Mstislav Rostropovich festivals to be remembered in festivals in Baku, Moscow, Orenburg

By AzerNews

Baku, Moscow, and Orenburg will hold international festivals dedicated to great cellist Mstislav Rostropovich in spring 2014.

The 5th International Mstislav Rostropovich Festival in Moscow will be held on March 27-April 5, the 2nd International Mstislav Rostropovich Festival in Orenburg will be held from April 23 to 27, while Baku will host the 7th International Mstislav Rostropovich Festival on May 12-19.

Baku initiated holding annual Mstislav Rostropovich festival based on a festival dedicated to the 100th anniversary of Dmitri Shostakovich's birthday, organized by Mstislav Rostropovich in Baku in 2006.

Starting from 2007, the festival dedicated to eminent Baku citizen Msitslav Rostropovich is held in December in Baku.

A great number of musicians and performers annually come to Baku to participate in the festival. Spectators enjoy profound music programs and performance of scholarship holders of Mstislav Rostropovich Foundation at the concerts held on the best stages of the city.

Musician, cellist, conductor Mstislav Rostropovich was born in Baku in 1927. Although his family moved to Russia a few years later, he had always loved Baku.

"I ??am from Baku. Here I was born, my friends live here. Baku is my homeland, Baku is my home," he used to say.

In a lifetime of countless memorable performances, Rostropovich gave the premieres of cello concertos by Prokofiev, Shostakovich, Britten and Bliss.

Rostropovich made his conducting debut in Gorky in 1961 and since then won outstanding acclaim as a conductor, appearing with most of the world's leading orchestras.

He was Music Director of the National Symphony Orchestra of Washington from 1977 to 1994. In the U.K., he appeared regularly with the London Symphony Orchestra and with other leading British orchestras.

The Rostropovich-Vishnevskaya Foundation created by him today engaged in charitable activities for children in Azerbaijan.

Rostropovich held over 50 honorary degrees and was the recipient of more than 130 major awards and decorations by over 30 different nations, until passing away on April 27, 2007.