Question: Who conducted an opera by Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov with Yevgeny Akulov in 1962?
Context: Christmas Eve (Russian: Ночь перед Рождеством , "Noch' pered Rozhdestvom"), is an opera in four acts with music and libretto by Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov.  Composed between 1894 and 1895, Rimsky-Korsakov based his opera on a short story, "Christmas Eve", from Nikolai Gogol's "Evenings on a Farm Near Dikanka".  The story had been used as the basis for an opera at least three times previously, including for Tchaikovsky's "Vakula the Smith" (1874).  Oliver Knussen writes that "Rimsky is only interested in recreating the atmosphere of the folk-tale, fleshing it out for his stage pageant in a comparable way to Humperdinck in "Hansel". Rimsky-Korsakov (Russian: Римский-Корсаков ) is a 1953 Soviet biopic directed by Gennadi Kazansky and Grigori Roshal and starring Grigori Belov, Nikolai Cherkasov and Aleksandr Borisov.  The film portrays the life of the Russian composer Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov.  The film was shot in Sovcolor. Sadko (Russian: Садко ) is a 1952 Russian fantasy film directed by Aleksandr Ptushko.  The film is based on an opera by Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov, which was based on a Russian "bylina "(epic tale) with the same name, and scored with Rimsky-Korsakov's music from the opera. Valery Kritskov is a Russian conductor who used to take conducting lessons at the Moscow Institute of Culture which were taught by Kirill Tikhonov.  He graduated from there in 1988 and then worked in Moscow-based Helikon Opera till he got employed with Novaya Opera in 2002.  While there, he conducted many operas including Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov's "The Snow Maiden" and "The Tsar’s Bride" as well as Anton Rubinstein's "The Demon" and Tchaikovsky's "The Maid of Orleans".  He also conducted works by the Italian composers such as Pietro Mascagni's "Cavalleria rusticana" and Ruggero Leoncavallo's "Pagliacci" and German such as Richard Wagner's "Lohengrin" and Strauss' "Die Fledermaus" as well as a concert dedicated to Vincenzo Bellini.  Besides operas, he is also known for his conducting of the Russian ballet based on works by Tchaikovsky and Sergei Prokofiev as well as German and Austrian ballet composers such as Ludwig Minkus and Charles Gounod.  Later on, he became a conductor of the Coppélia ballet which was based by Léo Delibes work and was produced by Imperial Russian Ballet.  Currently he has two CD recordings called "Chorus of the Novaya Opera Theatre of Moscow" and the "Soloists of the Novaya Opera Theatre of Moscow". The Noblewoman Vera Sheloga (Russian: Боярыня Вера Шелога, "Boyarïnya Vera Sheloga" ) is an opera in one act by Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov.  Rimsky-Korsakov wrote the libretto, which he based on the first act of the play "The Maid of Pskov" by Lev Alexandrovich Mey.  The opera was composed in 1898 from material omitted from the second version of Rimsky-Korsakov's setting of the play as an opera.  The first and third versions of the opera "The Maid of Pskov" omit the first act of the play. Sadko, Op.  5, is a "musical tableau" by Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov, written in 1867 and revised in 1869 and 1892.  It is sometimes called the first symphonic poem written in Russia.  It was first performed in 1867 at a concert of the Russian Musical Society (RMS), conducted by Mily Balakirev.  Rimsky-Korsakov later wrote an opera of the same name which quotes freely from the earlier work.  From the tone poem the composer quoted its most memorable passages in the opera, including the opening theme of the swelling sea, and other themes as leitmotives - he himself set out to "utilize for this opera the material of my symphonic poem, and, in any event, to make use of its motives as leading motives for the opera". Yevgeny Akulov, first name often spelled Yevgeni or Evgeni, (Russian: Евгений Акулов ) was a Soviet conductor.  He was noted for his conducting of the opera "The Golden Cockerel" with Aleksei Kovalev in 1962 and his conducting for the Moscow Radio Large Symphony Orchestra, the USSR TV and Radio Operatic and Symphonic Orchestra and Ivan Petrov Orchestras. May Nights (Russian: Майская ночь, или Утопленница , "Maiskaya noch, ili utoplennitsa " ) is a 1952 Soviet comedy film directed by Aleksandr Rou and starring Nikolai Dosenko, Tatyana Konyukhova and Aleksandr Khvylya.  It is based on Nikolai Gogol's "May Night, or the Drowned Maiden" and the subsequent opera version by Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov. The Golden Cockerel (Russian: Золотой петушок , "Zolotoy petushok") is an opera in three acts, with short prologue and even shorter epilogue, by Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov.  Its libretto, by Vladimir Belsky, derives from Alexander Pushkin's 1834 poem "The Tale of the Golden Cockerel", which in turn is based on two chapters of "Tales of the Alhambra" by Washington Irving.  The opera was completed in 1907 and premiered in 1909 in Moscow, after the composer's death.  Outside Russia it has often been performed in French as "Le coq d'or". Maria de Francesca-Cavazza is a German operatic soprano and voice teacher.  Raised in the United States, she is a graduate of the Sherwood Conservatory of Music at the Columbia College Chicago where she was a pupil of Maria Hussa-Greve and Garvin Williamson.  In 1961, she won the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions.  Shortly thereafter, she moved to Germany to pursue further studies at the Hochschule für Musik Köln with Margarete Düren.  She made her professional opera debut in 1962 at the Cologne Opera in a minor role, and the following year performed her first leading role with that company as Tsaritsa Militrisa in Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov's "The Tale of Tsar Saltan".  She then appeared as a leading soprano at several German opera houses, working as a member of the Opernhaus Wuppertal (1964-1965), the Kiel Opera House (1965-1967), the Staatsoper Nürnberg (1967-1976), and the Staatsoper Stuttgart (1976-1986).  As a guest artist, she has made appearances at the Bavarian State Opera, the Bayreuth Festival and the Vienna State Opera, among others.  She can be heard and seen in the role of the Cardillac's daughter in Hindemith's opera Cardillac, conducted by Wolfgang Sawallisch, on a 1985 Munich DVD issued by Deutsche Grammophon.  De Francesca-Cavazza has taught on the music faculties of conservatories in Munich and Nuremberg.
Answer: Aleksei Kovalev