Mstislav Rostropovich Festival to open in Baku

By Azernews

By Laman Ismayilova

An opening ceremony of the 9th International Mstislav Rostropovich Festival will be held at the Azerbaijan State Philharmonic Hall on April 23.

The ceremony will start at 19:00,Trend Life reported.

The festival will take place in Baku  on April 23-27, with the organizational support of the Heydar Aliyev Foundation, Mstislav Rostropovich Foundation and Ministry of Culture and Tourism. The Festival will be held in accordance with the decree of President Ilham Aliyev on holding events dedicated to the 90th anniversary of legendary cellist Mstislav Rostropovich.

The opening ceremony will feature performance of People`s Artist Murad Adigozalzade, Umiba Abbasova as well as Azerbaijan State Symphonic Orchestra conducted by People's artist of Azerbaijan Rauf Abdullayev.

"Concerto for piano and orchestra No. 1" by Pyotr Tchaikovsky, "Force of Destiny" by Giuseppe Verdi, "Symphony No. 3" by Khayyam Mirzazade, symphonic poem "Pines of Rome" by Ottorino Respighi will sound on the Baku stage

Born in Baku, Azerbaijan Rostropovich was internationally recognized as a staunch advocate of human rights, and he was awarded the 1974 Award of the International League of Human Rights.

Rostropovich was a huge influence on the younger generation of cellists. Many have openly acknowledged their debt to his example. In the Daily Telegraph, Julian Lloyd Webber called him "probably the greatest cellist of all time."

He inspired and premiered over 100 pieces and formed long-standing artistic partnerships with  such prominent composers as  iDmitri Shostakovich, Sergei Prokofiev, Henri Dutilleux, Witold Lutos?awski, Olivier Messiaen, Luciano Berio, Krzysztof Penderecki, Alfred Schnittke, Norbert Moret, Andreas Makris and Benjamin Britten.

A five-time Grammy Award winner, he has become one of the West leading conductors.

He was married to the soprano Galina Vishnevskaya, who was named a People's Artist of the USSR in 1966.They performed together regularly.