Word: rostropovich
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...first thing Mstislav Rostropovich did in Moscow last week was go to Novodevichy Cemetery. "To make my tears for my dearest friends," as he told one interviewer. The great cellist laid flowers on the grave of Dmitri Shostakovich, who once taught him composition (Rostropovich quit the Moscow Conservatory when Shostakovich was dismissed for having offended Stalin's sensibilities). He laid more at the graves of Sergei Prokofiev, David Oistrakh and Emil Gilels. The next day, at another cemetery, he paid his respects to his mother Sofia and to Andrei Sakharov, whom he called "the greatest man of the 20th century...
After 16 years of exile, Rostropovich had returned to his native land -- to give concerts, but more significantly to begin healing political and personal wounds. The homecoming, said his wife, soprano Galina Vishnevskaya, a former star of the Bolshoi Theater, "was very emotional...
...Soviet Union we left was an island of lies," Rostropovich said at a crowded press conference. "Now my country is cleansing itself of these lies. Wonderful words of freedom are being spoken. I look forward to the day when these words become a reality. Then we may live again in our country. We pray to God that the changes can happen here without bloodshed, that the people will find their way. When people are happy, when they have enough food, then they will want nothing but music...
...divorces. Hopeful brides and bridegrooms are probed for their creditworthiness, their job history and their marital status. Appearance and habits are carefully noted: Does he bite his nails? Does she have bad teeth? They are prodded for their likes and dislikes: Does he like reggae? Does she like Rostropovich? "I try to introduce two people who are so similar to each other that when the going gets rough, they can fall back on their similarities. If a client likes to sail, he's a poor match for a woman who gets seasick...
...believes Soviet TV has responded too cautiously to the possibilities of glasnost. Sometimes he muses about expanding his spectrum of guests. Since he is an avid fan of classical music, he is eager to interview international artists like Leonard Bernstein and even emigre cellist Mstislav Rostropovich. Nor would he rule out a broadcast with exiled novelist Alexander Solzhenitsyn. He has also considered bringing on leading Soviet economists and politicians. Says he: "We now read the papers and watch TV in a kind of ecstasy, as if something extraordinary has happened. But what is so extraordinary about it? We are simply...