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Although he was indicted (along with Shostakovich, Prokofiev, and a number of other prominent Soviet musicians) for "formalism," in the infamous Zhdanov decree of 1948, Aram Khachaturian was, for most of his long career, one of the Soviet musical establishment's most prized representatives. Born into an Armenian family, in Tbilisi, in 1903, Khachaturian's musical identity formed slowly, and, although a tuba player in his school band and a self-taught pianist, he wanted to be a biologist, and did not study music formally until entering Moscow's Gnesin Music Academy (as a cellist) in 1922. His considerable musical talents soon manifested themselves, and by 1925 he was studying composition privately with Gnesin himself. In 1929, Khachaturian joined Miaskovsky's composition class at the Moscow Conservatory. Khachaturian graduated in 1934, and before the completion, in 1937, of his postgraduate studies, the successful premieres of such works as the Symphony No. 2 in A Minor "With a Bell" (1935) and, especially, the Piano Concerto in D flat Major (1936) established Khachaturian as the leading Soviet composer of his generation. During the vicious government-sponsored attacks, in 1948, on the Soviet Composers' Union (in which Khachaturian, an active member since 1937, also held an administrative function) Khachaturian took a great deal of criticism. However, although he was officially censured for employing modernistic, politically incorrect musical techniques which fostered an "anti-people art," Khachaturian's music contained few, if any, of the objectionable traits found in the music of some of his more adventuresome colleagues. In retrospect, it was most likely Khachaturian's administrative role in the Union, perceived by the government as a bastion of politically incorrect music, and not his music as such, which earned him a place on the black list of 1948. Nevertheless, Khachaturian made a very full and humble apology for his artistic "errors" following the Zhdanov decree; his musical style, however, underwent no changes. Khachaturian joined the composition faculty of the Moscow Conservatory and the Gnesin Academy in 1950, and that same year he made his debut as a conductor. During the years until his death in 1978 Khachaturian made frequent European conducting appearances, and in January of 1968 he made a culturally significant trip to Washington, D.C., conducting the National Symphony Orchestra in a program of his own works. Khachaturian's characteristic musical style draws on the melodic and rhythmic vitality of Armenian folk music. Although not adverse to sharp dissonance, Khachaturian never strayed from a basically diatonic musical language. The Piano Concerto and the Violin Concerto in D Minor are truly Romantic works, virtuosic, clear, and unaffectedly expressive, remaining therefore popular and frequently performed composition. Of course, many neither of these works matches the popularity of the famous "Sabre Dance" from the ballet Gayane, which made Khachaturian a household name during World War II. His other works include film scores, songs, piano pieces, and chamber music. The degree of Khachaturian's success as a Soviet composer can be measured by his many honors, which include the 1941 Lenin Prize, for the Violin Concerto, the 1959 Stalin Prize, for the ballet Spartacus, and the title, awarded in 1954, of People's Artist.

A conductor of wide-ranging authority in a varied repertory, Anatole Fistoulari is nonetheless remembered most vividly for the several ballet recordings he made for Mercury Records. The son of a noted conductor, Fistoulari maintained that he had made his debut before an orchestra at the age of seven. Beyond dispute is his broad exposure to Russian musical culture, thoroughly absorbed before he concentrated his activities in Europe and, eventually England, where he became a British subject. Fistoulari learned most of his technique and repertory from his father, Gregor Fistoulari, a student of Nikolay Rimsky-Korsakov and Anton Rubinstein. The work allegedly conducted by the seven-year-old Anatole in Kiev was Tchaikovsky's "Pathétique" Symphony, a score of enormous depth and complexity. In 1933, he leapt into the fire with an appointment to conduct for the Grand Opéra Russe in Paris, a company assembled around the famously temperamental Russian bass baritone Feodor Chaliapin. His ability to maintain a cool head there led to a 1938 engagement with Leonid Masim's Ballets Russes; with that company, Fistoulari toured the Continent and America, where his work was much admired. During WWII, Fistoulari became a popular figure in England. After conducting a 1942 production of Mussorgsky's unfinished Sorochintsï Fair, he was made principal conductor of the London Philharmonic Orchestra in 1943. In 1954, he returned to ballet as guest conductor of the Royal Ballet and, in 1956, led the London Philharmonic in a tour of Russia that brought enthusiastic audiences to the halls of Moscow and Leningrad. Other guest engagements took Fistoulari to several other parts of the world, notably New Zealand and the Mideast, but he continued to base his activities in England. Active in the recording studio, Fistoulari built a substantial discography. In addition to his much-praised Mercury recordings of Delibes' Sylvia and Adam's Giselle, he recorded excerpts from Tchaikovsky's Sleeping Beauty; Alexandre Luigini's short, but effective Ballet Egyptien; and several works by Khachaturian. Fistoulari's direction of Liszt's Hungarian Rhapsodies was praised, as were recorded collaborations with pianists Vladimir Ashkenazy, Earl Wild, and Shura Cherkassky, as well as violinists Nathan Milstein (Brahms) and Ruggiero Ricci (Khachaturian).

Stanley Black is well-known both as a conductor and composer, although he began his career as quite a talented jazz pianist and arranger. As a conductor, he led various ensembles ranging from dance bands to symphony orchestras; as a composer, he wrote numerous film scores, title themes for radio shows, and other works.

Black began studying piano at the age of seven. He began composing in his pre-teens, enjoying the distinction at 12 of having his first work performed by the BBC Symphony Orchestra during a broadcast concert. Black soon began doing jazz arrangements and won a competition with one in 1929 sponsored by the jazz publication Melody Maker. By this time, he was already a brilliant jazz pianist and soon began to appear on recordings with the bands of Harry Roy and Lew Stone. American artists Louis Armstrong and Coleman Hawkins, on tour in England, engaged him to play on their recordings. Black developed a reputation in the 1930s mainly for his jazz pianism and arranging, but when on tour in South America with Harry Roy's band in 1938, he became strongly attracted to Latin American music, thereafter becoming identified with it in numerous performances and recordings. He signed a contract with Decca Records in 1944 and began regularly appearing on recordings over the next several decades. Among the many album titles from his early years are Jerome Kern's Symphonic Suite, Some Enchanted Evening, Festival in Costa Rica, Cuban Moonlight, Music of Cole Porter, and Sophisticate in Cuba. Black's initial recording career with Decca coincided with his appointment as conductor of the BBC Dance Orchestra in 1944, a post he held until 1952. In 1947, he began writing film scores and eventually became music director on many film projects as well. Some of his better-known film scores include It Always Rains on Sunday (1947), Mr. Potts Goes to Moscow (1952), Wonderful to Be Young! (The Young Ones in the U.S.; 1961), and The Long and the Short and the Tall (1961), where he wrote both the music score and supervised the musical direction. He was associated with more than 100 films either as composer, music director, or both. His last effort as a film composer came with the 1977 Valentino. In 1968, Black accepted the appointment as conductor of the BBC Northern Ireland Orchestra for one season. He also briefly served as associate conductor of the Osaka (Japan) Philharmonic Orchestra, beginning in 1971. He continued to appear as guest conductor throughout the 1970s and 1980s with a variety of orchestras. During this time, he also continued to make recordings for Decca, his efforts including Fiddler on the Roof and a four-volume series of popular film score excerpts entitled Film Spectacular. Black was an immensely popular figure throughout his career in England and was cited in 1986 for his artistic achievements when he was conferred an Officer of the Order of the British Empire. He remained active in the 1990s as a conductor. Among his last appearances was a charity concert in Barbican Hall in 1994, where he was joined by violinist Stéphane Grappelli. Many of Black's recordings have been reissued in the early 2000s, including Music of Irving Berlin and Jerome Kern (2000), and Gershwin Goes Latin (2002).

Rafael Frühbeck de Burgos, eminent Spanish conductor, was born to a Spanish mother and a German father. He was educated at the Music Academy of Bilbao and the Munich Conservatory, and completed his studies at the University of Madrid. His first post as conductor was with the Municipal Orchestra of Bilbao. In 1962, Frühbeck de Burgos began a lifelong association with the National Orchestra of Spain, and was its chief conductor from that time until 1978. His international reputation began with the success of his first appearance with the Philadelphia Orchestra. He served as music director for the Montreal Symphony (1974-1976), the Dusseldorf Symphoniker (1966-1971), and the Deutsche Oper in Berlin (1992-1997). Frühbeck de Burgos was also named chief conductor of the Vienna Symphony and held guest conductorships with the National Symphony Orchestra of Washington, D.C., and the Yomiuri Nippon Symphony in Japan.

Frühbeck de Burgos recorded extensively with English Decca, EMI/Angel, IMP Classics, Chandos and Collins Classics. First and foremost, he was regarded for his interpretations of Spanish music, and recorded the major works of Falla in addition to Rodrigo, Montsalvatge, Ravel, and Granados. His recording of Falla's Nights in the Gardens of Spain with pianist Alicia de Larrocha is judged the best on disc by many critics. Frühbeck de Burgos made several recordings backing vocalist Victoria de Los Angeles in Spanish songs and zarzuela arias for EMI. He made his own arrangement for orchestra of Albeniz's Suite española, and it became a concert staple. Outside of Spanish music, Frühbeck de Burgos also contributed fine recordings of Bizet's Carmen with Grace Bumbry and Jon Vickers in the cast, and justly celebrated discs of Orff's Carmina Burana, Mozart's Requiem, and Stravinsky's Rite of Spring. He was regarded as a sensitive and sympathetic accompanist in concerto literature, and partnered with such luminaries as violinists Yehudi Menhuin and Nathan Milstein, pianists Arturo Benedetti Michelangeli, Louis Lortie, and clarinetist Karl Leister. Frühbeck de Burgos was also a renowned interpreter of the music of Mendelssohn and made recordings of Elijah and the complete incidental music to A Midsummer Night's Dream, which have been critically praised.

Frühbeck de Burgos never recorded in the work of Mahler, but his broadcasts of Mahler's symphonies were highly respected, and in 1996 he was awarded the Gold Medal of the International Gustav Mahler Society in Vienna. From the late 1990s, he toured the world with the National Orchestra of Spain as its conductor emeritus, and had also been principal conductor of the Danish National Symphony Orchestra until he announced his full retirement due to health reasons in June 2014, passing away shortly thereafter.