Guennadi Rojdestvensky

Rozhdestvensky was born in Moscow.

His parents were the noted conductor and pedagogue Nikolai Anosov and soprano Natalya Rozhdestvenskaya.

His given name was Gennady Nikolayevich Anosov, but he adopted his mother’s maiden name in its masculine form for his professional career so as to avoid the appearance of nepotism.

His younger brother, the painter P.N. Anosov, retained their father's name.

He studied conducting with his father at the Moscow Conservatory and piano with Lev Oborin. Already known for having conducted Tchaikovsky's The Nutcracker ballet at the Bolshoi Theatre at the age of 20, he quickly established his reputation.

He premiered many works of Soviet composers, including Edison Denisov's Le soleil des Incas (Sun of the Incas) (1964), as well as giving the Russian premiere of Benjamin Britten's A Midsummer Night's Dream and the Western premiere of Dmitri Shostakovich's Fourth Symphony at the 1962 Edinburgh Festival.

He became general artistic director of the Bolshoi Theatre in 2000, and in 2001 conducted the world premiere of the original version of Sergei Prokofiev's opera The Gambler.

Not long afterwards he resigned, citing desertion by singers, production problems and hostile coverage by the Moscow press.

Among the works dedicated to Rozhdestvensky is Sofia Gubaidulina's symphony Stimmen... Verstummen....

Conducting

Rozhdestvensky is considered a versatile conductor and a highly cultured musician with a supple stick technique.

In moulding his interpretations, he gives a clear idea of the structural outlines and emotional content of a piece, combined with a performing style which melds logic, intuition and spontaneity.

He has been praised for his efficient rehearsals which he keeps short, and is noted for his habit of walking around the stage while conducting and not using a podium, even at concerts.

Editing

He edited the second volume of the collected works of Shostakovich published in 1984, including the Symphony No. 3 and Symphony No. 4.

Orchestra tenures

1951-1961 Orchestra of the Bolshoi Theatre (conductor)

1961-1974 Symphony Orchestra of All-Union Radio and Television (Moscow)

1964-1970 Orchestra of the Bolshoi Theatre (principal conductor)

1974-1985 Chamber Theatre Orchestra

1974-1977 Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra (artistic director)

1978-1981 BBC Symphony Orchestra (chief conductor)

1980-1982 Vienna Symphony

1983-1991 USSR Ministry of Culture Symphony Orchestra

1992-1995 Royal Stockholm Philharmonic

With the USSR Ministry of Culture Symphony Orchestra he recorded all the symphonies of Dmitri Shostakovich, Alexander Glazunov, Anton Bruckner, Alfred Schnittke, and Arthur Honegger

He also performed all the symphonies of Ralph Vaughan Williams in St. Petersburg in the late 1980s but only the 1st (the Sea Symphony) has been released on CD.

He has also conducted many of the world's greatest orchestras, including the Berlin Philharmonic, the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, the Boston Symphony Orchestra, the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, the Cleveland Orchestra, the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra, and the London Symphony Orchestra.