MSTISLAV ROSTROPOVICH (1927-2007)

I am lucky to have seen Rostropovich perform Bach cello suites at Grace Church in the East Village. It was a little like what you can see and hear below.

Rostropovich's final resting place will be near the gravesites of his teachers Dmitri Shostakovich and Sergei Prokofiev. During their lifetimes those two great musicians came to suffer isolation and harassment under the Soviet regime; Rostropovich lived to escape that oppression and finally return to his homeland after the regime had toppled. Of course, the new regime leaves much to be desired.



Source (3:16)