FIRST OFF . . .

Ruben Vartanan, a staff conductor of the Soviet Union’s Bolshoi Theater opera company, defected in Bolivia earlier this month and has been granted asylum in the United States, State Department officials said Wednesday. Vartanan, described as one of four or five conductors associated with the Bolshoi, turned up at the U.S. Embassy in La Paz about two weeks ago and has since arrived in Washington. He is scheduled to appear at a news conference today. According to the officials, Vartanan said he was tired of artistic restrictions in the Soviet Union. He also told U.S. officials that he has been in disfavor with Soviet authorities for allegedly having developed an affinity for Western life styles. Vartanan spent an extended period in Bolivia in the mid-1970s conducting the country’s national symphony orchestra, said the officials, who insisted on anonymity.