Editing Mstislav Rostropovich (section)

==Further career==
[[File:RIAN archive 474794 Mstislav Rostropovich, chief conductor and art director of U.S. National Symphony Orchestra.jpg|thumb|Mstislav Rostropovich, chief conductor of U.S. National Symphony Orchestra, greets the audience in Bolshoi Hall of the Tchaikovsky Conservatory in Moscow, 13 February 1990]]
On 17 December 1988, Rostropovich gave a special concert at [[Barbican Hall]] in London, after postponing a trip to India for the [[1988 Armenian earthquake]] relief program. The event was part of an effort called ''Musicians for Armenia,'' which was expected to raise more than $450,000 from donations worldwide, including gifts from musicians, concert proceeds and film and recording rights. Prince Charles and the Princess of Wales attended the concert in the sold-out 2,026-seat hall.<ref>{{cite news |title=A Concert in London For Quake Survivors |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1988/12/19/arts/a-concert-in-london-for-quake-survivors.html |newspaper=The New York Times|date=1988-12-19 }}</ref>

On 7 February 1989, a cello concert was organized by the [[Armenian Relief Society]] and the Volunteers Technical Assistance (VTA) for the victims of the earthquake. At the concert, Rostropovich played his favorite cello repertoire, including Dvořák's Cello Concerto in B minor; Haydn's cello concerti in C and D; Prokofiev's Symphony-Concerto; and Shostakovich's two cello concerti. The evening raised awareness and helped hundreds of earthquake victims put food on their tables. The concert was held at the Kennedy Center and over 2,300 were in attendance.<ref>{{cite web |title=Armenian Relief Society Was at the Center of Earthquake Relief Efforts |url=http://asbarez.com/176551/armenian-relief-society-was-at-the-center-of-earthquake-relief-efforts/ |website=Asbarez.com|date=2018-12-06 }}</ref>

From 1977 to 1994, Rostropovich was music director and conductor of the [[National Symphony Orchestra]] in Washington, D.C., while still performing with famous musicians such as [[Martha Argerich]], [[Sviatoslav Richter]], and [[Vladimir Horowitz]].<ref>{{cite encyclopedia | url=https://www.britannica.com/eb/article-9002382/National-Symphony-Orchestra | title=National Symphony Orchestra | encyclopedia=Encyclopædia Britannica Online | author=Encyclopædia Britannica | date=27 April 2007 | access-date=2007-04-30}}</ref> He was also the director and founder of the [[Mstislav Rostropovich Baku International Festival]] and a regular performer at the [[Aldeburgh Festival]].<ref>[http://www.brittenpears.org/?page=research/archive/special/aldeburgh.html/ ''Rostropovich remembered'' – ''Britten-Pears Foundation'', Undated].Retrieved on 2007-07-31.</ref>

His impromptu performance during the fall of the [[Berlin Wall]] as events unfolded was reported throughout the world.<ref name=BBC>{{cite news | url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/6598895.stm | title=Russian maestro Rostropovich dies | work=BBC News | access-date=2007-04-30 | date=2007-04-27}}</ref> His Soviet citizenship was restored in 1990. When, in August 1991, news footage was broadcast of [[1991 Soviet coup d'état attempt|tanks in the streets of Moscow]], Rostropovich responded with a characteristically brave, impetuous and patriotic gesture: he bought a plane ticket to Japan on a flight that stopped at Moscow, talked his way out of the airport and went to join [[Boris Yeltsin]] in the hope that his fame might make some difference to the chance of tanks moving in.<ref>Wilson: p. 345</ref> Rostropovich supported Yeltsin during the [[1993 Russian constitutional crisis|1993 constitutional crisis]] and conducted the [[National Symphony Orchestra (United States)|National Symphony Orchestra]] in [[Red Square]] at the height of the crackdown.<ref>{{cite news | author=Steven Erlanger | title=Isolated Foes of Yeltsin Are Sad but Still Defiant | url=https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9F0CEEDF1039F934A1575AC0A965958260 | work=The New York Times | date=27 September 1993 | access-date=2008-05-29}}</ref>

In 1993, he was instrumental in the foundation of the [[Kronberg Academy]] and was a patron until his death. He commissioned [[Rodion Shchedrin]] to compose the opera ''[[Lolita (opera)|Lolita]]'' and conducted its premiere in 1994 at the [[Royal Swedish Opera]]. Rostropovich received many international awards, including the [[French Legion of Honor]] and honorary doctorates from many universities. He was an activist, fighting for freedom of expression in art and politics. An [[UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador|ambassador for the UNESCO]], he supported many educational and cultural projects.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://portal.unesco.org/en/ev.php-URL_ID=8327&URL_DO=DO_TOPIC&URL_SECTION=201.html | title=UNESCO Celebrity Advocates: Mstislav Rostropovitch | publisher=UNESCO | access-date=2007-04-30}}</ref> Rostropovich performed several times in [[Madrid]] and was a close friend of [[Queen Sofía of Spain]].

With his wife, Galina Vishnevskaya, he founded the [[Rostropovich-Vishnevskaya Foundation]], a publicly supported nonprofit [[501(c)(3) organization]] based in Washington, D.C., in 1991 to improve the health and future of children in the former Soviet Union. The ''Rostropovich Home Museum'' opened on 4 March 2002, in Baku.<ref>{{cite news | url=http://www.azer.com/aiweb/categories/magazine/ai112_folder/112_articles/112_rostropovich.html | title=Rostropovich The Home Museum | publisher=Azerbaijan International | author=Gulnar Aydamirova | date=Summer 2003 | access-date=2007-04-30}}</ref> The couple visited Azerbaijan occasionally. Rostropovich also presented cello master classes at the [[Azerbaijan State Conservatory]]. Together they formed a valuable art collection. In September 2007, when it was slated to be sold at auction by [[Sotheby's]] in London and dispersed, Russian billionaire [[Alisher Usmanov]] stepped forward and negotiated the purchase of all 450 lots to keep the collection intact and bring it to Russia as a memorial to Rostropovich. Christie's reported that the buyer paid a "substantially higher" sum than the £20 million pre-sale estimate<ref>[http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/6999330.stm News.BBC.co.uk], 17 September 2007.</ref>

In 2006, he was featured in [[Alexander Sokurov]]'s documentary ''Elegy of a life: Rostropovich, Vishnevskaya''.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.variety.com/review/VE1117931334.html?categoryid=31&cs=1|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100923190909/http://www.variety.com/review/VE1117931334.html?categoryid=31&cs=1|url-status=dead|title=Elegy Of Life: Rostropovich. Vishnevskaya. Review - Read Variety's Analysis Of The Movie Elegy Of Life: Rostropovich. Vishnevskaya.|archive-date=23 September 2010|website=Variety.com|access-date=27 March 2025}}</ref>