So sad to hear of the death today of the great Gennady Rozhdestvensky. His wonderful, polished conducting introduced me to so many works over the years, not least the Shostakovich symphonies. R.I.P.
He was a bit of a maverick - in the best sense. Always went his own way.
What a great Maestro for Russian music!
Already in the 1970 I bought his complete Tchaikovsky, Prokofiev and Sibelius Symphonies - from which I could learn a lot. Another very valuable set is the one with the complete Prokofiev ballets. Then we have Prokofiev's "The Gambler" and "Maddalena" - and a 4CD set of less-known Prokofiev pieces, which was re-issued by the pirate label Venezia. Tchaikovsky's "Maid of Orléans" and Rimsky's "Tszar's Bride" are also fabulous - as his more recent Chandos recordings of Shostakovitch's "The Golden Age", "The Bolt" and "The Limpid Stream".
Apropos Tchaikovsky: "Manfred Symphony" is, in my opinion, among the bests (unfortunately of inferior sound!); his "Ode to Joy" and "Moscow" are landmarks.
His recordings of Enescu, Langgaard and Nielsen, his broadcasts of Myaskovsky symphonies are among many other fine and welcome ones too :)
I remember him over here at the helm of our Residentie Orkest. With his wife playing Scriabin's piano concerto. He conducted smiling, with a minimum of gestures, only with his shoulders and a constant kind of poker face. Clownesk but I think he got what he wanted from the musicians. RIP