Gennady Rozhdestvensky (1931-2018) was a Russian conductor, one of the most distinctive Soviet musical figures of the twentieth century. He worked with major orchestras and was known for vast repertory, sharp character and advocacy of unusual music.

In the Pristine catalogue he appears in Prokofiev’s Romeo and Juliet with the Symphony Orchestra of the State Academic Bolshoi Theatre.

Rozhdestvensky’s conducting could be vivid, theatrical and rhythmically incisive, with a strong instinct for colour and irony. In Prokofiev, that bite is not decoration; it is part of the language.

His page is essential despite a small catalogue footprint. Rozhdestvensky conducts as though the score has just winked at him from the page.