Rudolf Barshai

Rudolf Barshai first attracted notice among Western listeners through his association with the Moscow Chamber Orchestra, the group he himself created. He later assumed leadership of several prominent Soviet orchestras, extending his work beyond the chamber repertoire that had defined his early reputation. Relocation to Israel in the 1970s opened further Western engagements, until the collapse of Communism drew him back to Russia in 1993 for significant performances.

At the Moscow Conservatory he studied violin with Lev Zeitlin, himself a student of Leopold Auer. He next turned to the viola, training under Vadim Borisovsky, widely admired for his perceptive chamber playing. Barshai likewise embraced chamber music, founding the Philharmonic Quartet—later reorganized as the Borodin Quartet—and building a solo career. He went on to co-establish the Tchaikovsky Quartet, joined ensembles led by Leonid Kogan, and appeared regularly with Emil Gilels, Sviatoslav Richter, David Oistrakh, and Mstislav Rostropovich.

An enduring desire to conduct prompted him to study with Ilya Musin in Leningrad, which in turn led him to form the Moscow Chamber Orchestra in 1955. With that ensemble he realized his ideals for chamber performance, above all a firm yet pliant tone and transparent execution. His Beethoven and Mozart symphony cycles drew particular attention for their forward-looking ideas, which anticipated directions the period-instrument movement would later pursue. The MCO enabled extensive Western tours, making Barshai one of the Soviet Union’s most familiar conductors while he also recorded with international artists.

From the late 1960s he began directing larger Soviet orchestras. In 1969 he led the premiere of Shostakovich’s Symphony No. 14, whose lean scoring suited the Moscow Chamber Orchestra exactly. Barshai settled in Israel in 1976 and took an active role in the country’s musical life. He directed the Israel Chamber Orchestra from his arrival until 1981 and simultaneously led the New Israel Orchestra. Between 1982 and 1988 he served as artistic adviser of the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra and as music director of the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra from 1985 to 1988. Beginning in 1987 he also acted as principal guest conductor of the Orchestre National de France and appeared as guest with numerous other major orchestras.

An invitation to conduct Mahler’s Symphony No. 9 with the Russian National Orchestra brought him back to Russia in 1993. In May 1999 twenty Swiss musicians founded the Camerata Rudolf Barshai and selected Barshai to lead it. In addition to his conducting and viola work, Barshai enriched the chamber repertoire with many transcriptions and arrangements, most notably those drawn from Shostakovich’s string quartets.