RIAN archive 438589 Mstislav Rostropovich

Mstislav Leopoldovich Rostropovich, (27 March 192727 April 2007) was a Russian

cellist The cello ( ; plural ''celli'' or ''cellos'') or violoncello ( ; ) is a bowed (sometimes plucked and occasionally hit) string instrument of the violin family. Its four strings are usually tuned in perfect fifths: from low to high, C2, G2, D ...

and conductor. He is considered by many to be the greatest cellist of the 20th century. In addition to his interpretations and technique, he was well known for both inspiring and commissioning new works, which enlarged the cello repertoire more than any cellist before or since. He inspired and premiered over 100 pieces, forming long-standing friendships and artistic partnerships with composers including Dmitri Shostakovich,

Sergei Prokofiev Sergei Sergeyevich Prokofiev; alternative transliterations of his name include ''Sergey'' or ''Serge'', and ''Prokofief'', ''Prokofieff'', or ''Prokofyev''., group=n (27 April .S. 15 April1891 – 5 March 1953) was a Russian composer, ...

, Henri Dutilleux, Witold Lutosławski, Olivier Messiaen,

Luciano Berio Luciano Berio (24 October 1925 – 27 May 2003) was an Italian composer noted for his experimental work (in particular his 1968 composition ''Sinfonia'' and his series of virtuosic solo pieces titled ''Sequenza''), and for his pioneering work ...

, Krzysztof Penderecki, Alfred Schnittke,

Norbert Moret Norbert Moret (20 November 1921 – 17 November 1998) was a Swiss composer, conductor, pianist, and teacher. Life Born in Ménières, Switzerland, Moret composed at least 36 instrumental and vocal works between 1966 and 1998, the year of his de ...

Andreas Makris Andreas Makris (Greek: Ανδρέας Μακρής; March 7, 1930February 3, 2005)Makris Foundation
accessed Au ...

, Leonard Bernstein, Aram Khachaturian and

Benjamin Britten Edward Benjamin Britten, Baron Britten (22 November 1913 – 4 December 1976, aged 63) was an English composer, conductor, and pianist. He was a central figure of 20th-century British music, with a range of works including opera, other ...

. Rostropovich was internationally recognized as a staunch advocate of

human rights Human rights are moral principles or normsJames Nickel, with assistance from Thomas Pogge, M.B.E. Smith, and Leif Wenar, 13 December 2013, Stanford Encyclopedia of PhilosophyHuman Rights Retrieved 14 August 2014 for certain standards of hu ...

, and was awarded the 1974 Award of the International League of Human Rights. He was married to the soprano Galina Vishnevskaya and had two daughters, Olga and Elena Rostropovich.

Early years

Mstislav Rostropovich was born in

Baku Baku (, ; az, Bakı ) is the capital and largest city of Azerbaijan, as well as the largest city on the Caspian Sea and of the Caucasus region. Baku is located below sea level, which makes it the lowest lying national capital in the world an ...

, Azerbaijan SSR, to parents who had moved from Orenburg: , a renowned cellist and former student of Pablo Casals, and Sofiya Nikolaevna Fedotova-Rostropovich, a talented pianist. Mstislav's father (1892–1942) was born in Voronezh to , a composer of

Polish noble The ''szlachta'' (Polish: endonym, Lithuanian: šlėkta) were the noble estate of the realm in the Kingdom of Poland, the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, and the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth who, as a class, had the dominating position in the ...

descent, and Matilda Rostropovich, née Pule of Belarusian descent. The Polish part of his family bore the

Bogoria coat of arms Bogoria is a Polish coat of arms. It was used by several szlachta families in medieval Poland and later under the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, branches of the original medieval Bogoriowie family as well as families connected with the Clan ...

, which was located at the family palace in Skotniki. Mstislav's mother Sofiya, of Russian descent, was the daughter of musicians. Her elder sister Nadezhda married the cellist Semyon Kozolupov, who was thus Rostropovich's uncle by marriage.Elizabeth Wilson
Mstislav Rostropovich: Cellist, Teacher, Legend
Retrieved 2 June 2016 Rostropovich grew up in Baku and spent his youth there. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

his family moved back to Orenburg and then in 1943 to Moscow. At the age of four, Rostropovich learned the piano with his mother. He began the cello at the age of 10 with his father. In 1943, at the age of 16, he entered the Moscow Conservatory, where he studied cello with his uncle Semyon Kozolupov, and piano, conducting and composition with Vissarion Shebalin. His teachers also included Dmitri 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. He graduated from the Conservatory in 1948, and became professor of cello there in 1956.

First concerts

Rostropovich gave his first cello concert in 1942. He won first prize at the international Music Awards of

Prague Prague ( ; cs, Praha ; german: Prag, ; la, Praga) is the capital and largest city in the Czech Republic, and the historical capital of Bohemia. On the Vltava river, Prague is home to about 1.3 million people. The city has a temperate ...

and

Budapest Budapest (, ; ) is the capital and most populous city of Hungary. It is the ninth-largest city in the European Union by population within city limits and the second-largest city on the Danube river; the city has an estimated population o ...

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 (Saint-Petersburg) Conservatory and the Moscow Conservatory. In 1955, he married Galina Vishnevskaya, a leading

soprano A soprano () is a type of classical female singing voice and has the highest vocal range of all voice types. The soprano's vocal range (using scientific pitch notation) is from approximately middle C (C4) = 261 Hz to "high A" (A5) = 880& ...

at the Bolshoi Theatre. Rostropovich had working relationships with Soviet composers of the era. In 1949

wrote his Cello Sonata in C, Op. 119, for the 22-year-old Rostropovich, who gave the first performance in 1950, with Sviatoslav Richter. Prokofiev also dedicated his Symphony-Concerto to him; this was premiered in 1952. Rostropovich and Dmitry Kabalevsky completed Prokofiev's Cello Concertino after the composer's death. Dmitri Shostakovich wrote both his first and second

cello concerto A cello concerto (sometimes called a violoncello concerto) is a concerto for solo cello with orchestra or, very occasionally, smaller groups of instruments. These pieces have been written since the Baroque era if not earlier. However, unlike instr ...

s for Rostropovich, who also gave their first performances. RIAN archive 25562 Mstislav Rostropovich and Benjamin Britten after a concert

His international career started in 1963 in the Conservatoire of Liège (with Kirill Kondrashin) and in 1964 in West Germany. Rostropovich went on several tours in Western Europe and met several composers, including

, who dedicated his Cello Sonata, three Solo Suites, and his '' Cello Symphony'' to Rostropovich. Rostropovich gave their first performances, and the two had an obviously special affinity – Rostropovich's family described him as "always smiling" when discussing "Ben", and on his death bed he was said to have expressed no fear as he and Britten would, he believed, be reunited in Heaven. Britten was also renowned as a pianist and together they recorded, among other works, Schubert's Sonata for Arpeggione and Piano in A minor. His daughter claimed that this recording moved her father to tears of joy even on his deathbed. Rostropovich also had long-standing artistic partnership with Henri Dutilleux ('' Tout un monde lointain...'' for cello and orchestra, ''Trois strophes sur le nom de Sacher'' for solo cello), Witold Lutosławski (

Cello Concerto A cello concerto (sometimes called a violoncello concerto) is a concerto for solo cello with orchestra or, very occasionally, smaller groups of instruments. These pieces have been written since the Baroque era if not earlier. However, unlike instr ...

, ''Sacher-Variation'' for solo cello), Krzysztof Penderecki (cello concerto n°2, ''Largo'' for cello and orchestra, ''Per Slava'' for solo cello, sextet for piano, clarinet, horn, violin, viola and cello),

(''Ritorno degli snovidenia'' for cello and thirty instruments, ''Les mots sont allés...'' for solo cello) as well as Olivier Messiaen ('' Concert à quatre'' for piano, cello, oboe, flute and orchestra). Rostropovich took private lessons in conducting with Leo Ginzburg, and first conducted in public in Gorky in November 1962, performing the four entractes from '' Lady Macbeth of the Mtsensk District'' and Shostakovich's orchestration of Mussorgsky's ''Songs and Dances of Death'' with Vishnevskaya singing. In 1967, at the invitation of the Bolshoi Theatre's director

Mikhail Chulaki Mikhail Ivanovich Chulaki (russian: Михаи́л Ива́нович Чула́ки, also transliterated as Tchulaki and Tschulaki) ( in Simferopol – January 29, 1989 in Moscow) was a Soviet Russian composer and teacher. He studied under the ...

, he conducted Tchaikovsky's opera '' Eugene Onegin'' at the Bolshoi, thus letting forth his passion for both the role of conductor and the opera.

August 1968 proms

Rostropovich played at The Proms on the night of 21 August 1968. He played with the Soviet State Symphony Orchestra – it was the orchestra's debut performance at the Proms. The programme featured Czech composer Antonín Dvořák's Cello Concerto in B minor and took place on the same day that the

Warsaw Pact The Warsaw Pact (WP) or Treaty of Warsaw, formally the Treaty of Friendship, Cooperation and Mutual Assistance, was a collective defense treaty signed in Warsaw, Poland, between the Soviet Union and seven other Eastern Bloc socialist republi ...

invaded Czechoslovakia to end Alexander Dubček's

Prague Spring The Prague Spring ( cs, Pražské jaro, sk, Pražská jar) was a period of political liberalization and mass protest in the Czechoslovak Socialist Republic. It began on 5 January 1968, when reformist Alexander Dubček was elected First ...

. After the performance, which had been preceded by heckling and demonstrations, the orchestra and soloist were cheered by the Proms audience. 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.

Exile

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 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 21-year-old Rostropovich quit the conservatory, dropping out in protest. Rostropovich also smuggled to the West the manuscript of Shostakovich’s Symphony No. 13, emphasizing Soviet indifference to the

Babi Yar massacre Babi Yar (russian: Ба́бий Яр) or Babyn Yar ( uk, Бабин Яр) is a ravine in the Ukrainian capital Kyiv and a site of massacres carried out by Nazi Germany's forces during its campaign against the Soviet Union in World War II. The f ...

. In 1970, Rostropovich sheltered

Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn Aleksandr Isayevich Solzhenitsyn. (11 December 1918 – 3 August 2008) was a Russian novelist. One of the most famous Soviet dissidents, Solzhenitsyn was an outspoken critic of communism and helped to raise global awareness of political repr ...

, who otherwise would have had nowhere 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 his appearances performing in Moscow were curtailed, as increasingly were his appearances in such major cities as Leningrad and Kiev. Rostropovich left the Soviet Union in 1974 with his wife and children and settled in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...

. 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. In 1978, Rostropovich was deprived of his Soviet citizenship because of his public opposition to the Soviet Union's restriction of cultural freedom. He would not return to the Soviet Union until 1990.

Further career

On December 17, 1988, Rostropovich gave a special concert at Barbican Hall in London, after postponing a trip to India for the Armenian Earthquake relief program. The event was part of an effort called ''Musicians 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 concert hall. On February 7, 1989, a cello concert was organized by the Armenian Relief Society and the Volunteers Technical Assistance (VTA) for the victims of the Spitak 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; the two cello concerti of Shostakovich, and others. The evening with Rostropovich raised awareness and helped hundreds of earthquake victims put food on their table. The concert was held at the Kennedy Center and over 2,300 were in attendance. Mstislav Rostropovich and Galina Vishnevskaya NYWTS cropped

Mstislav Rostropovich and Galina Vishnevskaya NYWTS cropped

RIAN archive 70350 Opera singer Galina Vishnevskaya and cellist Mstislav Rostropovich with their daughters at home

RIAN archive 474794 Mstislav Rostropovich, chief conductor and art director of U

RIAN archive 474791 Mstislav Rostropovich, chief conductor and artistic director of U

RIAN archive 6624 Alexander Solzhenitsyn and Mstislav Rostropovich

From 1977 until 1994, he was music director and conductor of the U.S. National Symphony Orchestra in Washington, D.C. while still performing with some of the most famous musicians such as Martha Argerich, Sviatoslav Richter and Vladimir Horowitz. He was also the director and founder of the

Mstislav Rostropovich Baku International Festival International Mstislav Rostropovich Festival ( az, Mstislav Rostropoviç adına Beynəlxalq musiqi festivalı) – a festival organized by Mstislav Rostropovich in 2006, in Baku and dedicated to the 100th anniversary of Dmitri Shostakovich’s bir ...

and was a regular performer at the Aldeburgh Festival in the UK. Rostropowitsch-denkmal-kronberg003

His impromptu performance during the fall of the Berlin Wall as events unfolded was reported throughout the world. His Soviet citizenship was restored in 1990. When, in August 1991, news footage was broadcast of tanks 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 join

Boris Yeltsin Boris Nikolayevich Yeltsin ( rus, Борис Николаевич Ельцин, p=bɐˈrʲis nʲɪkɐˈla(j)ɪvʲɪtɕ ˈjelʲtsɨn, a=Ru-Boris Nikolayevich Yeltsin.ogg; 1 February 1931 – 23 April 2007) was a Soviet and Russian politician wh ...

in the hope that his fame might make some difference to the chance of tanks moving in. Rostropovich supported Yeltsin during the 1993 constitutional crisis and conducted the National Symphony Orchestra in Red Square at the height of the crackdown. In 1993, he was instrumental in the foundation of the

Kronberg Academy The Kronberg Academy is an academy of chamber music based in Kronberg, Hesse, Germany. It was founded in 1993 by Raimund Trenkler, who has served since then as its chairman and artistic director. The academy's initial focus was on the cello and s ...

and was a patron until his death. He commissioned Rodion Shchedrin to compose the opera '' Lolita'' and conducted its premiere in 1994 at the Royal Swedish Opera. Rostropovich received many international awards, including the

French Legion of Honor The National Order of the Legion of Honour (french: Ordre national de la Légion d'honneur), formerly the Royal Order of the Legion of Honour ('), is the highest French order of merit, both military and civil. Established in 1802 by Napoleon ...

and honorary doctorates from many international universities. He was an activist, fighting for freedom of expression in art and politics. An ambassador for the

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a List of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) aimed at promoting world peace and security through international coope ...

, he supported many educational and cultural projects. Rostropovich performed several times in

Madrid Madrid ( , ) is the capital and most populous city of Spain. The city has almost 3.4 million inhabitants and a metropolitan area population of approximately 6.7 million. It is the second-largest city in the European Union (EU), and ...

and was a close friend of Queen Sofía of Spain. With wife, Galina Vishnevskaya, he founded the

Rostropovich-Vishnevskaya Foundation The Rostropovich-Vishnevskaya Foundation (RVF) is a non-profit organization based in Washington, D.C. that supports programs to improve the health of children worldwide. It was founded in 1991 by Mstislav Rostropovich, the world-renowned Russian ...

, a publicly supported non-profit 501(c)(3) organization based in Washington, D.C., in 1991 to improve the health and future of children in the former Soviet Union. The ''Rostropovich Home Museum'' opened on 4 March 2002, in Baku. The couple visited Azerbaijan occasionally. Rostropovich also presented cello master classes at the

Azerbaijan State Conservatory The Hajibeyov Baku Academy of Music (Azeri: ''Hacıbəyov adına Bakı Musiqi Akademiyası'') is a music school in Baku, Azerbaijan. It was established in 1920 in Baku and was previously known as the Hajibeyov Azerbaijan State Conservatoire. ...

. Together they formed a valuable art collection. In September 2007, when it was slated to be sold at auction by

Sotheby's Sotheby's () is a British-founded American multinational corporation with headquarters in New York City. It is one of the world's largest brokers of fine and decorative art, jewellery, and collectibles. It has 80 locations in 40 countries, an ...

in London and dispersed, Russian billionaire Alisher Usmanov stepped forward and negotiated the purchase of all 450 lots in order to keep the collection together and bring it to Russia as a memorial to the great cellist's memory. Christie's reported that the buyer paid a "substantially higher" sum than the £20 million pre-sale estimate In 2006, he was featured in Alexander Sokurov's documentary ''Elegy of a life: Rostropovich, Vishnevskaya''.

Later life

Rostropovich's health declined in 2006, with the ''

Chicago Tribune The ''Chicago Tribune'' is a daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, United States, owned by Tribune Publishing. Founded in 1847, and formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper" (a slogan for which WGN radio and television ar ...

'' reporting rumours of unspecified surgery in Geneva and later treatment for what was reported as 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 London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

Lausanne , neighboring_municipalities= Bottens, Bretigny-sur-Morrens, Chavannes-près-Renens, Cheseaux-sur-Lausanne, Crissier, Cugy, Écublens, Épalinges, Évian-les-Bains (FR-74), Froideville, Jouxtens-Mézery, Le Mont-sur-Lausanne, Lugrin (FR ...

, and

Jordanville, New York Jordanville is a hamlet in the town of Warren, Herkimer County, New York, United States. Jordanville is in the northwestern part of Warren, at the intersection of New York State Route 167 and County Route 155. The community was settled by ...

. Rostropovich 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. On 6 February 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 that President Putin had visited the musician on Monday in the hospital, which prompted speculation that he was in a 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. He re-entered the Blokhin Russian Cancer Research Centre on 7 April 2007, where he was treated for intestinal cancer. He died on 27 April. On 28 April, Rostropovich's body lay in an open coffin at the Moscow Conservatory, where he once studied as a teenager, and was then moved to the Church of Christ the Saviour. Thousands of mourners, including Putin, bade farewell. Spain's Queen Sofia, French first lady Bernadette Chirac and President Ilham Aliyev of Azerbaijan, where Rostropovich was born, as well as Naina Yeltsina, the widow of

, were among those in attendance at the funeral on 29 April. Rostropovich was then buried in the Novodevichy Cemetery, the same cemetery where his friend Boris Yeltsin had been buried four days earlier.

Stature

Rostropovich was a huge influence on the younger generation of cellists. Many have openly acknowledged their debt to his example. In the ''

Daily Telegraph Daily or The Daily may refer to: Journalism * Daily newspaper, newspaper issued on five to seven day of most weeks * ''The Daily'' (podcast), a podcast by ''The New York Times'' * ''The Daily'' (News Corporation), a defunct US-based iPad new ...

,'' Julian Lloyd Webber called him "probably the greatest cellist of all time." Rostropovich either commissioned or was the recipient of compositions by many composers including Dmitri Shostakovich,

, Henri Dutilleux, Olivier Messiaen, André Jolivet, Witold Lutosławski,

, Krzysztof Penderecki, Leonard Bernstein, Alfred Schnittke, Aram Khachaturian, Astor Piazzolla,

Andreas Makris Andreas Makris (Greek: Ανδρέας Μακρής; March 7, 1930February 3, 2005)Makris Foundation
accessed Au ...

, Sofia Gubaidulina, Arthur Bliss, Colin Matthews and

Lopes Graça Lopes is a surname of Portuguese origin. It was originally a Patronymic, meaning ''Son of Lopo'', itself being derived from Latin ''lupus'', meaning ''wolf''. Its Spanish equivalent is ''López'', its Italian equivalent is '' Lupo'', its French e ...

. His commissions of new works enlarged the cello repertoire more than any previous cellist: he gave the premiere of 117 compositions. Rostropovich is also well known for his interpretations of standard repertoire works, including Dvořák's Cello Concerto in B minor. Rostropovich with BACHBow 1999

Between 1997 and 2001 he was intimately involved in the development and testing of the ''BACH.Bow'', a

curved bow The curved bow for string instruments enables string players to control the tension of the bow hair in order to play one, two, three and four strings simultaneously and to change easily among these possibilities. The high arch of the bow allows f ...

designed by the cellist Michael Bach. In 2001 he invited Michael Bach for a presentation of his ''BACH.Bow'' to Paris (7th

Concours de violoncelle Rostropovitch The Concours de violoncelle Rostropovitch, (Cello Competition Mstislav Rostropovich), is an international cello competition established in 1977 by the city of Paris. See also * List of classical music competitions European Classical music h ...

). In July 2011, the city of Moscow announced plans to erect a statue of Rostropovich in a central square, and the statue was unveiled in March 2012. 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 wrestler A , or, more colloquially, , is a professional sumo wrestler. follow and live by the centuries-old rules of the sumo profession, with most coming from Japan, the only country where sumo is practiced professionally. Participation in official t ...

Chiyonofuji , born , was a Japanese professional sumo wrestler and the 58th ''yokozuna'' of the sport. Following his retirement as a wrestler, he was the stable master of Kokonoe stable until the time of his death. Chiyonofuji was considered one of the gre ...

, Rostropovich flew unannounced to

Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, with an estimated 37.46 ...

, took a -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 of Congress of Russian Americans, which is dedicated to Russian immigrants who made outstanding contributions to American science or culture.

Awards and recognition

Rostropovich received about 50 awards during his life, including:

Russian Federation and USSR

* Order of Merit for the Fatherland; **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 *

Jubilee Medal "60 Years of Victory in the Great Patriotic War 1941-1945" A jubilee is a particular anniversary of an event, usually denoting the 25th, 40th, 50th, 60th, and the 70th anniversary. The term is often now used to denote the celebrations associated with the reign of a monarch after a milestone number of y ...

* Medal "For Valiant Labor. To commemorate the 100th anniversary of the birth of Vladimir Ilyich Lenin" *

Medal "For the Victory over Germany in the Great Patriotic War 1941–1945" The Medal "For the Victory Over Germany in the Great Patriotic War 1941–1945" (russian: Медаль «За победу над Германией в Великой Отечественной войне 1941—1945 гг.») was a military dec ...

* Medal "For Valiant Labour in the Great Patriotic War 1941-1945" * Medal "For the Development of Virgin Lands" *

Medal "In Commemoration of the 800th Anniversary of Moscow" The Medal "In Commemoration of the 800th Anniversary of Moscow" (russian: Медаль «В память 800-летия Москвы») was a state commemorative medal of the Soviet Union established by decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Sov ...

* People's Artist of the USSR * People's Artist of the RSFSR (1964) * Honoured Artist of the RSFSR (1955) *

State Prize of the Russian Federation The State Prize of the Russian Federation, officially translated in Russia as Russian Federation National Award, is a state honorary prize established in 1992 following the breakup of the Soviet Union. In 2004 the rules for selection of laureates ...

(1995) * Lenin Prize (1964) * Stalin Prize (1951) * Commemorative Medal for the 850th anniversary of Moscow

Other governmental awards

* Praemium Imperiale (1993) *

Austrian Cross of Honour for Science and Art, 1st class The Austrian Decoration for Science and Art (german: Österreichisches Ehrenzeichen für Wissenschaft und Kunst) is a state decoration of the Republic of Austria and forms part of the Austrian national honours system. History The "Austrian D ...

(2001) * Heydar Aliyev Order (Azerbaijan, 2007) * Order "Independence" (Azerbaijan, 3 March 2002) * Order of "Glory" (Azerbaijan, 1998) * Order de Mayo (Argentina, 1991) * Order of Freedom (Argentina, 1994) * Commander of the Order of the Liberator General San Martín (Argentina, 1994) * Grand Cordon of the Order of Leopold (Belgium, 1989) * Grand Cross of the Order of Merit of the Republic of Hungary (2003) * Order of Francisco de Miranda (Venezuela, 1979) * Grand Cross of the

Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany The Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany (german: Verdienstorden der Bundesrepublik Deutschland, or , BVO) is the only federal decoration of Germany. It is awarded for special achievements in political, economic, cultural, intellect ...

(2001) * Commander of the Order of the Phoenix (Greece) * Commander of the Order of the Dannebrog (Denmark, 1983) * Commander of the

Order of Isabella the Catholic The Order of Isabella the Catholic ( es, Orden de Isabel la Católica) is a Spanish civil order and honor granted to persons and institutions in recognition of extraordinary services to the homeland or the promotion of international relations a ...

(Spain, 1985) * Commander of the Order of Charles III (Spain, 2004) * Grand Officer of the

Order of Merit of the Italian Republic The Order of Merit of the Italian Republic ( it, Ordine al Merito della Repubblica Italiana) is the senior Italian order of merit. It was established in 1951 by the second President of the Italian Republic, Luigi Einaudi. The highest-rankin ...

(31 August 1984) * Grand Officer of the National Order of the Cedar (Lebanon, 1997) * Grand Officer of the Order of the Lithuanian Grand Duke Gediminas (Lithuania, 24 November 1995) * January 13 Commemorative Medal (Lithuania, 10 June 1992) * Commander of the Order of Merit of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg (1999; previously Knight, 1982) * Commander of the

Order of Adolphe of Nassau The Order of Civil and Military Merit of Adolph of Nassau (french: Ordre de Mérite civil et militaire d’Adolphe de Nassau) is an order of merit of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg for meritorious service to the Grand Duke, the Grand-Ducal House a ...

(Luxembourg, 1991) * Commander of the Order of Saint-Charles (Monaco, 1989) * Commander of the Order of Cultural Merit (Monaco, November 1999) * Commander of the

Order of the Dutch Lion The Order of the Netherlands Lion, also known as the Order of the Lion of the Netherlands ( nl, De Orde van de Nederlandse Leeuw, french: L'Ordre du Lion Néerlandais) is a Dutch order of chivalry founded by King William I of the Netherlands on ...

(Netherlands, 1989) * Commander of the

Order of Merit of the Republic of Poland The Order of Merit of the Republic of Poland ( pl, Order Zasługi Rzeczypospolitej Polskiej) is a Polish order of merit created in 1974, awarded to persons who have rendered great service to Poland. It is granted to foreigners or Poles resident a ...

(1997) * Knight Grand Cross of the Order of Saint James of the Sword (Portugal) * Order "For merits in the sphere of culture" (Romania, 2004) * Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands awarded him the rare Medal for Art and Science (Dutch: "Eremedaille voor Kunst en Wetenschap") of the House-Order of Orange. *

Presidential Medal of Freedom The Presidential Medal of Freedom is the highest civilian award of the United States, along with the Congressional Gold Medal. It is an award bestowed by the president of the United States to recognize people who have made "an especially merit ...

(USA, 1987) * Kennedy Center Honoree (USA, 1992) * Knight of the

Order of Brilliant Star Order of Brilliant Star () is a civilian order of the Republic of China (Taiwan) recognizing outstanding contributions to the development of the nation. The order is instituted in 1941 and can be awarded to both domestic and foreign nationals. ...

(Taiwan, 1977) * Knight of the

Order of the Lion of Finland The Order of the Lion of Finland ( fi, Suomen Leijonan ritarikunta; sv, Finlands Lejons orden) is one of three official orders in Finland, along with the Order of the Cross of Liberty and the Order of the White Rose of Finland. The President ...

* Grand Officer of the

Legion of Honour The National Order of the Legion of Honour (french: Ordre national de la Légion d'honneur), formerly the Royal Order of the Legion of Honour ('), is the highest French order of merit, both military and civil. Established in 1802 by Napoleo ...

(France, 1998; previously Commander, 1987, and Officer, 1981) * Commander of the Order of Arts and Letters (France, 1975) * Order of Arts and Letters (Sweden) (1984) * National Order "For Merit" (Ecuador, 1993) * Order of the Rising Sun, Gold and Silver Star (2nd class) (Japan, 2003) * Sharaf Order (''Order of Honor'') of the Republic of Azerbaijan * Honorary Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire (1987)

Honorary citizenships

* Citizen of honor of Orenburg,

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-ei ...

(1993) * Citizen of honor of Vilnius,

Lithuania Lithuania (; lt, Lietuva ), officially the Republic of Lithuania ( lt, Lietuvos Respublika, links=no ), is a country in the Baltic region of Europe. It is one of three Baltic states and lies on the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea. Lithuania ...

(2000)

Honorary degrees

* Honorary Doctorate,

University of British Columbia The University of British Columbia (UBC) is a public research university with campuses near Vancouver and in Kelowna, British Columbia. Established in 1908, it is British Columbia's oldest university. The university ranks among the top thr ...

(1984) * ''

Laurea ad honorem An honorary degree is an academic degree for which a university (or other degree-awarding institution) has waived all of the usual requirements. It is also known by the Latin phrases ''honoris causa'' ("for the sake of the honour") or ''ad hono ...

'' at the

University of Bologna The University of Bologna ( it, Alma Mater Studiorum – Università di Bologna, UNIBO) is a public research university in Bologna, Italy. Founded in 1088 by an organised guild of students (''studiorum''), it is the oldest university in contin ...

in Political Science (2006)

Competitive awards

* Grammy Award for Best Chamber Music Performance ( 1984): Mstislav Rostropovich &

Rudolf Serkin Rudolf Serkin (28 March 1903 – 8 May 1991) was a Bohemian-born Austrian-American pianist. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest Beethoven interpreters of the 20th century. Early life, childhood debut, and education Serkin was born in t ...

for '' Brahms: Sonata for Cello and Piano in E Minor, Op. 38 and Sonata in F, Op. 99''

Other awards

* Polar Music Prize (1995) * Gold Medal of the Royal Philharmonic Society (1970) * Ernst von Siemens Music Prize (1976) * Sonning Award (1981;

Denmark ) , song = ( en, "King Christian stood by the lofty mast") , song_type = National and royal anthem , image_map = EU-Denmark.svg , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of Denmark , establish ...

) * Prince of Asturias Award (in the concord category), 1997 (jointly with Yehudi Menuhin) * Konex Decoration granted by the Konex Foundation of

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest ...

in 2002. * Wolf Prize in Arts (2004) * Sanford Medal (

Yale University Yale University is a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and among the most prestigious in the w ...

) * Honorary Membership of the Royal Academy of Music, London. * Gold

UNESCO Mozart Medal The UNESCO Mozart Medal is an award named after Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and administered by UNESCO. Recipients * Elisabeth Schwarzkopf, 1991 * Alicia Terzian, 1995 * Elfi von Dassanowsky, 1996 * Igor Moiseyev, 2001, for "outstanding contributio ...

(2007) *

Roosevelt Institute The Roosevelt Institute is a liberal American think tank. According to the organization, it exists "to carry forward the legacy and values of Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt by developing progressive ideas and bold leadership in the service of rest ...

's Four Freedoms Award for the Freedom of Speech (1992)

Notes

References

Sources

*Wilson, Elizabeth, ''Mstislav Rostropovich: Cellist, Teacher, Legend''. London: Faber & Faber, 2007.

External links

Rostropovich Vishnevskaya FoundationHome-museum of Leopold and Mstislav RostropovichMstislav Rostropovich: Cellist, Conductor, Humanitarian
Cellist Arash Amini shares his personal experiences with Slava, a feature from the

Bloomingdale School of Music Bloomingdale School of Music (BSM) is a non-profit community music school on the Upper West Side of New York City, in the neighborhood historically known as the Bloomingdale District. It is housed in a five-story, 102-year-old brownstone and was fo ...

(October 2007)
''Why the cello is a hero''
interview with the ''

''
Interview
by Tim Janof

article and interview at ''

Azerbaijan International ''Azerbaijan International'' is a magazine that discusses issues related to Azerbaijanis around the world. It was established in 1993 shortly after the dissolution of the Soviet Union when Azerbaijan gained its independence. Since then, it has bee ...