Mstislav Rostropovich Festival Opens in Moscow

Image: Hiroyuki Ito for The New York Times

Marking the 85^th birthday of great Russian musician Mstislav Rostropovich, the 3^rd Mstislav Rospropvich Festival has opened at the Grand Hall of the Conservatory in Moscow. The event will run through April 27 and participants will also tour other Russian and European cities.

Olga Rostropovich is Mstislav’s daughter who will serve as the artistic director for the festival. She said that her father always celebrated his birthdays by playing concerts.

“It was a good tradition for Rostropovich and his friends who were also great musicians of the past such as Isaac Stern, Maurice Andre, Jean Pierre Rampal, Leonard Bernstein. They celebrated each others birthdays performing for each other at the concerts. Sometimes their arrival and participation became a real surprise,” she said.

The festival will give music lovers the chance to see unique exhibits in addition to enjoy music rarities. The exhibition, “Rostropovich – Vishnevskaya. A Cross of Fate” will be dedicated to the musical pairing of Mstislav Rostropovich and Galina Vishnevskaya.

Music will be played by numerous musical talents included a personal hero of Rostropovich, Sergey Prokogyevm and Moscow choir groups.

Source: The Voice of Russia

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