Azernews.Az

By Sara Rajabova

The Mstislav Rostropovich international music festival featuring works by world famous musicians from numerous countries is underway this week in the Azerbaijan State Philharmonic Hall in Baku, Trend news agency reported.

The 6th such festival, organized by Azerbaijan's Heydar Aliyev Foundation, Ministry of Culture and Tourism and Rostropovich Foundation of Cultural and Humanitarian Programs, was joined by Minister of Culture and Tourism Abulfaz Garayev and prominent public figures, well-known men of culture and art.

The art director of the festival is the president of Rostropovich Foundation Olga Rostropovich.

The annual International Mstislav Rostropovich Festival, dedicated to prominent Baku-born cellist and conductor Mstislav Rostropovich, has been held since 2007, when he died. The Rostropovich festival traditionally brings outstanding musicians from all over the world to the best concert halls of the Azerbaijani capital.

Rostropovich was born on March 27, 1927 in Baku, which hosts a house museum in honor of the great maestro, who passed away in Moscow on April 27, 2007.

The festival features world famous musicians and bands from Russia, Italy, Britain and Azerbaijan - Zubin Mehta, Enrico Dindo, Maksim Vengerov, Plamena Mangova, Sergey Krylov, Badri Maisuradze, Gianluca Marciano, Stuart Neill, Rauf Abdullayev, Fuad Ibrahimov, Elvin Ganiyev, the Symphonic Orchestra Maggio Musicale Fiorentino, British and Lithuanian chamber orchestras, and the Azerbaijani symphony orchestra.

The Azerbaijan State Symphony Orchestra named after Uzeyir Hajibeyov and Elvin Ganiyev, a young violinist who is winner of numerous international competitions, performed at Monday's opening of the festival. Also, works by Azerbaijani composers Ogtay Zulfugarov and Gara Garayev as well as Finnish composer Jean Sibelius were performed.

The festival runs from December 3 to 9.