Rudolf Barshai
Rudolf Borisovich Barshai (Russian Рудольф Борисович Баршай, often in English transliteration Barshai, born September 28, 1924 in the Cossack village Labinskaja, RSFSR; † November 2, 2010 in Basel) was a Russian conductor and violist.
Career
Barschai first studied violin, viola, then at the Moscow Conservatory with Professors Lev Zeitlin and Vadim Borissowski. When Dmitri Shostakovich, he received lessons in composition and made music together with him. When Ilya Musin, he studied theory and practice of conducting.
As a violist concerted Barschai both as a soloist and together with Sviatoslav Richter and David Oistrakh, together with Mstislav Rostropovich and Leonid Kogan, he formed a trio. Barschai won numerous Soviet and international competitions.
1945 Barshai founding member of the Borodin Quartet, which he left in 1953.
In 1954 he married Anna Martinson, a Russian painter and costume designer, daughter of the popular Soviet actors Sergei Martinson.
Under the impression of the concerts of the Chamber Orchestra Wilhelm Stross, which occurred in 1955 in the wake of the historic state visit of Konrad Adenauer, the first orchestral ensemble after the war in the Soviet Union, and there celebrated triumphs, Barshai founded the Moscow Chamber Orchestra, which, like the Stross'sche Orchestra " played while standing. " He remained its conductor and leader until his emigration to Israel in 1977., Where he was head of the Israeli Chamber Orchestra, then conductor of the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra (1982-1986). Since then he has lived in Switzerland. Barshai conducted many renowned orchestras, including the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra, Vancouver, London Symphony Orchestra, the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, the WDR Symphony Orchestra Cologne, the Saarbrücken Radio Symphony Orchestra, Orchestra in Stuttgart, Houston, Miami, Cincinnati and many others.
Barschai became famous as a performer and through his transcriptions of the music of Dmitri Shostakovich and Sergei Prokofiev, as well as by his conducting of the music of Gustav Mahler and Shostakovich. Many of his recordings have won international awards. With authorized by the composer instrumentation of the 8th string quartet by Shostakovich for chamber orchestra he wrote music history. The song was recorded as Opus 110a in his catalog of works by the composer.
In his last years Barshai lived in Ramlinsburg near Basel.