"When I started learning the cello, I fell in love with the instrument because it seemed like a voice - my voice."
Rostropovich in front of the Berlin wall, or playing with his friend Britten, or even accompanying the French singer Charles Aznavour… The life of the legendary 20th-century cellist Mstislav Rostropovitch, is best told through 8 important recordings and videos throughout his career.
Born on 27 March 1927, the virtuosity of Mstislav Rostropovich, along with his many other qualities as a performer, profoundly influenced the music of the 20th century and countless composers, many of whom created works for cello with the legendary performer specifically in mind. A renowned performer and conductor, Rostropovich was also known for his political activism. A political exile, he moved to the United States and then to France before the fall of the USSR. He became a popular figure far beyond the limits of classical music, defending free speech and the democratic ideal. Here are 8 important moments in the life and career of the great Mstislav Rostropovich.
For his first performance as a soloist with an orchestra, Mstislav Rostropovich performed Camille Saint-Saëns's Cello Concerto n°1. He was only 13 years old... Upon entering the Moscow Conservatory three years later, he furthered his training as a cellist but also began studying the piano, composition, and orchestral conducting. Though he displayed great proficiency in all domains, he quickly established a reputation for himself as a cello virtuoso. There was no doubt amongst his professors of the bright and successful career that awaited the young musician.
During his time at the Moscow Conservatory, Mstislav Rostropovich studied under the great Dmitri Shostakovich. The two musicians remained great friends throughout their lifetimes, and the composer even dedicated several of his works to his former student, notably his son Cello Concerto no.1.
On November 11, 1989, two days after the official fall of the Berlin Wall, Mstislav Rostropovich staged an impromptu performance of Bach's cello suites at the frontier. It is undoubtedly one of the most famous and powerful images that remain of the cellist. On 11 November 1989, two days after the fall of the Berlin wall, Rostropovich improvised a concert at “Checkpoint Charlie”, a famous point of passage allowing those from the West to go the East. In front of a stunned crowd and television cameras from all over the world, Rostropovich performed Bach's famous Cello Suites, thus celebrating the end of a political conflict that had forced the cellist into exile and stripped him of his Soviet nationality. One morning in November of 1989, Mstislav Rostropovich was listening to the radio in his apartment in Paris when he heard a news report that crowds of freedom-hungry demonstrators were gathered at the Berlin Wall. Without hesitation, the great world-renowned cellist phoned a friend who owned a private jet and arranged to fly immediately to Berlin. When they arrived at the Wall, Rostropovich made his way to the spot known as “Checkpoint Charlie” – to him the ideal spot for an impromptu solo concert. There was only one problem – no place to sit! So Rostropovich’s friend “borrowed” a chair from one of the guards. Rostropovich sat down and began to play Bach’s Second Suite for cello, the “Sarabande’.
The one known as "Rostro" and "Slava" was first and foremost associated with one instrument in particular: the cello. But his career cannot be examined without discussing his passion for orchestral conducting. Rostropovich took to the podium on countless occasions: in 1967 at the Bolchoï to conduct the opera Eugène Onéguine by Tchaïkovsky, betwee 1977 and 1994 with the Washington Symphony Orchestra, and here below, in November 2006, at the Salle Pleyel in Paris, with the Orchestre de Paris.
A Grand Officer of the French Légion d'Honneur, Knight of the Order of the British Empire, and a UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador, Mstislav Rostropovich was even invited in January 1995 to perform at the opening ceremony of the French presidency of the European Union, alongside the French singer Charles Aznavour. "I adore Charles Aznavour because he brings joy to millions of people with his music", admits the cellist in the video below. "As if you didn't bring any with yours!" replies the French singer.