By Azernews

By Laman Ismayilova

Moscow will host the 11th International Mstislav Rostropovich Festival on March 27-31.

The five-day festival will take place in the Great Hall of the Moscow Conservatory, bringing together world-famous music bands and ensembles from Russia and Europe.

The festival will culminate with a performance of the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra of Liege.

International Mstislav Rostropovich Festival has been held annually 2010 since. The artistic director of the festival is Olga Rostropovich.

Born in Baku, Mstislav Rostropovich was internationally recognized as a staunch advocate of human rights. 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 Dmitri Shostakovich, Sergei Prokofiev, Henri Dutilleux, Witold Lutoslawski, 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 leading conductors of the West.

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