Here's a quick and dirty translation of the obituary from http://www.gazeta.ru: World-famous conductor, composer, and pianist Evgeny Fedorovich Svetlanov died in his Moscow apartment on Friday evening at the age of 74. The news was announced by his relatives. Evgeny Svetlanov was born in Moscow in 1928. He graduated from the Gnesinykh Musical-Pedagogical Institute and from the Moscow Conservatory. For several years he was conductor and chief conductor of the Bolshoi Theatre. From 1965 on he was artistic director and chief conductor of the State Symphonic Orchestra of USSR. He composed several symphonies, symphonic poems, chamber music works, and vocal-instrumental works. Svetlanov - a "national artist USSR" [that's a big title in the USSR -MM], laureate of the Lenin Prize - conducted several of the most famous orchestras in the world. Press Agency "Novosti". -Margaret Mikulska