Rostropovich honoured in London
Published 01 December, 2008, 09:13
A concert honouring Russian cellist, Mstislav Rostropovich, has been staged in London more than a year after the renowned musician, conductor and humanitarian passed away.
Before the event, RT spoke to Rastropovich's widow, opera singer Galina Vishnevskaya.
Organised by the London Cello Society (Rostropovich was a former Honorary Patron), the concert featured international stars of the cello, most of whom are, like Mischa Maisky or Karine Georgian, his former pupils.
Prokofiev with young Rostropovich
They performed works of composers closely associated with Rostropovich, such as Sergey Prokofiev and Dmitry Shostakovich, who once taught him in Moscow Conservatoire, or major British composer Benjamin Britten, his long-time friend Krzysztof Penderecki, whose ‘cello solo Per Slava was written specially for Rostropovich.
It was the first significant memorial concert in the British capital since the Russian cellist died in April last year.
All the money from the concert will go to a children's charity founded by Rostropovich and his wife, Bolshoi Theatre soprano, Galina Vishnevskaya.
Rostropovich’s pupils, who starred at the event at Cadogan Hall, shared their memories with RT.
Benjamin Britten
“He always insisted that when you go to play a concert, you have to think of it as your last. You have to go and give all that you have, to communicate with audience,” Karine Georgian recalled.
Greatest cellist ever?
Rostropovich is widely considered to be one of the greatest masters of the violoncello of all time.
Maisky recorded Rostropovich's lessons
Yet he is internationally famous not only as a musician, but also as a fervent advocate of democracy and human rights.
Born in Baku, 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 Conservatoire.
In 1950 at the age of 23 Rostropovich was awarded one of the highest distinctions in the Soviet Union – the Stalin Prize.
Already married to Vishnevskaya, he became a professor at the Moscow Conservatoire in 1956. He created a world-famous class of cellists. Most of his students are now professors themselves, passing on traditions that he began.
But his growing fame in the West tarnished his relationship with the Soviet authorities. He was condemned for his friendship with writer Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn. The part Rostropovich played in the life the dissident novelist was enormous. When he had nowhere to go, Solzhenitsyn found shelter at Rostropovich’s dacha, where the musical maestro wrote to the Soviet officials, trying to persuade them to stop a campaign against Solzhenitsyn.
His support for dissidents led to official disgrace in the 1970s.
In 1974 Rostropovich and his wife, Bolshoi Theatre soprano, Galina Vishnevskaya, left the Soviet Union for the United States. Four years after leaving for America, his Soviet citizenship was revoked for what was said to be a lack of patriotism to be restored only in 1990.
For 17 seasons Rostropovich was the musical director of the national Symphony Orchestra in Washington D.C.
Rostropovich has received more than 90 state awards in 25 countries. His impromptu performance during the fall of the Berlin wall in 1989, and support shown during the siege of the Russian White House in 1991, gave the world a glimpse into his heart.
Shostakovich's frienship with Britten was mainly through Rostropovich
In the 1990s he took an active role in charity work and supported numerous educational and cultural projects in Russia, while tirelessly giving concerts and master-classes, until his retirement in 2005.
Death of a legend
In 2007 Rostropovich was awarded Russia’s Order of Service to Fatherland for “outstanding contribution to the development of world music and many years of creative activity” and a special reception was held in the Kremlin to celebrate his 80th birthday.
These ceremonies were prompted by his deteriorating health, which resulted in Rostropovich being hospitalized twice in the early 2007.
His demise on April 27 came as no surprise, but was one of the landmark events of 2007.
The memorial service for the celebrated musician and public figure was held at Moscow’s Conservatory and Christ the Saviour Cathedral, and was attended by dignitaries from around the world.
According to the wish of his widow, there were no funeral speeches and the burial was open to the public.
Eighteen months after the maestro's death a monument to Rostropovich was unveiled on his grave in Moscow's Novodevichy Cemetery.
A film about Rostropovich’s life with his wife Galina (Elegy of Life) opened in 2007. It was made by celebrated director Aleksander Sokurov was out in 2007.
Ruben Zarbabyan, RT
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