Mstislav Rostropovich: Virtuoso cellist

Summary

Witness History: Mstislav Rostropovich – Virtuoso Cellist

Episode Date: June 9, 2026
Host: Joe Schultz
Featured Guest (Archive): Mstislav Rostropovich
Length: ~9 minutes

Episode Overview

This episode of Witness History spotlights the life and legacy of Mstislav Rostropovich, a towering figure in 20th-century music and celebrated as possibly the greatest cellist of his era. Centering on his forced exile from the Soviet Union in 1978 and his courageous defense of artistic and personal freedom, the episode draws upon rare archive interviews, particularly one recorded with Rostropovich just after he was stripped of his citizenship. The episode traces his stance against Soviet repression, his personal and professional sacrifices, and his enduring influence on music and history.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

Rostropovich’s Early Life and Rise (00:44–01:35)

• Musical Prodigy: Born in 1927 into a musical family in Baku, Azerbaijan, then part of the Soviet Union.
• Support from Soviet Leadership: Became a rising star, embraced by the Soviet system eager to showcase its cultural talent on the world stage.
• Revolutionizing the Cello: Determined to elevate the cello, he inspired composers to write major works for his instrument, profoundly shaping its role in classical music.

Dissent and Disillusionment (01:35–04:21)

• Political Backdrop: The Soviet crackdown on Czechoslovakia’s liberalization in 1968 deeply affected Rostropovich. During a performance in London amidst these events:
  • Memorable Moment (01:50): “As he played, tears streamed down his face. The performance is still remembered for its raw emotion, often interpreted as an apology.”
• Support for Solzhenitsyn: In 1969, Rostropovich and his wife, Galina Vishnevskaya, sheltered dissident writer Alexander Solzhenitsyn, defying government pressure.
  • Quote (03:07):
    Mstislav Rostropovich:
    “Government official people tell to Galina and to me, please take off Solzhenitsyn from your home. And we tell no… Solzhenitsyn is human being and our friend for many things. For something we possibly make different point of view, but that's human. That's why we immediately refuse this proposition.”
• Public Dissent: Rostropovich wrote an open letter defending Solzhenitsyn and urging freedom of thought, resulting in a performance ban and social isolation.
  • Quote (03:56):
    Mstislav Rostropovich:
    “Before my house was open door. So many people coming, my guests, my friends, and always non stop telephone. But only the last two years I was near to alone in my home with my family, because all people, even my friends, avoided male contact with me.”

Exile and Loss of Citizenship (04:21–06:56)

• Request to Leave: In 1974, with limited opportunities and mounting pressure, he sought and received permission to leave the USSR for two years—an act which soon became permanent.
• Revocation of Citizenship: In March 1978, while abroad, Rostropovich learned he and his family had been stripped of their Soviet citizenship via a news broadcast.
  • Quote (04:50):
    BBC Interviewer (paraphrasing Rostropovich):
    “We heard about it on the news. At that moment, the phone rang...they've stripped you of your Soviet citizenship. It was a tremendous shock for us. It was totally unexpected. No one had spoken to us, no one asked us anything.”
• Atmosphere of Fear: Expulsion was a warning to others in the USSR, evoking memories of Stalin’s Great Terror in the 1930s.
  • Quote (05:42):
    BBC Interviewer:
    “I think they're doing it so that everyone will worry that it could happen to them too… Every family worried that at any moment they would come at night, arrest you and take you away.”

Reflection on Repression and Dissidence (07:02–07:38)

• Isolation: Labeled as an “ideological renegade,” Rostropovich reflected on how friends also criticized the government privately, but he and his wife did so openly.
  • Quote (07:15):
    Mstislav Rostropovich:
    “All my friends criticize exactly like we criticize, but only different. We tell this openly and our friends sing about this, but not tell openly.”

Return and Legacy (07:38–08:58)

• Triumphant Return: After years in exile and changes in the Soviet bloc, he memorably performed Bach at the Berlin Wall in 1989 and was welcomed back to Moscow in 1990.
• Dedication to the Cello: Rostropovich humorously describes the physical hardships of being a cellist.
  • Quote (08:34):
    Mstislav Rostropovich:
    “Our life not so easy. Cello, heavy instrument, and our travels, especially with aircraft, give to us many, many difficulties. That's why we suffer more than violin player or flute player, but because we suffer. We beautiful.”

Final Note (08:58–end)

• Rostropovich passed away in 2007, but his artistry, courage, and advocacy for personal freedom live on through his music and story.

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• Defiance under pressure (03:07): “But Solzhenitsyn is human being and our friend...for something we possibly make different point of view, but that's human.”
• Exile’s loneliness (03:56): “Only the last two years I was near to alone in my home with my family, because all people, even my friends, avoided male contact with me.”
• On arbitrary repression (06:28): “Now they've taken away our citizenship, everyone can start to worry. Maybe they'll take mine away too. It's just a way to make people feel a kind of cowardice...”
• On the soul of the cellist (08:34): “We suffer more than violin player or flute player, but because we suffer. We beautiful.”

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Key Timestamps

• 00:44: Introduction to Rostropovich's childhood and musical ambition
• 01:35: Emotional performance at the Proms after Prague Spring
• 03:07: Sheltering of Solzhenitsyn; defiance against the government
• 03:33: Letter to Pravda and consequences
• 04:21: Departure from the USSR
• 04:50: Discovering loss of Soviet citizenship
• 05:42: Reflection on the climate of fear in Soviet society
• 07:15: Private vs. public dissent among Soviet citizens
• 07:38: The Berlin Wall performance and return
• 08:34: Personal reflections on cello and the burdens of artistry
• 08:58: Rostropovich’s passing and legacy

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Conclusion

This episode offers a poignant, firsthand account of how one of the 20th century’s greatest musicians risked everything to defend freedom and integrity in art and in life. Rostropovich’s courage, compassion, and unwavering dedication to both his instrument and his principles come vividly alive through archival voices, making this podcast episode not just a lesson in history, but a testament to the enduring power of individual conscience and artistic expression.

Transcript

[Joe Schultz]

Hello and welcome to Witness History from the BBC World Service with me, Joe Schultz. We're the podcast that takes you back to the biggest moments in living memory by interviewing someone who was there. Episodes are just nine minutes long and come out every weekday, so follow the podcast and you'll never miss out. I work in the BBC archives and I recently came across a remarkable interview with one of the greatest musicians of the 20th century. It was recorded in March 1978, when Mr. Slav Rostropovich, a legendary cellist, was stripped of his Soviet citizenship for engaging in unpatriotic activity.

[Mstislav Rostropovich]

Not one word true, not one word. We love our country. We not against our government. We not against. We're not political people, you know. We only try help for our arts, for our music, for our literature, for our people, for our country.

[Joe Schultz]

Mstislav Rostropovich was born in 1927 to a musical family in Baku, Azerbaijan, which was then part of the Soviet Union. He was a child prodigy and quickly became a darling of the Soviet leadership, which cultivated the best Soviet artists in its competition with the West. Traditionally, composers had written the most exciting music for violin, but Rostropovich wouldn't stand for that. He was determined to elevate the cello to the level of the violin and he convinced the world's leading musicians to compose works for him. In doing so, it's said that he shaped the history of the cello more than any other person. But he grew increasingly disillusioned with Soviet repression. The Red army, which just a few short weeks before had gone home, was back. The Czechs and the free world had not anticipated this. But the hammer and sickle had returned to pound and cut the Czech's hopes of a liberal, self governing communist way of life. In 1968, Soviet aligned Czechoslovakia experimented with political and economic liberalisation. In response, Soviet tanks rolled into Prague and crushed any resistance. Rostropovich was due to perform at the Proms in London the following night. In a twist of fate, he would be performing with the Soviet State Symphony Orchestra, playing a piece composed by the Czech Antonin Dvorak. As he played, tears streamed down his face. The performance is still remembered for its raw emotion, often interpreted as an apology. The following year, Rostropovich's privileged position in society began to crumble. The Soviet writer Alexander Solzhenitsyn had won international fame with his novel One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich, which lifted the lid on the horrors of Soviet labor camps. He was persecuted by the regime, leaving him destitute. But in 1969 Rostropovich and his wife, the renowned opera singer Galina Vishnevskaya, gave Solzhenitsyn a place to stay.

[Mstislav Rostropovich]

Government official people tell to Galina and to me, please take off Solzhenitsyn from your home. And we tell no, we have not a reason that we not speaking with Solzhenitsyn about politic. But Solzhenitsyn is human being and our friend for many things. For something we possibly make different point of view, but that's human. That's why we immediately refuse this proposition.

[Joe Schultz]

Rostropovich wrote a letter to the Communist Party newspaper Pravda defending Solzhenitsyn and demanding that every man must have the right to think independently and express his opinion about what he knows. It was an incredibly bold move, and he was punished. Rostropovich was banned from playing outside the ussr and performances at home reduced dramatically.

[Mstislav Rostropovich]

Before my house was open door. So many people coming, my guests, my friends, and always non stop telephone. But only the last two years I was near to alone in my home with my family, because all people, even my friends, avoided male contact with me.

[Joe Schultz]

By 1974, with his career in tatters, Rostropovich applied to leave the USSR for two years. The Soviet leader Leonid Brezhnev granted his request. In May of that year, he began a new life abroad with his wife and two daughters, quickly establishing himself as one of the leading conductors and cellists in the West. But in March 1978, his world was turned upside down. As he told the BBC's Russian Service Days later,

[BBC Interviewer]

in the evening on the 15th, Galina Pavlovna and I were sitting watching television together and the news came on and we heard about it on the news. At that moment, the phone rang. It was the National Symphony Orchestra calling me from Washington in amazement. I walked over to the telephone and they know we're watching the news on TV right now, that they've stripped you of your Soviet citizenship. It was a tremendous shock for us. It was totally unexpected. No one had spoken to us, no one asked us anything. It just happened like that. They took the decision and drove us out.

[Joe Schultz]

In the days that followed his exile, the New York Times suggested it was probably driven by a hardening mood in Moscow towards the outside world and dissent.

[BBC Interviewer]

I think they're doing it so that everyone will worry that it could happen to them too, you know, in 1936 and 1937, so I'm told. I'm too young to remember, but I read a lot about it. Every family worried that at any moment they would come at night, arrest you and take you away. Every family felt it, regardless of whether they were guilty of any kind of anti Soviet activity whatsoever.

[Joe Schultz]

In the late 1930s, the Soviet Union was in the midst of Joseph Stalin's Great Terror, when anyone the Soviet leader saw as a threat was purged. Millions were sent to the gulag work camps with around 750,000 executed.

[BBC Interviewer]

I hope things don't get as bad as that. Now I pray to God that such misfortune won't fall on my country again. But all the same, now they've taken away our citizenship, everyone can start to worry. Maybe they'll take mine away too. It's just a way to make people feel a kind of cowardice, to force them to tremble in the face of completely groundless, unjustified decisions.

[Joe Schultz]

Rostropovich and his wife were labelled ideological renegades by a Soviet government newspaper.

[Mstislav Rostropovich]

That's nobody understand this. Nobody in our country.

[Joe Schultz]

Also nobody Understand this is BBC's Ludovic Kennedy interviewing Rostropovich a few weeks after his citizenship was revoked.

[BBC Interviewer]

Sir, let me ask you this.

[Mstislav Rostropovich]

When you lived in Russia, how much private criticism was there of the Soviet government and all its repressive and restrictive measures? All my friends criticize exactly like we criticize, but only different. We tell this openly and our friends sing about this, but not tell openly.

[Joe Schultz]

It seemed like one of the greatest musicians of his day would never see his homeland again. He enjoyed great success in Europe and North America, but he kept a watchful eye on news from the east, and eventually the political climate changed. Mikhail Gorbachev's transformation of the Soviet bloc led to the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989. And in sheer joy, Rostropovich played Bach cello suites beside the crumbling Wall all night long. The videos were beamed around the world to. In February 1990, he made a triumphant return to Moscow as music director of the Washington National Symphony Orchestra. In 2002, he was interviewed again by the BBC about his life and more specifically his love for his instrument.

[Mstislav Rostropovich]

Our life not so easy. Cello, heavy instrument, and our travels, especially with aircraft, give to us many, many difficulties. That's why we suffer more than violin player or flute player, but because we suffer. We beautiful.

[Joe Schultz]

Mstislav Rostropovich died in 2007. This episode of Witness History was presented by me, Joe Schultz, and produced by Ben Henderson for the BBC World Service. I hope you enjoyed it. If you did, we've got plenty more stories from music history, including the time Rostropovich's friend, the great composer Dmitri Shostakovich was blacklisted by Stalin. Just check out our back catalogue. And goodbye for now.

[BBC Interviewer]

A moment in time captured by what they heard.

[Joe Schultz]

I heard some people making phone calls.

[BBC Interviewer]

Okay, which Runway would you like at Teterboro?

[Mstislav Rostropovich]

What they saw I put my head down.

[Joe Schultz]

I saw the movie of my life started going through my head.

[BBC Interviewer]

What they saw smelt. I still remember the smell of the

[Joe Schultz]

fresh fish and I completely lost my appetite.

[BBC Interviewer]

Moments captured which last for a lifetime.

[Joe Schultz]

Scientists have made the atomic bomb that sort of flash set on fire the birds and they all fell down without their feathers on the way was clear

[BBC Interviewer]

for Hitler to realize all his demonic plans. Stories from people with of events that have shaped our world.

[Joe Schultz]

At the end, Kissinger called me into his office and he said, you did a good job. I left the office with tears in my eyes. She called me and told me I'm doing Studio 54. She had already become a star in Paris. She came back a superstar.

[BBC Interviewer]

Listen now. Search for witness history wherever you get your BBC podcasts.