Samuil Samosud

2 May] 1884, Tiflis — 6 November 1964, Moscow) was a Soviet and Russian conductor and pedagogue.

He started his musical career as a cellist, before becoming a conductor at the Mariinsky Theatre, Petrograd in 1917.

He premiered several important works, including Shostakovich's Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk, The Nose and the Seventh Symphony; as well as Prokofiev's War and Peace and On Guard for Peace.

Shostakovich "had a high opinion" of Samosud's theatrical performances, and regarded him as "the supreme interpreter" of operatic works including Lady Macbeth.

[1] Nonetheless, after hearing Samosud conduct the Seventh Symphony, the composer wrote that he wanted to hear Yevgeny Mravinsky perform the symphony, as he didn't "have great faith in Samosud as a symphonic conductor".