Mstislav Rostropovich has died
 

News just in. Mstislav Rostropovich has died at the age of 80.
He was one of the greatest cellists of our time.
R.I.P

R.I.P.

wonderful cellist.
I actually did not know he was still alive.

CELLO!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LU_QR...related&search=
he was a great man.
I wanted to link the video of him playing in front of the berlin wall, but I can't find it :( (the video, not the wall...)

Here is a picture of the man playing an impromptu concert at Checkpoint Charlie whenthe Berlin wall was announced to be coming down.

“Every man must have the right fearlessly to think independently and express his opinion about what he knows, what he has personally thought about and experienced, and not merely to express with slightly different variations the opinion which has been inculcated in him.” - Rostropovich

thanks for this pic, " I must spread " etc.... now, I need one in full colours...

I read a book by the ballerina Gelsey Kirkland recently. There's a story in it about her attending a party in New York in the 70's thrown by Rostropovich for a bunch of the ex-pat Russians (soviet ballet defectors like her partner Mikhail Baryshnikov, etc).

She says she felt left out and embarassed because they had a vodka-round-table drinking game going on and she couldn't take the drink.. apparently Rostropovich noticed her distress and quietly took her under his wing. He spent the entire night secretly drinking her vodka shots as well as his own to save her face with her ballet contemporaries.

Seemed like a nice fella.

Oh and a good cellist too.

RIP.

This made me sad. Rusty Povich was a great cellist, yes, but also a great conductor.

I recommend this CD big time:




Or this CD of him conducting:




And a lot of pieces were dedicated to him, like the Britten Cello Suites. The third one is really beautiful.

he commissioned more that 50 original major works while conductor. fucking bad ass

I didn't know that. Chalk another one up for Rusty.