Vladimir Ashkenazy — conductor with roots in the USSR
Vladimir Ashkenazy is a Russian-Icelandic pianist and conductor born in Gorky (now Nizhny Novgorod) who became one of the most celebrated pianists and conductors of the 20th century. He defected from the Soviet Union in 1963, obtained Icelandic citizenship, and has recorded virtually the entire piano repertoire — more than any other classical pianist in history.
Tracing the roots — Gorky (N. Novgorod)
Born in Gorky in 1937 and trained at the Moscow Conservatory, Ashkenazy won the Queen Elisabeth Competition in Brussels in 1956 and the Tchaikovsky Competition in Moscow in 1962 before defecting to the West. His Icelandic citizenship — obtained through his Icelandic wife — is one of the more unexpected geographical connections in this database.
Gorky (N. Novgorod). At the time, this region was one of the fifteen republics of the Soviet Union.