biography
| name: |
Rostropovich, Mstislav Leopoldovich
|
pronunciation:
[rostropohvich]
| sex:
| male
|
| lived:
| (1927– )
|
| biography:
| Cellist and composer, born in Baku, Azerbaijan (formerly USSR). He studied at the Moscow Conservatory (1943–8), where he later became professor of cello (1956). In 1975, while in the USA, he and his wife decided not to return to the USSR, and he became musical director and conductor of the National Symphony Orchestra, Washington, DC (1977–94). He formed a close friendship with Benjamin Britten, who wrote several cello works for him. He was made an honorary knight in 1987. His wife is the soprano, Galina Vishnevskaya (1926– ). |
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