Mstislav's mother, Sofiya Fedotova, of Russian descent,[4] was the daughter of musicians and herself a conservatory-trained pianist.[5] Her elder sister, Nadezhda, married cellist Semyon Kozolupov, who was thus Rostropovich's uncle by marriage.[6]
Rostropovich grew up in Baku and spent his youth there. DuringWorld War II his family moved back to Orenburg and then, in 1943, to Moscow.[7]
At age four, Rostropovich began studying piano with his mother. He began learning the cello at age eight from his father. In 1943, at age 16, he entered theMoscow Conservatory, where he studied cello with his uncle Semyon Kozolupov, piano with Nikolai Kuvshinnikov, and composition withVissarion Shebalin. His teachers also includedDmitri Shostakovich. In 1945, he came to prominence as a cellist when he won the gold medal in the Soviet Union's first ever competition for young musicians.[2] He graduated from the Conservatory in 1948 and became professor of cello there in 1956.[citation needed]
Rostropovich gave his first cello concert in 1942. He won first prize at the International Music Awards ofPrague andBudapest in 1947, 1949 and 1950. In 1950, at age 23, he was awarded what was then considered the highest distinction in the Soviet Union, theStalin Prize.[8] At that time, Rostropovich was already well known in his country and, while actively pursuing his solo career, taught at theLeningrad Conservatory and theMoscow Conservatory. In 1955, he marriedGalina Vishnevskaya, a leadingsoprano at theBolshoi Theatre.[9]
Rostropovich had working relationships with Soviet composers of the era. He was the dedicatee of the Cello Sonata no.2, Op. 81, byNikolai Myaskovsky who premiered it with the 21-year old Rostropovich in 1949. Inspired by the performance,Sergei Prokofiev wrote his ownCello Sonata, Op. 119, for Rostropovich, who gave the first performance in 1950 withSviatoslav Richter. Prokofiev also dedicated hisSymphony-Concerto to him; this was premiered in 1952. Rostropovich andDmitry Kabalevsky completed Prokofiev'sCello Concertino after the composer's death. Shostakovich wrote both hisfirst andsecondcello concertos for Rostropovich, who also gave their first performances.[10]
Rostropovich went on several tours in Western Europe and met several composers, includingBenjamin Britten, who dedicated his Cello Sonata, three Solo Suites, and hisCello Symphony to Rostropovich. Rostropovich gave their first performances, and the two had a special affinity; Rostropovich's family described him as "always smiling" when discussing "Ben", and on his deathbed he was said to have expressed no fear, as he and Britten would, he believed, be reunited in Heaven.[11]
Britten was also renowned as a pianist, and together they recorded, among other works,Schubert'sSonata for Arpeggione and Piano in A minor. His daughter claimed that this recording moved her father to tears of joy even on his deathbed.[12]
Rostropovich took private lessons in conducting withLeo Ginzburg,[19] and first conducted in public in Gorky in November 1962, performing the four entr'actes fromLady Macbeth of the Mtsensk District and Shostakovich's orchestration of Mussorgsky'sSongs and Dances of Death with Vishnevskaya singing.[20]
Rostropovich played atThe Proms on the night of 21 August 1968. He played with theUSSR State Symphony Orchestra; it was the orchestra's debut performance at the Proms. The programme featured Czech composerAntonín Dvořák'sCello Concerto in B minor and took place on the same day that theWarsaw Pactinvaded Czechoslovakia to endAlexander Dubček'sPrague Spring.[22] After the performance, which had been preceded by heckling and demonstrations, the orchestra and soloist were cheered by the Proms audience.[23] Rostropovich stood and held aloft the conductor's score of the Dvořák as a gesture of solidarity for the composer's homeland and the city of Prague.[24]
Rostropovich fought for art without borders,freedom of speech, and democratic values, resulting in harassment from the Soviet regime. An early example was in 1948, when he was a student at theMoscow Conservatory. In response to the 10 February 1948 decree on "formalist" composers, his teacherDmitri Shostakovich was dismissed from his professorships in Leningrad and Moscow; the 21-year-old Rostropovich quit the conservatory in protest.[25] Rostropovich also smuggled to the West the manuscript of Shostakovich'sSymphony No. 13, which set verses byYevgeny Yevtushenko; the subject of its first movement was theBabi Yar massacre.[26]
In 1970, Rostropovich shelteredAleksandr Solzhenitsyn, who otherwise would have had nowhere to go, in his own home. His friendship with Solzhenitsyn and support for dissidents led to official disgrace in the early 1970s. As a result, Rostropovich was restricted from foreign touring,[27] as was his wife, Galina Vishnevskaya, and his appearances performing in Moscow were curtailed, as increasingly were his appearances in such major cities as Leningrad and Kiev.[28]
Rostropovich left the Soviet Union in 1974 with his wife and children and settled in the United States. He was banned from touring his homeland with foreign orchestras, and, in 1977, the Soviet leadership instructed musicians from the Soviet bloc not to take part in an international competition he had organised.[29] In 1978, Rostropovich was deprived of his Soviet citizenship because of his public opposition to the Soviet Union's restriction of cultural freedom. He did not return to the Soviet Union until 1990.[8]
Mstislav Rostropovich, chief conductor of U.S. National Symphony Orchestra, greets the audience in Bolshoi Hall of the Tchaikovsky Conservatory in Moscow, 13 February 1990
On 17 December 1988, Rostropovich gave a special concert atBarbican Hall in London, after postponing a trip to India for the1988 Armenian earthquake relief program. The event was part of an effort calledMusicians for Armenia, which was expected to raise more than $450,000 from donations worldwide, including gifts from musicians, concert proceeds, and film and recording rights. Prince Charles and the Princess of Wales attended the concert in the sold-out 2,026-seat hall.[30]
On 7 February 1989, a cello concert was organized by theArmenian Relief Society and the Volunteers Technical Assistance (VTA) for the victims of the earthquake. At the concert, Rostropovich played his favorite cello repertoire, including Dvořák's Cello Concerto in B minor; Haydn's cello concerti in C and D; Prokofiev's Symphony-Concerto; and Shostakovich's two cello concerti. The evening raised awareness and helped hundreds of earthquake victims put food on their tables. The concert was held at the Kennedy Center, and over 2,300 were in attendance.[31]
His impromptu performance during the fall of theBerlin Wall as events unfolded was reported throughout the world.[34] His Soviet citizenship was restored in 1990. When, in August 1991, news footage was broadcast oftanks in the streets of Moscow, Rostropovich responded with a characteristically brave, impetuous, and patriotic gesture: he bought a plane ticket to Japan on a flight that stopped at Moscow, talked his way out of the airport and went to joinBoris Yeltsin in the hope that his fame might make some difference to the chance of tanks moving in.[35] Rostropovich supported Yeltsin during the1993 constitutional crisis and conducted theU.S. National Symphony Orchestra inRed Square at the height of the crackdown.[36]
In 1993, he was instrumental in the foundation of theKronberg Academy and was a patron until his death. He commissionedRodion Shchedrin to compose the operaLolita and conducted its premiere in 1994 at theRoyal Swedish Opera. Rostropovich received many international awards, including theFrench Legion of Honor and honorary doctorates from many universities. He was an activist, fighting for freedom of expression in art and politics. Anambassador for the UNESCO, he supported many educational and cultural projects.[37] Rostropovich performed several times inMadrid and was a close friend ofQueen Sofía of Spain.
With his wife, Galina Vishnevskaya, he founded theRostropovich-Vishnevskaya Foundation, a publicly supported nonprofit501(c)(3) organization based in Washington, D.C., in 1991 to improve the health and future of children in the former Soviet Union. TheRostropovich Home Museum opened on 4 March 2002, in Baku.[38] The couple visited Azerbaijan occasionally. Rostropovich also presented cello master classes at theAzerbaijan State Conservatory. Together they formed a valuable art collection. In September 2007, when it was slated to be sold at auction bySotheby's in London and dispersed, Russian billionaireAlisher Usmanov stepped forward and negotiated the purchase of all 450 lots to keep the collection intact and bring it to Russia as a memorial to Rostropovich. Christie's reported that the buyer paid a "substantially higher" sum than the £20 million pre-sale estimate[39]
In 2006, he was featured inAlexander Sokurov's documentaryElegy of a life: Rostropovich, Vishnevskaya.[40]
Rostropovich's health declined in 2006, with theChicago Tribune reporting rumours of unspecified surgery in Geneva and later treatment for an aggravated ulcer. Russian President Vladimir Putin visited Rostropovich to discuss details of a celebration the Kremlin was planning for 27 March 2007, Rostropovich's 80th birthday. Rostropovich attended the celebration but was reportedly in frail health.
Though Rostropovich's last home was in Paris, he maintained residences in Moscow, Saint Petersburg,London,Lausanne, andJordanville, New York. He was admitted to a Paris hospital at the end of January 2007, but then decided to fly to Moscow, where he had been receiving care.[41] On 6 February 2007 Rostropovich was admitted to a hospital in Moscow. "He is just feeling unwell", Natalya Dolezhale, Rostropovich's secretary in Moscow, said.[42] 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 that Putin had visited him in the hospital, which prompted speculation that he was in serious condition. Dolezhale said the visit was to discuss arrangements for marking Rostropovich's 80th birthday. On 27 March 2007, Putin issued a statement praising Rostropovich.[43]
On 7 April 2007, Rostropovich reentered the Blokhin Russian Cancer Research Centre, where he was treated forintestinal cancer. He died on 27 April, aged 80.[34][44][45] On 28 April, Rostropovich's body lay in an open casket at theMoscow Conservatory,[46] and was then moved to theChurch of Christ the Saviour. Thousands of mourners, including Putin, bade farewell. Spain'sQueen Sofia, French first ladyBernadette Chirac and PresidentIlham Aliyev of Azerbaijan, where Rostropovich was born, as well asNaina Yeltsina, Yeltsin's widow, were among those who attended the funeral on 29 April. Rostropovich was buried inNovodevichy Cemetery.[47]
Rostropovich was a huge influence on the younger generation of cellists. Many have openly acknowledged their debt to his example. In theDaily Telegraph,Julian Lloyd Webber called him "probably the greatest cellist of all time".[48]
Rostropovich is also well known for his interpretations of standard repertoire works, including Dvořák's Cello Concerto in B minor.
Between 1997 and 2001, he was intimately involved in the development and testing of theBACH.Bow,[49] acurved bow designed by the cellistMichael Bach. In 2001 he invited Bach to present hisBACH.Bow to Paris (7thConcours de violoncelle Rostropovitch).[50] In 2011, the city of Moscow announced plans to erect a statue of Rostropovich in a central square;[51] the statue was unveiled in 2012.[52]
He was also a notably generous spirit.Seiji Ozawa relates an anecdote: on hearing of the death of the baby daughter of his friend the sumo wrestlerChiyonofuji, Rostropovich flew unannounced to Tokyo, took a1+1⁄2-hour cab ride to Chiyonofuji's house and played his Bach sarabande outside, as his gesture of sympathy—then got back in the taxi and returned to the airport to fly back to Europe.
Rostropovich is included in the Russian-American Chamber of Fame ofCongress of Russian Americans, which is dedicated to Russian immigrants who made outstanding contributions to American science or culture.[53]
1st class (24 February 2007) – for outstanding contribution to world music and many years of creative activity
2nd class (25 March 1997) – for services to the state and the great personal contribution to the world of music
Medal Defender of a Free Russia (2 February 1993) – for courage and dedication shown during the defence of democracy and constitutional order of 19–21 August 1991
Order "For merits in the sphere of culture" (Romania, 2004)
QueenBeatrix of the Netherlands awarded him the rare Medal for Art and Science (Dutch: "Eremedaille voor Kunst en Wetenschap") of the House-Order of Orange.
Mstislav Rostropovich and Galina Vishnevskaya. Russia, Music, and Liberty. Conversations withClaude Samuel, Amadeus Press, Portland (1995),ISBN0-931340-76-4
Rostrospektive. Zum Leben und Werk von Mstislaw Rostropowitsch. On the Life and Achievement of Mstislav Rostropovich, Alexander Ivashkin and Josef Oehrlein, Internationale Kammermusik-Akademie Kronberg, Schweinfurt: Maier (1997),ISBN3-926300-30-2
Inside the Recording Studio. Working with Callas, Rostropovich, Domingo, and the Classical Elite, Peter Andry, with Robin Stringer and Tony Locantro, The Scarecrow Press, Lanham MD (2008).ISBN978-0-8108-6026-1
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