MSTISLAV ROSTROPOVICH – CITIZEN OF THE WORLD
The greatest academic musician of the last century, Mstislav Rostropovich, not only had a unique performing talent, but was also a very principled person. He was not afraid to oppose the totalitarian system of the Soviet Union, for this he was expelled from the country, and also deprived of citizenship. Abroad, Mstislav Leopoldovich became a global figure, taking one of the most significant places in the world of music.
Diaper music
Baku became the hometown of Mstislav Rostropovich, where he was born on March 27, 1927. His parents were musicians, they moved from Orenburg at the invitation of the founder of professional musical art of Azerbaijan, Uzeyir Hajibeyov. From the first days of his life, Mstislav was introduced to music. And from the age of five, he was a musician Mstislav Rostropovich already studied in Moscow at the music technical school. When the war began, Rostropovich again left for Orenburg. In 1942, Mstislav had to take responsibility for the family – his father died of a heart attack. The future prominent cellist and conductor at a young age became a teacher at a music school to feed his mother and sister.
During this period, he begins to compose music on his own. He created a poem for cello, a piano concert and a prelude for piano. During the war years, he also became a touring artist. Mstislav Rostropovich performed with the Maly Theater Orchestra, gave numerous concerts in hospitals, military units and collective farms.
Before choosing
Not only gifted, but already experienced Mstislav at the age of 16 became a student at the Moscow Conservatory in order to improve the art of playing the cello and acquire the skills of a composer. Rostropovich was lucky, the teacher Semyon Kozolupov immediately saw his huge potential. Musician Mstislav Rostropovich was taught the wisdom of composer skills by Sergei Prokofiev and Dmitry Shostakovich. The last Mstislav showed the score of his piano concert and performed it for clarity. Dmitry Dmitrievich appreciated the efforts of the young man and invited him to take individual lessons to raise the level. But in the future, Rostropovich never became a composer. The reason was simple. When Mstislav first heard Dmitry Shostakovich’s Symphony No. 8, the impression was so great that Rostropovich decided to give up on his compositional prospects. He realized that he could never reach the level of the great Shostakovich. And time has shown that the cellist made the right choice, because the world has recognized an inimitable artist.
First awards
Mstislav Rostropovich earned his first professional award in 1945 at the All-Union competition of young performers. He was awarded the musician Mstislav Rostropovich first prize. Such a success made a fifth-year student a second year student. And after 5 years he became the winner of the international competition in Prague. By that time, he already had a conservatory and a graduate school. Mstislav Rostropovich very quickly became one of the prominent teachers. For more than a quarter century, he worked at the Moscow Conservatory and for several more years in Leningrad. During this time, he trained more than a dozen professionals with a worldwide reputation. His students were Natalia Shakhovskaya, David Geringas, Natalia Gutman, Maris Villeroush and others.
Record musician
The creative life of Mstislav Leopoldovich had two clear directions. On the one hand, he was a great cellist with an impressive repertoire of works, and on the other, a brilliant symphony and opera conductor.Musicist Mstislav Rostoropovich To understand the full power of his talent, it is worth mentioning that more than fifty famous composers created music specifically for Rostropovich. He became the first performer of over a hundred works for cello and gave premieres with an orchestra about 70 times.
The debut of Rostropovich-conductor took place in 1957. Under the movement of his magic wand at the Bolshoi Theater presented “Eugene Onegin” Pyotr Tchaikovsky. Deafening success was not long in coming.
The conductor toured throughout the Soviet Union, and he also played in the same ensemble with Svyatoslav Richter and David Oistrakh.
Often Mstislav Rostropovich performed on the same stage with his wife, opera singer Galina Vishnevskaya. They met in 1955 at the Prague Spring festival and have not parted since that day.
Opalny Mstislav Rostropovich
Being a man fully developed, Mstislav Leopoldovich communicated with people of different fields of activity. For example, he was connected by warm friendly relations with musician Mstislav Rostropovichs Alexander Solzhenitsyn. When the Khrushchev thaw remained in the past, and Leonid Brezhnev came to power, the state machine tried to poison the author of famous works. Then Rostropovich settled Solzhenitsyn in his country house and spoke in his defense with an open letter through the newspaper Pravda. Immediately followed by a reaction from the authorities. Mstislav Leopoldovich became restricted to travel abroad, and work with large orchestras was banned for him. The press immediately turned away from the cellist.
