A highly-respected Soviet-era musician, Simon served as principal cellist of the Tchaikovsky Symphony Orchestra of Moscow Radio for more than fifty years
Victor Simon, long-serving principal cellist of the Tchaikovsky Symphony Orchestra of Moscow Radio, has died. He was 91.
Born in Moscow in 1930, Simon studied at the Moscow Conservatory with musicians including R.E. Sapozhnikova, V.I.Yampolsky and S.M.Kozolupova. A laureate of several competitions, not least in Prague (1950) and Berlin (1951), he took up a position as soloist, and later concertmaster, of the Tchaikovsky Symphony Orchestra of Moscow Radio (formerly known as the Bolshoi Symphony Orchestra of All-Union Radio) in 1961. He went on to make over seventy solo recordings for the radio, among them first night performances of cello concertos ranging from the Baroque to the modern eras.
In addition, he was a highly-esteemed pedagogue, teaching at the Russian Academy of Musical Arts from 1980. In 1988, Simon became an assistant professor, and in 1993 — a professor.
In 1999, Simon, as one of the oldest musicians of the Tchaikovsky Symphony Orchestra, was awarded a badge of honour ‘For Contribution to Culture’.
He retired two years ago.
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