Valery Gergiev

Valery Gergiev made his debut at the Kirov, now the Mariinsky, in Prokofiev's War and Peace in 1978, having joined the theatre as assistant to Yuri Temirkanov. Born in Moscow in 1953, he studied with Ilya Musin at the Leningrad Conservatory, and his work at the Mariinsky has run from Russian opera through Wagner's Ring to a wide symphonic repertoire. He was principal conductor of the Rotterdam Philharmonic from 1995 to 2008 and of the London Symphony Orchestra from 2007 to 2015, and led the Munich Philharmonic from 2015 to 2022. His recordings take in operas and symphonic cycles by Russian and other European composers.