About this Artist

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About This Item

Mstislav Rostropovich was born on March 27, 1927, and died from cancer a month after his 80th birthday. He was without a shadow of a doubt the leading cellist of the 20th century, not to mention an excellent conductor and piano accompanist to his wife, the soprano Galina Vishnevskaya. But what set him even further apart was his deep commitment to humanity, his dedication to the people of his native Russia, and his courageous stand against the Soviet empire (his support of dissident Alexander Solzhenitsyn and others led him to have his citizenship revoked by the Communist regime).

This collection brings together all the recordings with cello that he made for EMI Classics, including both versions of the Brahms Double Concerto made with Oistrakh & Szell in 1969 and Perlman & Haitink in 1979, the Dvor¡ák Concerto with Boult in 1957 and Giulini in 1977, Saint-Saëns Concerto No.1 with Sargent in 1956 and Giulini in 1977, the Bach Cello Suites both on CD and DVD, the 13 CDs of recordings which Rostropovich brought to EMI entitled The Russian Years, and a special documentary DVD.

The remarkable enthusiasm and virtuosity with which "Slava" played inspired numerous composers to write for him. He reserved his highest praise for composers Sergei Prokofiev, who died on the same day as Stalin (Mar 5, 1953), Dmitri Shostakovich (died Aug 9, 1975), and Benjamin Britten (died Dec 4, 1976). Both Rostropovich and Shostakovich had lost their fathers while teenagers, so when Shostakovich became his teacher he was more of a surrogate father, and you may imagine his anguish at not being able to return to Moscow for the funeral (having been stripped of his citizenship); it was thus at Britten’s funeral service that he could give vent to his sadness at the loss of both great friends.

In a final gesture of his limitless generosity, Rostropovich left the world a matchless recorded legacy of his genius. We should all listen and be grateful. From the Label