The death was announced today in Moscow of the unforgettable Gennady Rozhdestvensky. He was 87.

Making his Bolshoi debut in 1951, he conducted all over the world, serving as chief conductor of the BBC Symphony Orchestra, the Vienna Symphony and the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic.

Back home, he conducted Schnittke symphonies in the provinces when his music was banned in major cities and did much to advance two generations of non-conformist composers.

But he never spoke out against the Soviet regime, accepted its highest honours and lived comfortably within the system.

Orchestras loved him for not using all of his rehearsal time, saving the best for his concerts.

He was married to the pianist Viktoria Postnikova.

UPDATE: Rare video: Rozhdestvensky with Shostakovich.

Apart from Barenboim?

This is Sir Antonio Pappano with Kirill Gerstein in Munich this week, knocking off a Rachmaninov waltz.

Pavarotti remembers:

Treasure them both.

I glanced down the right-hand sound of the screen and found that these are some of my top pre-selects.

I must be more eclectic than I imagined.

Even stranger than I feared.