Conductor, Violist. He shall probably be most remembered as an exponent of the works of his friend Dimitri Shostakovich. A graduate of the Moscow Conservatory where he studied both violin and viola, he was a member of the Borodin Quartet from 1945 until 1953, stopping when his work as a conductor and arranger cut into his performing time, though resentment over having to play for Stalin's funeral may have contributed to his decision to leave. In 1955 Barshai helped found the Moscow Chamber Orchestra which brought Baroque music to Russia, though he was not allowed to translate the texts of Bach's cantatas due to the religious content of the pieces. Increasingly unhappy with life in the Soviet Union, he attempted to leave several times before finally being allowed to move to London in 1977. Once free in the west, Barshai began conducting major orchestras on both sides of the Atlantic and had extended engagements in Paris, London, and Vancouver. As principal conductor of the Vancouver Symphony in 1981 and 1982 he was professionally respected, though some of his personnel decisions made him unpopular. Barshai was maestro of the Bournemouth Symphony from 1982 until 1986, again earning praise for his Beethoven, Shostakovich, and Prokofiev interpretations and for his ability to present large orchestral pieces in chamber music form. Finally able to return to Russia in 1993 he was to rejoin his old colleagues for a series of much acclaimed concerts. He died having been in ill health for some time, though he continued work on a transcription of Bach's "The Art of Fugue" until the end. His recorded legacy, some of which was found in an old warehouse after the collapse of the Soviet government, was significant including a 1988 Grammy-winning Tchaikovsky Piano Concerto No.2, the full Shostakovich symphonic canon, Gustav Mahler's Ninth Symphony and Bashai's own completion of Mahler's Tenth.