Leonid Desyatnikov

Leonid Arkadievich Desyatnikov (, born 16 October 1955) is a composer. He is a member of the St. Petersburg Union of Composers. Desyatnikov is the author of multiple operas, cantatas and compositions. His best known works are The Children of Rosenthal, his score for the ballet Lost Illusions, the opera Poor Liza; Gift, a cantata on poems by Gavriil Derzhavin; Dichterliebe und -leben, a vocal cycle on poems by Daniil Kharms and Nikolay Oleynikov; The Leaden Echo for voice(s) and instruments on the poem by Gerard Manley Hopkins; The Rite of Winter 1949, a symphony for choir, soloists and orchestra; and Songs of Bukovina for piano. Life and career Leonid Desyatnikov was born on October 16, 1955 in Kharkiv, Ukraine. He studied composition and instrumentation at the Leningrad Conservatory in St. Petersburg. He has written four operas, several cantatas and numerous vocal and instrumental compositions. His principal compositions include: The Children of Rosenthal (an opera in two acts; libretto, Vladimir Sorokin), commissioned by the Bolshoi Theatre; Poor Liza (a chamber opera in one act; with libretto by the composer, after the novel by Nikolai Karamzin); Gift (a cantata based on the ver