GENNADY ROZHDESTVENSKY

He entered the annals of world music history as a conductor, innovator and propagandist for modern academic music. He began studying music at age of six and in 1951, after passing the qualifying competition, was accepted as the conductor of the Bolshoi Ballet and worked in that capacity until 1960. Soon thereafter Rozhdestvensky became the chief conductor for the Bolshoi. His repertoire at the Theatre covers about forty operas and ballets. Since 1950, the name of Gennady Rozhdestvensky became well-known to fans of symphonic music. For more than fifty years the creative activity of Maestro Rozhdestvensky was presiding at the conductor's podium at almost all famous Russian and foreign symphony orchestras.

In the 1970's Rozhdestvensky was the principal conductor of the Bolshoi Symphony Orchestra and the Symphony Orchestra of All-Union Radio and Television. By the mid 1970's he had became one of the most respected conductors in Europe. He directed the Symphony Orchestra in Stockholm and the Air Force in London.

Since 1976 Gennady Rozhdestvensky has been a Professor at the Moscow State Conservatory and has brought up a number of talented conductors.

Gennady Rozhdestvensky introduced to the domestic audience many unknown works by contemporary composers. Under the direction of renowned conductor many works by Alfred Schnittke, Sofia Gubaidulina and Edison Denisov have debuted. He has always faithful to the principle of repertory discoveries.

In 1970, he received the Lenin Prize for his work on the ballet Spartacus by Khachaturian.  In 1976 he was awarded the title People's Artist of the USSR. He is an Honorary Member of the Royal Swedish Academy (1975) and an Honorary Academician of the English Royal Academy of Music (1984). He received the Commander of the Order of the Rising Sun (2001) for his contribution to musical culture in Japan and was awarded the Order of Merit for his great contribution to the development of national musical art.

The name of Gennady Rozhdestvensky is known throughout the world. The creative range of this outstanding musician is multifaceted: a brilliant symphony and theater conductor, a pianist, a gifted teacher, a composer, the author of books and articles, a great orator, scholar, editor and restorer of many musical scores.

From the book LIFE MUSIC by Alexandra Kremer-Khomasuridze:

"Once, during a performance of Sleeping Beauty at the Bolshoi Theatre, during the quietest part of the third act, there was a thunderous blow on the timpani which Tchaikovsky had not originally provided. It turned out that a boy sitting in the fifth tier – there was a group of children there - had dropped a mandarin.''

"Before the concert I am annoyed by the feeling that I will not be able to accomplish what I have planned. And after the concert I am annoyed that something does not work."