Rozhdestvensky, Gennadi (Nikolaievich)

Rozhdestvensky, Gennadi (Nikolaievich) , eminent Russian conductor, son of Nikolai Anosov; b. Moscow, May 4, 1931. He studied piano with Oborin and conducting with his father at the Moscow Cons., graduating in 1954. From 1951 to 1961 he served as asst. conductor at the Bolshoi Theater in Moscow, and from 1964 to 1970 was its principal conductor. From 1961 to 1974 he was chief conductor of the All-Union Radio and TV Sym. Orch. in Moscow; also was chief conductor of the Stockholm Phil. (1975–77), the BBC Sym. Orch. in London (1978–81), and the Vienna Sym. Orch. (1981–83). In 1982 he founded and became chief conductor of the State Symphonic Orch. of the Soviet Ministry of Culture in Moscow. In 1991 he renamed it the Soviet Phil., and then later that year the State Symphonic Kapelle of Moscow. He conducted it at its U.S. debut in N.Y. on Feb. 4, 1992. From 1991 he also served as chief conductor of the Royal Stockholm Phil. He married Viktoria Postnikova in 1969. He is distinguished by his encompassing interest in new music; he conducted notable performances of works by Soviet composers, particularly Prokofiev and Shostakovich, as well as by Stravinsky, Schoenberg, Berg, Milhaud, Honegger, and Poulenc. Rozhdestvensky publ. a technical treatise on conducting (Leningrad, 1974) and a collection of essays on his thoughts on music (Moscow, 1975).

—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire