Rostropovich, Mstislav
▪ Russian musician
in full Mstislav Leopoldovich Rostropovich
born March 27, 1927, Baku, Azerbaijan S.S.R., U.S.S.R. [now Azerbaijan]
died April 27, 2007, Moscow, Russia
Russian conductor and pianist and one of the best-known cellists of the 20th century.
Trained by his parents (a cellist and a pianist) and at the Moscow Conservatory (1943–48), Rostropovich became professor of cello at the conservatory in 1956. He began touring abroad in the 1950s. He also performed as a pianist in recitals with his wife, the soprano Galina Vishnevskaya, and in 1968 he made his debut as a conductor. When in 1970 Rostropovich made clear his support of the dissident Soviet writer Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn (Solzhenitsyn, Aleksandr Isayevich), the government sharply curtailed his ability to travel. In 1974, however, he and his wife were permitted to leave the country, and in 1975 they announced their decision not to return to the Soviet Union. In 1977 Rostropovich became music director of the National Symphony Orchestra in Washington, D.C., a post he held until 1994. The Soviet government deprived the couple of their citizenship in 1978 but reversed that decision in 1990.
Although sometimes criticized for occasional over-romanticism, Rostropovich was admired for his keen musicianship, both in contemporary works and in the established concert repertoire. His exploitation of the tonal resources of the cello was considered exceptional. Composers who wrote works for him include Aram Khachaturian (Khachaturian, Aram), Sergey Prokofiev (Prokofiev, Sergey), Dmitry Shostakovich (Shostakovich, Dmitry), Benjamin Britten (Britten, Benjamin), and Witold Lutosławski (Lutosławski, Witold). The recipient of numerous awards, Rostropovich was given the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1987.
Gilels, Emil
▪ Soviet pianist
in full Emil Grigoryevich Gilels
born Oct. 6 [Oct. 19, New Style], 1916, Odessa, Ukraine, Russian Empire
died Oct. 14, 1985, Moscow
Soviet concert pianist admired for his superb technique, tonal control, and disciplined approach.
Gilels began piano studies at age 6 and gave his first public concert in 1929 at age 13. In 1933 he gained top honours in the first All-Union Musicians Contest. After graduating from the Odessa Conservatory in 1935, he moved to Moscow for further study with Heinrich Neuhaus. In 1938 he won first prize at the Ysaÿe International Festival in Brussels and was appointed professor at the Moscow Conservatory. After World War II he toured outside the Soviet Union, and his debuts in New York City (1955) and London (1959) were greatly acclaimed. Although the works of Robert Schumann (Schumann, Robert), Johannes Brahms (Brahms, Johannes), and especially Ludwig van Beethoven (Beethoven, Ludwig van) came to form the core of his repertoire, Gilels also played those of Johann Sebastian Bach (Bach, Johann Sebastian), Béla Bartók (Bartók, Béla), and Peter Ilich Tchaikovsky (Tchaikovsky, Pyotr Ilyich).
Horowitz, Vladimir
▪ Russian pianist
born Oct. 1 [Sept. 18, Old Style], 1903, Berdichev, Russia [now in Ukraine]
died Nov. 5, 1989, New York, N.Y., U.S.
Russian-born American virtuoso pianist in the Romantic tradition. He was celebrated for his flawless technique and an almost orchestral quality of tone. Horowitz's performances of works by Franz Liszt, Sergey Rachmaninoff, Frédéric Chopin, Aleksandr Scriabin, Domenico Scarlatti, and Sergey Prokofiev were admired for their technical precision and dynamic range. His interpretations of keyboard miniatures, such as Robert Schumann's Kinderszenen (Scenes of Childhood), were noted for their delicacy.
Horowitz entered the Kiev conservatory at age 12. While a student, he preferred composing to giving concerts, and only after his family had been left destitute by World War I and the Russian Revolution did he make his concert debut (1922, Kharkov). His reputation was assured in the Soviet Union when, at age 20, he played a series of 23 recitals in Leningrad (now St. Petersburg) with no duplications, performing a total of more than 200 works. Spectacular successes followed in European and American tours. In 1933 he married Arturo Toscanini's daughter, Wanda. He settled in the United States in 1940, becoming a citizen in 1944. From 1953 to 1965 he withdrew completely from the concert stage, although he continued to make recordings. His return to the American concert stage after 12 years' absence and again briefly in 1974 and 1981 were musical events of great moment. Then, in 1982, after 31 years' absence he capped his career by touring Europe once again. In 1986 he returned to the Soviet Union to perform two concerts. His final tour was a series of recitals in Europe in 1987. He was buried in the Toscanini family plot in Milan, Italy.
Ulanova, Galina
▪ Russian ballerina
in full Galina Sergeyevna Ulanova
born December 26, 1909 [January 8, 1910, New Style], St. Petersburg, Russia
died March 21, 1998, Moscow
first prima ballerina assoluta of the Soviet Union and one of the greatest ballet dancers of the 20th century.
The daughter of dancers Sergey Ulanov and Marie Romanova of the Mariinsky Ballet (called the Kirov State Academic Theatre of Opera and Ballet during the Soviet period), Ulanova was trained in the Leningrad State School of Choreography, where she studied under Agrippina Vaganova (Vaganova, Agrippina). After graduating in 1928 she joined the Kirov Theatre, where her first major creation was the role of Maria in R.V. Zakharov's Fountain of Bakhchisaray (1934). Another important creation in L.M. Lavrovsky's Romeo and Juliet (1940) displayed her skill as a dramatic dancer. She also excelled in such classical ballets as Giselle and Swan Lake.
In 1944 Ulanova was transferred to the Bolshoi Ballet in Moscow. Her first appearance outside the Soviet Union was in Florence in 1951. She gained instant popular acclaim when she danced with the Bolshoi company at the Royal Opera House, London, in 1956. She traveled with the Bolshoi to several other countries, making her American debut in 1959 and winning accolades for Giselle and Romeo and Juliet. Her performances in films of the Bolshoi Ballet did much to increase world interest in ballet.
A lyrical dancer in the tradition of Anna Pavlova (Pavlova, Anna), Ulanova was considered the embodiment of the Soviet school of ballet. After retiring from dancing in 1960, she coached young dancers (notably the ballerina Yekaterina Maksimova in Giselle), served as ballet mistress of the Bolshoi Theatre, and occasionally wrote dance articles for Soviet journals.
Pavlova, Anna
▪ Russian ballerina
in full Anna Pavlovna Pavlova
born Jan. 31 [Feb. 12, New Style], 1881, St. Petersburg, Russia
died Jan. 23, 1931, The Hague, Neth.
Russian ballerina, the most celebrated dancer of her time.
Pavlova studied at the Imperial School of Ballet at the Mariinsky Theatre from 1891, joined the Imperial Ballet in 1899, and became a prima ballerina in 1906. In 1909 she went to Paris on the historic tour of the Ballets Russes. After 1913 she danced independently with her own company throughout the world.