Home > Mstislav Rostropovich
Mstislav Leopoldovich Rostropovich (Мстисла́в Леопо́льдович Ростропо́вич) (born March 27, 1927) is a Russian cellist and conductor, considered to be one of the greatest living cellists. Rostropovich was born in Baku, Azerbaijan (then part of the Soviet Union). From 1943 to 1948, he studied at the Moscow Conservatory, where he became professor of cello in 1956.
1 Early years
At the age of 4, he learned the piano with his mother who was a talented pianist, and started the cello at the age of 10 with his father, who had studied it with Pablo Casals, and whose father was also a cellist.
He entered the Moscow Conservatory in 1943, at the age of 16, where he studied the piano and the cello, but also conducting and composition. Among his teachers were Shostakovich and Prokofiev
2 First concerts
Rostropovich gave his first cello concert in 1942. He won first prize at the international Music Awards of PragueStatistics Area:496 km˛ Population: 1,169,106 2001 Map Prague Praha in Czech) is the capital and largest city of the Czech Republic. Situated on the Vltava river in central Bohemia, it is home to approximately 1. 2 million inhabitants. It can be derived f and BudapestSee Budapest (band) for the british melancholic post-grunge band. Danube in foreground, looking south from Margit Bridge Budapest (pronounced BOO-dah-pesht, X-SAMPA: /budapESt/), the capital city of Hungary and the country's principal political, industria in 1947Events January January 1 British mines nationalized January 1 Nigeria gains limited autonomy January 1 The Canadian Citizenship Act went into effect January 3 Proceedings of the United States Congress are televised for the first time. January 10 United Na, 19491949 is the common year starting on Saturday. see link for calendar) Events January-February January 4 RMS Caronia of the Cunard Line departs Southampton for New York on her maiden voyage January 4 February 22 Series of winter storms in Nebraska, Wyoming, and 1950Events January January 5 US Senator Estes Kefauver introduces a resolution calling for examination of organized crime in the USA January 6 The United Kingdom recognizes the People's Republic of China. The Republic of China severs diplomatic relations with. In 1950, at the age of 23 he was awarded what was then considered the highest distinction in the Soviet Union, the Stalin PrizeThe Stalin Prize (initially it was Lenin Prize the name was restored in 1957 as a result of destalinization) was the Soviet Union's highest civilian honour. It was created in 1941 and awarded annually individuals in the fields of science, literatature, ar. At that time, Rostropovich was already well known in his country and while actively pursuing his solo career, he taught at the Leningrad Conservatory (now Saint-Petersburg) and the Moscow Conservatory. In 1955, he married Galina Vishnevskaya, soprano at the Bolshoi Theatre.
His international career started in 1964 in West-Germany. As of this date, he went on several tours in the Western States and met several composers, including Benjamin Britten. In 1967, he conducted Tchaikovsky's opera Eugene Onegin at the Bolshoi, thus letting forth his passion for both the role of conductor and the opera.
