prize for creative achievement in 1983.

Two years ago, he was dismissed from the State Symphony after Culture Minister Mikhail Shvydkoi said he was spending too much time conducting overseas.