Rodion Shchedrin, Composer Who Captured Russia’s Soul, Dies at 92

Arts|Rodion Shchedrin, Composer Who Captured Russia’s Soul, Dies at 92

Rodion Shchedrin, a leading Russian composer of the post-Stalinist era whose prolific output included operas, ballets, concertos and symphonies that became staples of the Moscow and St. Petersburg music stages, has died. He was 92.

The Bolshoi Theatre announced his death in a message on its Telegram channel. It did not say how he died or when.

He and his wife, the great ballerina, Maya Plisetskaya, reigned as Russian cultural icons during the second half of the 20th century. At home, Mr. Shchedrin was championed by leading conductors, including Valery Gergiev, artistic director of the Mariinsky Theater. Abroad, his works were promoted by the exiled Russian cellist, Mstislav Rostropovich, and the conductor Lorin Maazel.

Western critics gave Mr. Shchedrin (shu-deh-REEN) mixed reviews, sometimes applauding his deft transformation of Russian classic novels into operas and ballets, and at other times disparaging some of his works as dull and trite.

Throughout his long career, Mr. Shchedrin displayed an eagerness to experiment. His earlier work, inspired by his love of Russian folk tales, was colorfully orchestrated and had a tonal quality that owed a debt to Sergei Prokofiev, whom he deeply admired. Russian Orthodox mysticism, melodrama, brooding orchestrations, neo-Romantic tonality and chromaticism all found a place in his sound world.

In his later music, Mr. Shchedrin sometimes used serial techniques that recalled Arnold Schoenberg’s 12-tone compositions.