Alexander Klimov (31 August [12 September] 1898 – 22 June 1974) was a Soviet conductor and teacher. He was born in Kostanay, in the Turgay Oblast of the Russian Empire, and died in Leningrad. He was buried at Serafimovskoye Cemetery.
Klimov studied at the Faculty of Philology of Kyiv University, graduating in 1925, and then completed conducting studies with V. Berdyaev at the Kyiv Higher Music and Drama Institute in 1928. After a brief period of teaching in Kyiv, he worked as a conductor in Tiraspol from 1931 to 1933, Donetsk in 1933, Saratov from 1934 to 1937, Kharkiv from 1937 to 1940, and Odesa from 1940 to 1941.
During evacuation, he led the symphony orchestra of the Ukrainian SSR and the Tajik Opera Theatre. After the war he became a conductor at the Odesa Opera Theatre, a professor at the Odesa Conservatory, and head of the Odesa Philharmonic Symphony Orchestra. He served as director of the Kyiv Conservatory from 1948 to 1954, headed the Kyiv Opera and Ballet Theatre from 1954 to 1961, and led the Kirov Theatre in Leningrad from 1961 to 1967.
Klimov was named an Honored Art Worker of the Tajik SSR in 1945 and of the Ukrainian SSR in 1949. His awards included the Order of the Red Banner of Labour in 1951 and the Order of Lenin in 1960. His son, Valery Klimov, was a violinist and a prizewinner at the First Tchaikovsky Competition.
Organizations
- Ukrainian National Academy of Music
- Odessa National A. V. Nezhdanova Academy of Music
- Lysenko Music and Drama Institute
- Mariinsky Theatre
- Tajik State Academic Opera and Ballet Theatre named after Sadriddin Ayni
- National Symphony Orchestra of Ukraine
- National Opera of Ukraine
- Odessa National Academic Opera and Ballet Theatre
- Odesa State Philharmonic