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Mstislav Leopoldovich Rostropovich (Russian: Мстисла́в Леопо́льдович Ростропо́вич, Mstislav Leopol'dovič Rostropovič, IPA pronunciation , March 27 1927 – April 27 2007), affectionately known as "Slava", was an ethnically Russian cellist and conductor. He is widely considered to be one of the greatest cellists of the twentieth century. Among the composers who wrote specially for him were Prokofiev, Britten, Bernstein, Schnitke, Khachaturian and Piazzolla. He performed every work for cello that has ever been written and was the first performer of 117 pieces. He was well known for his interpretations of Dvořák's B minor cello concerto and Haydn's cello concertos in C and D, and for his commissions of new works that have considerably enlarged the cello repertoire (notably by Shostakovich, Prokofiev, Britten, Lutoslawski, Penderecki, and Dutilleux).

Rostropovich was born in Baku, Azerbaijan, then part of the Soviet Union. From 1943 to 1948, he studied at the Moscow Conservatory, where he became professor of cello in 1956. He lived for the latter part of his life in self-imposed exile in Paris.

Rostropovich's health began to decline around 2006,. with the Chicago Tribune reported rumors following unspecified surgery in Geneva and later treatment for what was reported as an aggravated ulcer. Russian President Vladimir Putinvisited Rostropovich to discuss details of a celebration the Kremlin was planning for March 27 2007, Rostropovich's 80th birthday. Rostropovich attended the celebration but was reportedly in frail health.

The Itar-Tass news agency reported that Rostropovich died on April 27 2007 in Moscow, after having been hospitalized in February of the same year for intestinal cancer. He was 80.

Early years

His father, Leopold was from a Polish nobility family (The Rostropowiczs, Bogorya coat of arms, lived in a family palace in Skotniki, Masovian Voivodeship) in Baku, Azerbaijan, at age 4, he learned the piano with his mother who was a talented pianist, and started the cello at the age of 10 with his father, who was also a cellist and a student of Pablo Casals.

He entered the Moscow Conservatory in 1943, at the age of 16, where he studied not only the piano and the cello, but also conducting and composition. Among his teachers were Dmitri Shostakovich and Sergei Prokofiev. In 1945 he came to prominence as cellist when he won the gold medal in the first ever Soviet Union competition for young musicians.

First concerts

Rostropovich gave his first cello concert in 1942. He won first prize at the international Music Awards of Prague and Budapest in 1947, 1949, and 1950. In 1950, at the age of 23 he was awarded what was then considered the highest distinction in the Soviet Union, the Stalin Prize. At that time, Rostropovich was already well known in his country and while actively pursuing his solo career, he taught at the Leningrad Conservatory (now Saint-Petersburg) and the Moscow Conservatory. In 1955, he married Galina Vishnevskaya, soprano at the Bolshoi Theatre.

His international career started in 1964 in what was then West Germany. As of this date, he went on several tours in western Europe and met several composers, including Benjamin Britten. In 1967, he conducted Tchaikovsky's opera Eugene Onegin at the Bolshoi, thus letting forth his passion for both the role of conductor and the opera.

Exile

Rostropovich fought for art without borders, freedom of speech, and democratic values, resulting in harassment from the Soviet regime.

An early example of this was in 1948, when he was a student at the Moscow Conservatory. In response to the 10 February 1948 decree on so-called 'formalist' composers, his teacher Dmitri Shostakovich was dismissed from his professorships in Leningrad and Moscow; the then 21-year-old Rostropovich, protesting this, quit the Conservatory, dropping out in protest.

In 1970, Rostropovich sheltered Alexander Solzhenitsyn, who otherwise had nowhere else to go, in his own home. His friendship with Solzhenitsyn and his support for dissidents led to official disgrace in the early 1970s. As a result, Rostropovich was restricted from foreign touring, as was his wife, soprano Galina Vishnevskaya, and he was sent on a recital tour of small towns in Siberia.

Rostropovich left the Soviet Union in 1974 with his wife and children and settled in the United States. He was banned from several musical ensembles in his homeland, and his Soviet citizenship was revoked in 1978 because of his public opposition to the Soviet Union's restriction of cultural freedom.

Further career

Rostropovich was a huge influence on the younger generation of cellists. Many have openly acknowledged their debt to his example. Julian Lloyd Webber remarked "no other single person has done as much for the cello as he has", The Independent, London.

His talent inspired compositions from numerous composers such as Shostakovich, Khachaturian, Prokofiev, Britten, Messiaen, Dutilleux, Bernstein, and Penderecki. He and fellow Soviet composer Dmitri Kabalevsky completed Prokofiev's Cello Concertino after the composer's death. Rostropovich gave the first performances of both of Shostakovich's cello concertos. Rostropovich introduced Shostakovich's First Concerto to London and began an association with Benjamin Britten. Britten dedicated his Cello Sonata, three Solo Suites and his Cello Symphony to Rostropovich, who gave their first performances.

From 1977 until 1994, he was musical director and conductor of the U.S. National Symphony Orchestra in Washington, DC, while still performing with some of the most famous musicians such as Sviatoslav Richter and Vladimir Horowitz. He was also the director and founder of many music festivals (e.g. Aldeburgh Festival, Rostropovitch Festival).

His impromptu performance during the fall of the Berlin Wall as events unfolded earned him international fame and was shown on television throughout the world.Cite error: A <ref> tag is missing the closing </ref> (see the help page). Rostropovich performed several times in Madrid and was a close friend of Queen Sofía of Spain.

Rostropovich and his wife, Galina Vishnevskaya, started a foundation to stimulate social projects and activities. The couple funded a vaccination program in Azerbaijan. The Rostropovich Home Museum opened on March 4 2002, in Baku. The Rostropoviches visited Azerbaijan occasionally. Rostropovich also presented cello master classes at the Azerbaijan State Conservatory.

Rostropovich's instrument was the 1711 Duport Stradivarius, considered to be one of the greatest instruments ever made.

Rostropovich's last home was in Paris; however, he maintained residences in Moscow, St. Petersburg, London, Lausanne, and Jordanville, New York. According to the New York Times, Rostropovich was admitted to a Paris hospital at the end of January 2007, but then decided to fly to Moscow, where he had been frequently receiving care. On February 6 2007 the 79-year-old Rostropovich was admitted to a hospital in Moscow. "He is just feeling unwell," Natalya Dolezhale, Rostropovich's secretary in Moscow, said. Asked if there was serious cause for concern about his health she said: "No, right now there is no cause whatsoever." She refused to specify the nature of his illness. The Kremlin said late on that Monday that President Vladimir Putin had visited the musician in hospital, prompting speculation that he was in a serious condition. Dolezhale said the visit was to discuss arrangements for marking Rostropovich's 80th birthday.

Obituaries cited sources stating that the cellist suffered from intestinal cancer. However, he re-entered the Blokhin Cancer Institute on April 7 2007, and died on April 27 2007, according to BBC reports.

Awards and recognitions

Rostropovich received about 50 awards during his life, including:

• Grammy Award for Best Chamber Music Performance
• Polar Music Prize, 1995
• Mstislav Rostropovich & Rudolf Serkin for Brahms: Sonata for Cello and Piano in E Minor, Op. 38 and Sonata in F, Op. 99 (1984)
• Gold Medal of the Royal Philharmonic Society (1970)
• Honor Award of the Republic of Azerbaijan
• Citizen of honor of Vilnius, Lithuania (2000)
• Order of Service to the Fatherland, First Degree, for his "outstanding contribution to the development of world music and many years of creative activity," presented by President Vladimir Putin, 02/26/2007.

References

1. ^ BBC News. Russian maestro Rostropovich dies. Retrieved 2007-04-27
2. ^ Sony classical.Mstislav Rostropovich. Retrieved 2007-04-27
3. ^ Lietuvos rytas. Mirė maestro M.Rostropovičius. Retrived 2007-04-27
4. UNESCO. Biography of Mstislav Rostropovitch. Retrieved 2007-04-27
5. Britannica. National Symphony Orchestra. Retrieved 2007-04-27
6. Gulnar Aydamirova. Rostropovich The Home Museum. Retrieved 2007-04-27
7. New York Times April 27 2007
8. http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20070207/music_nm/russia_rostropovich_dc;_ylt=AlSL6QA8B3uZoQ2LaXB6Z.pxFb8C
9. [http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20070307/music_nm/russia_rostropovich_dc;_ylt=As1IN6SU_dgd.z8NiA9s0M9xFb8C
10. Contactmusic. Russian cellist Rostropovish 'seriously ill'. Retrieved 2007-04-27

• Kozinn, Alan, "Mstislav Rostropovich, Cellist and Conductor, Dies," New York Times April 27 2007

External links

• Vishnevskaya-Rostropovich Foundation homepage
• Home-museum of Leopold and Mstislav Rostropovich
• Why the cello is a hero, interview with the Daily Telegraph
• Famous People: Then and Now article and interview at Azerbaijan International (Winter 1999)
• Intellectual Responsibility. When Silence is Not Golden: Conversations with Mstislav Rostropovich, another Azerbaijan International interview (Summer 2005)

• Recent deaths
• 1927 births
• 2007 deaths
• Colorectal cancer deaths
• Grammy Award winners
• Music educators
• Naturalized citizens of the United States
• People from Baku
• People's Artists of the USSR
• Recipients of the Royal Philharmonic Society Gold Medal
• Russian classical cellists
• Russian conductors
• Russian-Americans
• Russians of Polish descent
• Polish nobility
• Stalin Prize winners