Mstislav Rostropovich was born on March 27, 1927 and died on April 27, 2007. He is known as one of the most influential cellists in history. 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 Martha Argerich, Sviatoslav Richter and Vladimir Horowitz. Rostropovich has also been a frequent participant at the Aldeburgh Festival in the UK and is the founder and directory of the Rostropovich Music Festival.
Rostropovich began learning the piano from his mother at age four. She was a talented pianist in her own right and was able to give him lessons herself. At age 10, he decided to switch to the cello and studied under his father, an accomplish cellist. Between 1943 and 1948, he attended the Moscow Conservatory, eventually becoming a cello professor in 1956. He first burst onto the music scene in 1945, winning a gold medal in the first Soviet music competition for younger musicians.
Mstislav Rostropovich was persecuted by the Soviet government for his beliefs regarding free speech and democracy. In 1948, while attending the Moscow Conservatory, his teacher Dmitri Shostakovich was dismissed from his professorships in Leningrad and Moscow. Rostropovich, who was 21 at the time, left the Conservatory and dropped out to protest the move. Later on, he sheltered political refugee Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn in his own residence, despite the consequences if they got caught. This relationship with Solzhenitsyn eventually led to his being decreed an official disgrace by the government. He and his wife were prohibited from touring out of the country and he was restricted to a recital tour of only small towns in Siberia.
He was forced to leave the Soviet Union in 1974 as a political refugee. Rostropovich and his family moved to the United States in search of freedom. He had been banned from several ensembles in the Soviet Union, eventually having his citizenship revoked in 1978. Despite this, he supported Boris Yeltsin's illegal shelling of the Russian parliament during the 1993 constitutional crisis. He was also known to be friendly with Vladimir Putin, which seems to contradict his freedom-loving values.
Rostropovich and his wife began their own foundation to focus on social issues and create activities in their homeland of Azerbaijan. Among the programs started by the foundation include a public vaccination initiative and the Rostropovich Home Museum in Baku. Rostropovich and Vishnevskaya visited Azerbaijan occasionally. Rostropovich also presented cello master classes at the Azerbaijan State Conservatory. In addition to his social programs, Rostropovich has been a major influence on an entire generation of cellists.
Rostropovich's unexpected public performance at the fall of the Berlin Wall gained him additional fame and led to the Russian government restoring his citizenship in 1990. He has also received awards from all over the world, along with honorary doctorates from a number of prominent universities. He has been a freedom fighter throughout his life, battling for freedom of speech in both politics and the arts.
Originally posted 2008-11-11 05:43:03. Republished by Blog Post Promoter
Related Posts -
Musician Profile for Carlos Salzedo Carlos Salzedo was born in 1885 and lived until 1961. During this time, he was a well known and highly regarded conductor, composer and harpist. He was born in Arcachon in France. The Salzedo Harp Colony located in Camden, Maine is named after him. He was invited to take the...... -
The Modern Piano It has been a staple of classical and contemporary music, used by musicians from Mozart to Elton John and more. Many musicians who have brought their fingers to the ivories have created music that has inspired and captured the hearts of countless people all over the world. That instrument is...... - Musician Profile for Joshua Bell Award-winning violinist Joshua Bell was born on December 9th, 1967 in Bloomington, Indiana. Legend has it that his mother started him in violin lessons after finding that he had stretched rubberbands across the handles of his dresser in order to play notes he had overheard when she played piano. In......
- Manufacturers: Gibson Orville Gibson started the Gibson Guitar Corporation by making specialized mandolins in 1894. From the beginning, Gibson established himself as a quality instrument builder who added his own innovations. His mandolins were modified in such a way that they had a richer sound. Eventually, Gibson mandolins became the instrument of......
-
Musician Profile for Joan Chandos Baez Who is Joan Chandos Baez? Brief Bio: Joan Chandos Baez was born on January 9 in 1941 in Staten Island, New York. She is an American folk singer and songwriter that is best known for an individual vocal style as well as her three octave vocal range. Many of her......
Related Websites - Athlete Profile: Seth Wescott Seth Wescott is the current snowboard cross gold medalist, and now in Arosa, Switzerland, he has the fastest runs, winning the SBX World Cup and earning 1000 cup points overall. This was the first World Cup win for the Maine native, who managed to out speed Markus Schairer, David Speiser......
-
Save Time, Money and Space in Over 80 Ways If you're looking for handy gadgets, tools and various items that can save you time, money or space (or all three!) this list of more than 80 top products is just what you need. Everyone's got saving money on their minds these days. Some of us are always looking to...... -
Book Review: The Price of Desire by Jo Goodman I have been reading The Price of Desire by Jo Goodman these last few days and at 200 pages in I knew it was going to be a disaster. This review contains a lot of spoilers so be warned. I think many readers will find it helpful to read...... - Stephen King Was My Early Muse Well, Stephen King and quite a few other authors. I was lucky, and I learned to read when I was 3. That meant the wonderful world of literature was open to me at a young age. As my reading skill grew, I began to read more and more, and at......
- Michael Jackson (Ep.10) Hope you watch the video the whole way through, I appreciateee it if you do. When I still saw negative comments about Michael, even after his death, it made me want to do this video. Hope it can make some people think differently about MJ. All the songs in......
- Russian, Soviet Programs Space Programs Historical Memorabilia Collectibles
- Government Advertising Collectibles
- Cello String Musical Instruments
Categories:
Acoustic Musical Instruments, Cellist, Cellos, Musician Profile
Tags:
0 comments ↓
There are no comments yet...Kick things off by filling out the form below.
Leave a Comment