Mstislav Rostropovich

As some of you may have heard, the musical world lost one it’s own on April 27, 2007: Russian-born cellist and conductor, Mstislav Rostropovich. Aside from numerous cello compositions written especially for him by such composers as Shostakovich, Prokofiev, and Bernstein, he was also the musical director and conductor for the National Symphony Orchestra, as well as, being a frequent guest for both the Berlin and London Philharmonic’s and the Boston and London Symphony’s. Among his most notable achievements are a Grammy Award for his conducting of the London Symphony Orchestra’s recording of Britten’s Violin Concerto and Walton’s Viola Concerto, as well as, most recently, the Order of Service to the Fatherland, First Degree, presented by current Russian President Vladimir Putin in February of 2007.

Rostropovich fought for freedom of speech and artistic democracy, which resulted in seemingly endless persecution from the Soviet Stalinist regime. Although, his friendship with known agitators like Solzhenitsyn and Shostakovich brought about official disgrace in the 1970’s, his fight for free art never yielded. In his book “The Book of Musical Anecdotes”, Norman Lebrecht reprints a story by Olga Ivinskaya: “...Do you know that after Rostropovich had seen Solzhenitsyn only once at a recital...he invited him to come and stay at his home and shared everything he had with him? And now he’s not only going to get him a residence permit to live in Moscow, but permission to have a dacha there as well. He’ll go right up to the people at the top and won’t stop at anything.”

The Order of Service to the Fatherland in the First Degree can only be assumed to be an official apology. - David Vaughn