Vladimir Bakaleinikov

Vladimir Romanovich Bakaleinikov (1885–1953) was a distinguished Russian-American violist, conductor, and composer. He came from a musical family, being the second eldest of the Bakaleinikov brothers, who also included Nikolai, Konstantin, and Mikhail. Born into poverty as the son of a clarinetist, he began working at a young age playing at weddings and restaurants. He entered the Moscow Conservatory at age nine, studying under Ivan Hřímalý, and developed a successful early career in Russia as a soloist and conductor.

In Russia, his professional activities included playing in the Duke G. G. Mecklenburg-Strelitz Quartet and conducting at the Theatre of Musical Drama in Petrograd and the Musical Studio of the Moscow Art Theatre. He taught at both the Petrograd and Moscow Conservatories, where his students included Vadim Borisovsky, and was named an Honored Artist of the RSFSR in 1924.

Bakaleinikov emigrated to the United States in 1927 with his wife, singer Julia Fatova, following an invitation from Fritz Reiner to become the assistant conductor and principal violist of the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra. After a brief period working in Hollywood film music starting in 1937, he reunited with Reiner at the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra in 1939. He eventually led the Pittsburgh Symphony from 1948 to 1952 and conducted for Mario Lanza during a 1951 tour.

His legacy includes a notable recording of Richard Strauss's "Don Quixote" with Gregor Piatigorsky, and the mentorship of the renowned conductor Lorin Maazel. Bakaleinikov authored "Elementary Rules of Conducting" (1938) and the memoirs "Notes of a Musician" (1943). His compositions include a viola concerto (1937) and chamber works such as "Brahmsiana." While often credited with the romance "Bubentsy," it is believed to have been written by his brother Nikolai.

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