Program of 10th Mstislav Rostropovich Festival revealed
By Laman Ismayilova
The program of the 10th International Mstislav Rostropovich Festival has been revealed.
The festival will take place in Baku on April 22-27, bringing together world-famous musicians from Azerbaijan, Russia, Germany, Switzerland, Spain, etc.
Azerbaijan State Symphony Orchestra will perform at the State Academic Philharmonic Hall on April 22, Trend Life reported. The orchestra will be conducted by People's Artist of Azerbaijan Rauf Abdullayev. The soloists are Russian violinist Sergey Krylov and French pianist Alexander Kantorov.
Lausanne Chamber Orchestra will give a concert on April 23. The ensemble is regularly heard at the Theatre des Champs-Elysees and Salle Pleyel in Paris, Alte Oper in Frankfurt, National Academy of St. Cecilia in Rome, Musikverein in Vienna, as well as at festivals such as the BBC Proms in London, the George Enescu Festival in Bucharest and the Rheingau Musik Festival.
Evening of piano music will be held at Baku Music Academy on April 24. The concert will feature Russian pianist Boris Berezovsky.
On April 25, the St. Petersburg State Academic Ballet Theater of Boris Eifman will perform the play "On the Other Side of Sin" at the State Academic Opera and Ballet Theater.
Spectacular concert of the Azerbaijan State Symphony will be held at Heydar Aliyev Palace under the guidance of Honored Artist of Azerbaijan Fuad Ibrahimov. The soloist of the evening is Spanish cellist Pablo Ferrandes.
All the concerts start at 19:00.
Born in Baku, Mstislav Rostropovich was internationally recognized as a staunch advocate of human rights. He was awarded the 1974 Award of the International League of Human Rights.
Rostropovich was a huge influence on the younger generation of cellists. Many have openly acknowledged their debt to his example. In the Daily Telegraph, Julian Lloyd Webber called him "probably the greatest cellist of all time."
He inspired and premiered over 100 pieces and formed long-standing artistic partnerships with such prominent composers as Dmitri Shostakovich, Sergei Prokofiev, Henri Dutilleux, Witold Lutoslawski, Olivier Messiaen, Luciano Berio, Krzysztof Penderecki, Alfred Schnittke, Norbert Moret, Andreas Makris and Benjamin Britten.
A five-time Grammy Award winner, he has become one of the leading conductors of the West.
He was married to the soprano Galina Vishnevskaya, who was named a People's Artist of the USSR in 1966. They performed together regularly.
---
Laman Ismayilova is AzerNews’ staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @Lam_Ismayilova
Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz