AS GENIUS DESIRED

Recently - in late October - a festival was organized in Washington to commemorate the great musician of our time, Mstislav Rostropovich, the legendary cello player and native of Baku. And, literally less than two months after the Washington event, the 2nd International Mstislav Rostrop- ovich Festival opened at the other end of the world, in Baku. The coincidence is symbolic indeed. The genius of the legendary musician was able to accomplish the impossible, to connect two opposite poles by its mere existence, conquer the world, becoming an integral element and, after triumphant performances all over the world, return to the small southern city where he was born. Even now that he is no longer with us, his talent, his desire to share his skill and wisdom, the name Mstislav Leopoldovich Rostrop-ovich, dear to every Bakuvian, and our memories of him, remain.

Young musicians from the foundation established by the maestro, which is currently headed by his daughter, Olga Rostropovich, took Washington by storm. As for Baku, there was no need to take it by storm: the Mstislav Rostropovich Festival, held in the capital of Azerbaijan for the second time, brought together stars of world classical music, such as director Yuriy Bashmet and violinist Maxim Vengerov; world-class orchestras, such as the Milan Orchestra and Verdi Chorus and soloists from Galina Vishnev-skaya's Operatic Arts Centre. The festival opened on 9 December at the Azerbaijani State Philharmonia. Olga Rostropovich, President of the Rostropovich Fund, greeted the audience. During the festival, musicians from Azerbaijan, Russia, the United States, Italy and France performed symphonies and concertos, vocal and operatic classical pieces and chamber music at the Azerbaijani State Philharmonia, the Heydar Aliyev Palace, the Opera and Ballet Theatre and the Uzeyir Hacibayov Baku Music Academy. The State Symphony Orchestra of Azerbaijan, pianist Murad Adigozelzada and cello player Philippe Xavier also performed in the opening concert.

The performance by the Solisty Moskvy chamber orchestra and its art director Yuriy Bashmet took place on 10 December and the next day was so-called "children's day," when beneficiaries of the Mstislav Rostropovich Foundation and soloists from the Galina Vishnevskaya Operatic Arts Centre performed. On 12 December, the 5th anniversary of the death of the national leader of Azerbaijan, Heydar Aliyev, the Milan Orchestra and Chorus performed Verdi's Requiem with the participation of soloists Angela Chiari (soprano), Katarina Karneus (mezzo-soprano), Mario Malagnini (tenor) and Zayan Ath (bass). Mozart's overture from the Marriage of Figaro, Tchaikovsky's violin concerto, played by Ray Cheah and conducted by Maxim Vengerov, and Mendelssohn's Scottish Symphony were performed at the gala closing concert of the festival.

The Rostropovich Foundation, the Heydar Aliyev Foundation and the Azerbaijan Ministry of Culture and Tourism took part in organizing the 2nd International Music Festival. In her interview with foreign media, Olga Rostropovich noted that organizing the festival in Baku was much easier than in Washington. "In Baku, when enthusiastic people want to do something, they can tackle many problems which in Washington, for example, simply cannot be tackled. In Washington, you have to take care of everything in advance, sign contracts because there are trade unions. In Baku, everyone is so fond of my father that it is simply impossible for them to say no. If they say that they will do something, they do it. And if you stop people - if you simply walk through Washington and Baku and ask people who Mstislav Rostropovich was, you'll see that people know him in both cities. But in Baku, everyone knows him! Let me give you the example of my children. There was a very interesting story last year. They are studying now at the Beau Soleil School in Switzerland. My younger son, who is 12, told me:  "Mom, there is a boy here from Baku. And when he found out that our granddad was Rostropovich, he started to hug and kiss us and said that he was happy to meet us." And that boy is also 12-years-old!

Olga Rostropovich said at the news conference that organizing the musical event in her father's home city had been his wish. "I spent the last few months of his life with him at the hospital, and he used to recall Baku very often. He wanted to come here and hold a series of concerts. This is why the Rostropovich Festival was my father's wish, which I am very pleased to fulfil." And in her interview with svobodanews.ru, Olga Rostropovich said that "dad loved Baku very much and liked to recall the years when he lived there. And of course, when the President of Azerbaijan moved the people out of the apartment where he lived without letting him know, created a museum there, called it the Mstislav and Leopold Rostropovich Museum and renamed the street in his honour, dad was very touched. Baku was always very important for him. And when he was ill, I spent two months with him in the hospital, I literally lived there, and he wanted to go to Baku and perform his new opera there. It did not happen, but dad's idea to perform the opera gave birth to the idea of organizing the festival because dad simply wanted me to do this. He wanted to make Baku the capital of music. In short, it was he who instructed me in a sense, and I am trying to do his will."

Olga Rostropovich said that last year, for example, organizing the festival took very little time. "People got back to me immediately. Yuriy Bashmet agreed without a second thought, Gia Qancheli wrote a composition in dad's memory, Natasha Gutman flew over. All worked well. Now the festival will be held every year. This year, Maxim Vengerov is the director, next year, Zubin Meta and the Di Magio Orchestra will arrive and, for 2011, we have invited the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra. I think that dad would be happy. Last year, I had a feeling that dad was present in this hall. To me, he is present everywhere now too. "It is good that the Rostropovich Festival, which steeped Baku in the realm of music for almost a week, allowed us to discover the names of new, young musicians, our compatriots, who have already made their statement in local and international events. During the festival, their names were included with the names of the world's most prominent musicians. And it is really pleasing that international stars consider it an honour to take part in a project which is named after the great Rostropovich and that this great event in Azerbaijan's life took place in our great compatriot's native city. For this is exactly what he wanted.