Isay Sherman (Isay Sherman).

A Sherman

Soviet conductor, teacher, Honored Artist of the RSFSR (1940).

The conductor’s teachers at the Leningrad Conservatory (1928-1931) were N. Malko, A. Gauk, S. Samosud. In 1930, after assisting in the preparation of A. Gladkovsky’s opera Front and Rear and a successful debut in Zuppe’s operetta Boccaccio, Sherman was hired as another conductor at the Maly Opera House. Here he took part in the production of early Soviet operas. He performed independently for the first time in the ballet performances Harlequinade by Drigo and Coppélia by Delibes (1933-1934).

At the Opera and Ballet Theater named after S. M. Kirov (1937-1945), Sherman was the first in the Soviet Union to stage productions of the ballets Laurencia by A. Crane (1939) and Romeo and Juliet by S. Prokofiev (1940). After the war, he returned to the Maly Opera Theater (1945-1949).

Sherman later headed the opera and ballet theaters in Kazan (1951-1955; 1961-1966) and Gorky (1956-1958). In addition, he took part in the preparation of the decade of Karelian art in Moscow (1959).

Since 1935, the conductor has been performing in the cities of the USSR, often including works by Soviet composers in the programs. At the same time, Professor Sherman educated many young conductors at the Leningrad, Kazan and Gorky conservatories. On his initiative, in 1946, the Opera Studio (now the People’s Theater) was organized in the Leningrad Palace of Culture named after S. M. Kirov, where several operas were staged by amateur performances.

L. Grigoriev, J. Platek, 1969