Happy Hump Day, Guys (and gals, I know you're out there!) Welcome to Day 3 of this week's focus on the Grand Masters of the Cello. There could be no discussion of cello mastery that did not include today's featured Grand Master, Mstislav Rostropovich. 'Slava' Rostropovich's career began in the waning years of Casals, encompassed all of Leonard Rose's career and lasted well into the 21st Century before his passing in 2007. Rostropovich and his wife, singer Galina Vishnevskaya were both tremendous Human Rights Activists, much to the chagrin of their Soviet overlords. So much so that Rostropovich and Visnevskaya went into exile and his Russian citizenship was revoked after he had housed Russian dissident Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn for four years. His citizenship was restored in 1990 after the fall of the Soviet Union and is revered as a hero in Russia today.
His musical artistry was beyond compare and in his lifetime he inspired more compositions dedicated to him than almost any other artist ever. He debuted 117 original compositions in his career and the list of Composers with whom he has been associated is a Who's Who of Classical Music. The Composers include: Dmitri Shostakovich, Sergei Prokofiev, Henri Dutilleux, Witold Lutoslawski, Olivier Messiaen, Luciano Berio, Krzysztof Penderecki, Alfred Schnittke, Norbert Moret, Andreas Makris and Benjamin Britten.
Today's BBC video presentation is a bit longer than the last two at an hour and a half, but Rostropovich's life and career was full to overflowing, so of course it takes a while to even skim the surface of the man and the legend. The video includes lots of beautiful music of course, but also conversations with Rostropovich himself, Galina, and numerous musical notables from throughout the course of his career. The companion piece I have chosen for my tumblr today is the 1968 recording of the Dvorak Cello Concerto in Royal Albert Hall on the day of the Soviets invaded Czechoslovakia to crush the Prague Spring. You can hear the protests in the beginning and the tumultuous applause at the end when Rostropovich held the Dvorak score from the podium in the air like a torch to show his solidarity with Prague and the Czech people. You may also want to read this fascinating Conversation with Rostropovich written by Tim Janof over at cello.org.
Then of course it is Wednesday and time for a little splash-a-thon in the Art department with this week's edition of Wet Wednesday down below and the Hottie of the Day! over on my tumblr. Thanks for the visit, join me tomorrow to find out the identity of our next Grand Master of the Cello. Until next time as always, Enjoy!
His musical artistry was beyond compare and in his lifetime he inspired more compositions dedicated to him than almost any other artist ever. He debuted 117 original compositions in his career and the list of Composers with whom he has been associated is a Who's Who of Classical Music. The Composers include: Dmitri Shostakovich, Sergei Prokofiev, Henri Dutilleux, Witold Lutoslawski, Olivier Messiaen, Luciano Berio, Krzysztof Penderecki, Alfred Schnittke, Norbert Moret, Andreas Makris and Benjamin Britten.
Today's BBC video presentation is a bit longer than the last two at an hour and a half, but Rostropovich's life and career was full to overflowing, so of course it takes a while to even skim the surface of the man and the legend. The video includes lots of beautiful music of course, but also conversations with Rostropovich himself, Galina, and numerous musical notables from throughout the course of his career. The companion piece I have chosen for my tumblr today is the 1968 recording of the Dvorak Cello Concerto in Royal Albert Hall on the day of the Soviets invaded Czechoslovakia to crush the Prague Spring. You can hear the protests in the beginning and the tumultuous applause at the end when Rostropovich held the Dvorak score from the podium in the air like a torch to show his solidarity with Prague and the Czech people. You may also want to read this fascinating Conversation with Rostropovich written by Tim Janof over at cello.org.
Then of course it is Wednesday and time for a little splash-a-thon in the Art department with this week's edition of Wet Wednesday down below and the Hottie of the Day! over on my tumblr. Thanks for the visit, join me tomorrow to find out the identity of our next Grand Master of the Cello. Until next time as always, Enjoy!
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