World-famous Russian cellist turns 80

Published 27 March, 2007, 14:45

A special reception has been held in the Kremlin to celebrate the 80th birthday of a remarkable Russian – world renowned cellist Mstislav Rostropovich. 600 guests, including his friends, colleagues and students gathered for the ceremony.

Mstislav Rostropovich's ceremonial birthday dinner attracted guests from all over, including statesmen from Russia and other countries. Russian President Vladimir Putin and the President of Azerbaijan Ilkham Aliyev gave the great cellist and conductor state awards.

Famous for his B minor cello concerto, Haydn's cello concertos in C and D and many more, the musician has inspired many young talents and has become an icon for musicians worldwide. Friends call him Maestro Slava, meaning ‘glory’ in Russian, which is a short version of his name – Mstislav.

In France, the Academy of Arts has named Rostropovich one of its ‘Immortals’. He fought for art without borders – freedom of speech and democratic values.

Born in Azerbaijan, he was influenced by his family's deep-rooted musical traditions. His two grandfathers and both parents were talented musicians. Mstislav began to play the piano at four and the cello at ten. At sixteen, Rostropovich entered the Moscow Conservatory where he later in his life taught. Some of his students are now professors themselves, passing on traditions that he began.

“His 80th birthday is a great holiday for the conservatory because even though he is not a professor anymore his school and traditions are very alive here,” Head of the Moscow Conservatory Tigran Alikhanov said.

In 1950 at the age of 23 Rostropovich was awarded one of the highest distinctions in the Soviet Union – the Stalin Prize. But his growing fame in the West tarnished his relationship with authorities. He was condemned for his friendship with Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, and his support of dissidents led to official disgrace in the 1970's. In 1974 Rostropovich and his wife, Bolshoi Theatre soprano, Galina Vishnevskaya, left the Soviet Union for the United States.

“When we were waiting for permission to leave Moscow he would go and cry in the kitchen while I was sleeping at night. He didn't tell me at the time. Thank God! I would have given him something to cry about,” Galina Vishnevskaya recollects.

Four years after leaving for America, his Soviet citizenship was revoked to be restored only in 1990. For 17 seasons Rostropovich was the musical director of the national Symphony Orchestra in Washington D.C. His impromptu performance during the fall of the Berlin wall, and support shown during the siege of the Russian White House in 1991 gave the world a glance into his heart.

Rostropovich took an active role in Charity work and has made great donations to medicine.

“He is a person who does not hold any grudges – he might have been offended and turned his back on Russia after all the problems he had in the past but he does not – he gives back to his country and remembers only the good,” Russian Public Health Minister Gennady Onishchenko says.

“He is an international musician and that is quite obvious. He has been traveling abroad for so many years. But even if he does have an apartment in Paris, he is still very Russian. This is how he is seen around the world and in France in particular. He is not only a great musician, he and his wife, Galina, who is also very well known in the world, are an incredible couple. But they are also people who are very well known in political circles,” says Stanislas De Laboulaye, French Ambassador to Russia.
 
 

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