Leben in zwei Welten

Rudolf Barschai was one of the legendary musicians that Russia produced after World War II. Even today, his name still resonates well with music lovers. Dmitri Shostakovich was the guiding star of his music-making; he took lessons from him, played music with him, and created the famousedition 8th string quartet. Shostakovich's 14th Symphony was composed for Barschai's Moscow Chamber Orchestra, and the cycle of his fifteen symphonies with the RSO Cologne under Barschai's baton became the benchmark recording.

Barschai began studying violin with Lev Zeitlin, the legendary professor at the Moscow Conservatory. Zeitlin was a star pupil of Leopold Auer, the “father” of the Russian violin school. The Austrian Auer had authentically conveyed the school of Viennese classical music to Russia. The fact that Lev Zeitlin was also a friend of Debussy, had played music in Paris for a long time, and was familiar with French modernism reinforced the cosmopolitan character of Barschai's education.

While still a student, Rudolf Barschai became so enthusiastic about string quartets that he switched from the violin to the viola in order to form a first-class quartet. He was a founding member of both the Borodin and Tchaikovsky Quartets. He also gained orchestral experience during his training, playing first viola in the Bolshoi Theater orchestra. He remained faithful to the viola later on. This led to the famous recordings of Mozart's Sinfonia Concertante with David Oistrakh on violin and Rudolf Barschai on viola, and Berlioz's Harold in Italy with Rudolf Barschai as violist, while David Oistrakh conducted the Moscow Philharmonic.

After Shostakovich's death, Rudolf Barschai emigrated to the West and built a new career there. Now he interprets the classical repertoire from Bach and Mozart to Schubert and Brahms to Mahler and Shostakovich with the world's great orchestras in his clear style, reminiscent of Otto Klemperer. He has conducted the Vienna Symphony Orchestra, the London Symphony Orchestra, the BBC Symphony Orchestra, the Philharmonia Orchestra London, the Orchestre National de France, the Orchestre de Paris, the Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin, the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, and many other orchestras in Europe, Asia, and America.

In addition to performing, Barschai has always sought creative work; he has composed, orchestrated, arranged, and was always on the lookout for new sounds. Recently, he has orchestrated further string quartets by Shostakovich for small orchestra. His last major projects were the completion of Mahler's 10th Symphony and J. pp. The Art of Fugue.

And he was an alert observer of his time. Even as a child, his family had to flee halfway across the Soviet Union to escape Stalin's henchmen. He took the secret service surveillance of his tours with humor, but noted the anti-Semitism of the authorities with unease. In many conversations with Bernd Feuchtner, the talented storyteller described his eventful life. The result is a book that is not only exciting to read, but also a unique document of a contemporary witness.

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