and Concertos, dances and fantasias by, Gluck, Rameau, Lully, Marias and Purcell and Serenades and divertimenti by Debussy, Poulenc, Hindemith and Martinu, and Meerovich Serenade
One of the most fascinating and elusive musicians of the Soviet age. This set provides a unique opportunity to experience the artistry of a man lauded by so many great composers and fellow artists.
Much unusual repertoire including Weinberg, Rääts, Loshkin, Bunin is included along with a classic recording of Shostakovich’s Symphony No 14.
‘The playing of the Moscow Chamber Orchestra has great intensity and feeling, indeed it could hardly be bettered.’ Gramophone review of Shostakovich 14, 1971
‘Barshai’s orchestration of 15 of Prokofiev’s 20 capricious short pieces…is really masterly. Such imaginative and ingenious scoring as this demands an orchestra of virtuoso soloists, and this he is fortunate enough to have.’ Gramophone 1963
The Russian conductor Rudolf Barshai was born in 1924 and studied at the Moscow and Leningrad Conservatories. He quickly became part of a group of outstanding young Soviet musicians and composers including Shostakovich, Richter, Oistrakh and Rostropovich. He frequently performed with them, and as he was a highly skilled arranger, had Shostakovich’s agreement to adapt several of his string quartets for string orchestra – the 10th quartet can be heard in this form in this extensive survey of his work as conductor and arranger. Barshai established the Moscow Chamber orchestra in 1955 and it soon gained a world class reputation for its searching performances of Bach, Beethoven, Mozart, Haydn and Schubert. It would be impossible to include all of the prolific number of recordings Barshai has made, but this set captures the essence of the man – a highly skilled arranger, a champion of new music. A perceptive interpreter of the classical and romantic repertoire (and who believed that a 45-strong chamber orchestra of today was indistinguishable from that of a full orchestra of the classical period), with an awareness of what would become known as ‘period’ interpretation. Barshai was also meticulous to the point of obsession over rehearsals. This tried the patience of many Western orchestras, but always produced superb performances. Very much a ‘musician’s musician’, Barshai became friends with Tippett, Britten and Menuhin. Now in his eighties, he lives in Switzerland and works tirelessly to serve ‘the composer’s will’, still producing his wonderful transcriptions for string ensemble.
