LEONID DESYATNIKOV

The musical career of composer Leonid Desyatnikov has been extremely successful and continued to evolve. His first opera, Poor Liza, was written during his fourth year at the Leningrad Conservatory. When he was admitted to the Union of Composers in 1979, the 24-year-old graduate of the Leningrad Conservatory had even served in the Soviet Army – an unprecedented event. Two years earlier his ballet Love Song in a Minor Key was performed at the Berlin Opera. Hailing from St. Petersburg, Desyatnikov is one of the most cherished members of the international music community. He is considered an absolutely traditional composer. Leonid Desyatnikov has done a lot of work for the film industry, including such films as Moscow Nights (1994), Giselle's Mania (1995), His Wife's Diary (2000), and Moscow (2000).

From the book LIFE MUSIC by Alexandra Kremer-Khomasuridze:

“I dreamed of music only once in my life! In that dream I was listening to very beautiful music while reading the score. The type was very small and the dense paper, satin, was dazzling white. But since on the title page there was written 'by Boris Plushko, Extrapolation Number 9,' I somehow got it into my head that I should remember this music ...”

“If I had not become a musician, I would have become a saint ...”