Gennady Rozhdestnevsky, the emiment Russian conductor, has died at 87. Rozhdestnevsky was a close associate and advocate of several generations of Russian composers, notably Dmitri Shostakovich, Alfred Schnittke and Sofia Gubaidulina.
While directing several leading Moscow musical institutions, including the Bolshoi Theater, State Symphony Orchestra of the Soviet Ministry of Culture and Moscow Radio Symphony Orchestra, Rozhdestnevsky became of the most frequent visitors to the West during the Soviet era. He subsequently led Western ensembles, including the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic, Vienna Symphony Orchestra and BBC Symphony Orchestra, and regularly guest-conducted other leading European and American orchestras and opera companies.
His large discography ranges from standard and lesser-known Russian concert and theater music to an eclectic sampling of romantic and modern repertory from central and western Europe.
An obituary by David Nice for The Guardian:
http://www.theguardian.com/music/2018/jun/17/gennady-rozhdestvensky-obituary
Letter V 