merchimerch | (no subject)

Rostropovich has passed on in Moscow. I think I'm grieving him more than many of the musicians and scholars who have passed in the last few years. Although I didn't know him well, I met him once and attended a masterclass that he gave in London, but I admire him greatly and he was such an impressive presence in that class. His musicality is just stunning.

Plus I am a bit of a grandchild student from a couple of directions. My bassoon teacher at Peabody played under him in the National Symphony, and one of my professors from London, Alexander Vasilyevich, studied with him.

The world has lost such a musician today...I'm off to download his recording of the Shostakovich Cello concerto.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

He was so good. He had incredible musicality... of the sort that not many contemporary musicians have. I heard him play in Santa Barbara on his Birthday, no less, a few years ago. I am sorry he is gone.

That's quite sad. I met him a few times when I was a kid - he had a house near mine. I never would have called him warm, but for the one time I heard him play Tchaikovski. I'll have to ask my parents if they know, they always had nice things to say about him.

In other, related news, I used to do grounds work for a direct descendant of J.S. Bach, who lived almost across the street from the Rostropovich estate...

I loved Alex Ross's description of him as an overwhelming life force in the form of a cellist.