Russia Celebrates 80th Birthday of Famous Conductor and Cellist
Russian cellist and conductor Mstislav Rostropovich celebrates his 80th birthday this week so Russia is honoring him with a Kremlin reception and commemorative concert.
There are also concerns about his heath as Rostropovich was hospitalized in February. That prompted a visit from President Vladimir Putin who also awarded him with a state medal which raised speculation that the cellist was in his final days. There has been no comment on the reasons for his hospitalization. Some Russian newspapers have reported that he was receiving treatment in the largest cancer clinic in the country.
He has since been released from the hospital and is scheduled to meet with the President at the Kremlin reception in Tuesday, which is his actual birthday. No other details have been released about that closed event.
On Monday, the Moscow Conservatory is holding a Rostropovich birthday concert featuring violinist Maxim Vengerov and the Borodin Quartet, but it is unlikely that Rostropovich will attend.
The cellist went into exile from the Soviet Union in 1974 after he and his family had housed the dissident writer Alexander Solzhenitsyn for four years. Both Rostropovich and his Russian wife, soprano Galina Vishnevskaya lost their Soviet citizenship. In 1977 he became he music director of the National Symphony Orchestra in Washington DC.
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