Rostropovich

[Chris Grieb]

Yesterday we learned that Mistislav Rostropovich died. He was a giant as a musician and as a fighter for liberty. He was one of the great cellists in the world. He became a great conductor. I had the pleasure of seeing him conduct the National Symphony at the July 4th concert on the US Capital grounds during the 80s.

As a fighter for freedom, he stood up to Soviet tyranny from an early age. As a member of the "new class" he was expected to remain silent, but he did not. During the 70s he provided Solsinstz a place to live before he was exiled. Rostropovich became too much of a thorn in the side of the Kremlin and was exiled from the Soviet Union himself. According to the Washington Post he was afraid he would not be able to find work because he did not speak English. Talent won out and he became National Symphony conductor.

When he returned in 1990s the Soviet Union was gone. As Russia returns to dictatorship, it is fitting that two individuals who fought against the old dictatorship should both be gone in the same week. We can hope that their spirit will defeat this new dictatorship.

As an Objectivist I don't beleve in heaven or an afterlife but the image of Rostropovich performing for Reagan, John Paul II, Yetlsin and Ayn Rand in heaven brings a smile to my face.

Thank you Mischa!

Edited April 29, 2007 by Chris Grieb

[Wrighty]

I found the following from William Radice which speaks volumes about Rostropovich the man and his art....

1968 is forever associated in my mind with a musical event in London.

I wasn’t present at it myself, but I read about it, and I recalled it in one of the

short poems in my book The Retreat:

On the day of the Prague Invasion,

Rostropovich played the Dvorak concerto in London,

Weeping throughout with shame and pity and passion,

Weaving thereby a mesh of association –

Russia, Rostropovich, Czechoslovakia, the Albert Hall, the Dvorak concerto –

Frenzied and soulful, soulful and frenzied notes on the cello.

Mstislav Rostropovich is Russian, an exile from the USSR for much of

his career, and generally regarded as the world’s finest cellist. Dvorák’s cello

concerto is a great piece of Czech music. By an extraordinary irony,

Rostropovich was booked to play it in the Albert Hall on the day of the

Invasion. The critics wrote of how he played it with tears streaming down his cheeks

In the early 80s I was taken on a "dealer trip" by Deutsche Grammophon to Berlin and Hamburg. The Hamburg visit incorporated a concert with the National Symphony Orchestra on tour with Rostropovich conducting. It was and he was memorable. Around 11pm after the concert we were all at a restaurant and amidst a sudden commotion, cheers and applause, the great man came in and joined our tables for dinner. Although some distance away he made everyone feel as though he was sat next to them, talking, joking, enjoying the camaraderie........

Although we never spoke I felt touched by his presence, as you do when in the company of special people. The world misses you Slava, I miss you. You mean so much to so many people.......

[Robert Jones]

Oh my God! How sad. When I was a teenager, growing up in West Virginia, we would travel to Washington every month to see Rostropovich conduct the National Symphony Orchestra at the Kennedy Center. My favorite memory was of a concert he conducted with Isaac Stern as violinist, the Tchaikovsky Concerto. In 2004, my wife and I were visiting Chicago, and as it turned out Rostropovich was guest conducting a Tchaikovsky concert. It was utterly profound and beautiful. Tchaikovsky was in his blood, as it is in the marrow of anyone who is truly Russian.