Mstislav Leopoldovich Rostropovich is an exceptional person, known to us not only as a great musician, composer, conductor, but also as a teacher, professor and public figure.
Mstislav Rostropovich - Biography
Mstislav Leopoldovich was born on March 27, 1927 in Baku in a family of musicians. His father, a cellist, graduated from the St. Petersburg Conservatory with a gold medal. Mstislav's mother played the piano. The boy from the cradle grew up in an atmosphere permeated by art, music, and already at the age of four he began to take the first steps of his creative path. Under the guidance of his father, a professor at the Azerbaijan Conservatory, the child quickly mastered playing the cello and piano.
Already at the age of 8 he performed in public, and at the age of 13 Mstislav Rostropovich, together with a symphony orchestra, performed a concert for C. Saint-Saens cello in the city of Slavyansk.
At the age of 16 he entered the Moscow Conservatory, where he was educated in two departments at once - in the composition class and the cello class.
Here the young man met with the outstanding composer Dmitry Shostakovich. Once Rostropovich decided to show him the score of his first piano concerto. After its masterly performance, Shostakovich invited Mstislav to study his instrumentation class.
But, despite the good ability to composition, Rostropovich stopped composing music. During the first rehearsal of the Eighth Symphony of Shostakovich, he was so impressed that he completely ceased to see himself as a composer. “Since then, thank God, I have not composed a single note, ” he said.
In 1946, Mstislav graduated from the Moscow Conservatory. His name can be seen on the marble plaque of prominent graduates. After he studied at graduate school.
Creation
The whole world knows Mstislav Leopoldovich. One of his first significant successes was his performances in Prague and Budapest. A special place is occupied by participation in the Wigan International Cello Competition.
His talent was especially wonderful in that he not only admired ordinary listeners, but also gave impetus to the development of art as a whole, inspiring others.
Rostropovich had a great influence on the work of various musicians, he performed a lot with Richter, Gilels, Kogan.
About 60 composers dedicated their works to Mstislav Leopoldovich.
B. Britten, who had never before written for a cello, thanks to his friendship with Rostropovich created for her 3 suites, a sonata and a symphony concert.
Mstislav Leopoldovich is also known as a conductor.
For the first time in this role, he tried himself at the festival, which was dedicated to the music of Shostakovich. That was 1962. In 1968, the maestro directed the new production of the opera at the Bolshoi Theater - "Eugene Onegin" by P. I. Tchaikovsky. And later, another production - "War and Peace" by Prokofiev. Later, he will become the head of the siphonic orchestra.
Mstislav Rostropovich and Galina Vishnevskaya
Mstislav Leonidovich’s personal life was also full of creativity, because in life companions he chose a talented opera singer - Galina Vishnevskaya.
With his wife, Rostropovich performed as a pianist, accompanying her delightful vocals. Their performances caused a great cultural resonance. The couple interpreted vocal masterpieces in their own way. This new vision inspired Shostakovich and Britten to create vocal cycles. The unique work of a talented couple infected many other artists with inspiration.
Mstislav and Galina had two daughters - Olga and Elena.
