Rostropovich

American  

[ros-truh-poh-vich, ruh-struh-paw-vyich] / ˌrɒs trəˈpoʊ vɪtʃ, rʌ strəˈpɔ vjɪtʃ /

noun

1. Mstislav (Leopoldovich) 1927–2007, Soviet and Russian cellist and conductor (husband ofGalina Vishnevskaya ), born in Soviet Azerbaijan: settled in the United States 1974, music director of the U.S. National Symphony Orchestra 1977–94.

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Rostropovich British  

/ ˌrɒstrəˈpəʊvɪtʃ, rəstraˈpɔvitʃ /

noun

1. Mstislav Leopoldovich (ˈmɪstɪslɑːv; Russian mstiˈslaf leaˈpɔldavitʃ). 1927–2007, Soviet cellist, composer, and conductor; became a US citizen in 1978 after losing Soviet citizenship (restored in 1990)

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Example Sentences

See Examples For:

Rostropovich

One of the greatest recordings of Shostakovich’s Fifth Symphony, his grab-you-by-the-gut answer to Stalin and celebration of Russia, is by the National Symphony under Mstislav Rostropovich, recorded in 1994 at the Kennedy Center.

From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 3, 2026

Rostropovich exuded, in the Kennedy Center aura, the expression of an overwhelmingly triumphant celebration of the end of the Soviet repression.

From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 3, 2026

After 1991, many of the former “noncitizens” — including Solzhenitsyn, Rostropovich and Lyubimov — returned to Russia.

From Washington Post ● Mar. 13, 2023

Rostropovich also played Karen Khachaturian’s lively sonata, which the Kanneh-Masons are doing at some stops on their present tour.

From New York Times ● May 5, 2022

The National Symphony Orchestra had a national profile under Mstislav Rostropovich, and it is flourishing again under its new conductor, Gianandrea Noseda.

From Washington Post ● Sep. 1, 2021