Jansug Kakhidze (May 26, 1935 in Tblisi – March 8, 2002) was a Georgian conductor, nicknamed "the Slavic Karajan". Kakhidze was music director of the Georgian State Symphony Orchestra for two decades beginning in 1973. Famous for his innovative program and devotion to contemporary works from his homeland, Kakhidze gained wide recognition during his life as a close friend and strong advocate of composer Giya Kancheli, recording his entire cycle of seven symphonies along with many other works. The peak of Kakhidze's career included numerous appearances conducting throughout Europe and Australia. His performance of Berlioz's Damnation of Faust with the Orchestra de Paris in 1990 drew high praise from critics and helped him to secure further international success in places such as the United States, where appeared as a guest conductor with both the Boston Symphony and the National Symphony Orchestra. <a href="https://www.last.fm/music/Jansug+Kakhidze">Read more on Last.fm</a>. User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License; additional terms may apply.