Archives Historiques Russes [CD de audio] barshai rudolf and Rudolf Barshai

Russian conductor Rudolf Barshai was born in 1924 and studied at the Moscow and Leningrad Conservatories. He quickly became a member of a group of prominent young musicians and composers of the Soviet Union, including Shostakovich, Richter, Oistrach and Rostropovich. Barshai regularly held performances with his famous colleagues. And as a gifted arranger, he was given permission by Shostakovich himself to arrange some of his string quartets for string orchestra. The tenth quartet can be heard on the present recordings, which show Barshai as arranger and conductor. In 1955, Barshai founded the Moscow Chamber Orchestra, and the ensemble quickly gained worldwide recognition for its performances of works by Bach, Beethoven, Mozart, Haydn and Schubert. This box set captures the most important moments of Barshai's recordings, highlighting his completely new perception of familiar works: through the art of arranging, which makes music new and old shine again. Barshai makes his 45-piece ensemble sound as voluminous as a large symphony orchestra. His performances anticipate the intense 'practice of historical performance' as we know it from early music and the Baroque. Barshai was a pedant when it came to rehearsals, which he conducted like a person possessed. Therefore, as a conductor he was unusual for many European orchestras, but the result always proved him right. Barshai was a friend of Tippett, Britten and Menuhin. Today he lives in Switzerland as an octogenarian and still works on transcriptions to 'preserve the will of the composer' - in his own very special way.