The Kennedy Center Presents: A Salute to Slava!

<v Narrator>A remarkable man at the center of two revolutions in the world <v Narrator>of music and in his Russian homeland. <v Narrator>Tonight, we celebrate Mr. Slav Rostropovich. <v Narrator>Slava. <v Narrator>Our salute to Slava is made possible by the generous financial support of <v Narrator>Mobile Corp., a proud sponsor of public television. <v Narrator>For over twenty three years and the Corporation for Public Broadcasting <v Narrator>and by annual financial support from viewers like you. <v Narrator>Rumba Nation's capital, The Kennedy Center presents <v Narrator>a salute to Slava. <v Narrator>With host Paula Zahn and featuring special guest artists <v Narrator>Isaac, Jean Pierre Rampaul, Van Cliburn, <v Narrator>Maria Guleghina, Awadagin Pratt, <v Narrator>Maxine Shostakovich.

<v Narrator>The Oratorio Society of Washington and the Choral Art Society of Washington <v Narrator>with Sir Neville Mariner and the National Symphony Orchestra. <v Narrator>[music plays] <v Narrator>And now, please welcome Miss Paula Zahn. <v Paula Zahn>Good evening. As he steps down from the podium after 17

<v Paula Zahn>years as music director of Washington's National Symphony Orchestra, <v Paula Zahn>we say thank you to Mr. Slav Rostropovich. <v Paula Zahn>He is known to those who love him and we are legion. <v Paula Zahn>As Slav, Slava is more than an affectionate nickname <v Paula Zahn>in his native Russian, Slava means glory. <v Paula Zahn>Glory. As a cellist, conductor and defender of freedom <v Paula Zahn>and human rights. <v Paula Zahn>He is also irrepressible. <v Paula Zahn>Take the time the maestro appeared at violinist Isaac Stern's musical <v Paula Zahn>seventieth birthday party. <v Narrator>Ladies and gentlemen, Isaac Stern and Jean Pierra Rampaul.

<v Issac Stern>Slava, we've come here to join with your many friends to celebrate <v Issac Stern>you this day. <v Issac Stern>Now, as you all know. <v Issac Stern>Anything Slava does, he goes the whole way, he goes for broke. <v Issac Stern>So we thought we'd do abroke, in this case, <v Issac Stern>a little baroque gem.

<v Issac Stern>A double concerto in C Minor by Vivaldi. <v Issac Stern>[music plays] <v Van Cliburn>LVadies and gentlemen, good evening.

<v Van Cliburn>This is Van Cliburn. <v Van Cliburn>Or, as you remember, Slava Van Cliburn. <v Van Cliburn>When I was in Moscow in 1958 for the first international Tchaikovsky competition, <v Van Cliburn>I met a wonderful lifetime friend, Mr. Slav Rostropovich. <v Van Cliburn>Dear Slava, how I treasure those moments. <v Van Cliburn>I shall always remember how you and Sweet [unclear] go opened your home <v Van Cliburn>and your hearts to me. <v Van Cliburn>[Russian] <v Van Cliburn>You will always be a supreme inspiration for artists and musicians <v Van Cliburn>all over the world. <v Van Cliburn>God bless you. [Russian] <v Paula Zahn>A young Van Cliburn thrilled Moscow when he played Tchaikovsky's <v Paula Zahn>First Piano Concerto. <v Paula Zahn>Now another young American pianist is enchanting concert goers.

<v Paula Zahn>Tonight, he will play the last movement of the Tchaikovsky First. <v Paula Zahn>Here with Maestro Shostakovich is Awadagin Pratt. <v Paula Zahn>[music plays] <v Paula Zahn>There is an old Russian proverb, Living your life is not as simple

<v Paula Zahn>as crossing an open field .for Slava, it has been a life of <v Paula Zahn>dramatic twists and turns studied by his love of music <v Paula Zahn>and people. <v Paula Zahn>Some transport us beyond music to reveal the human soul. <v Paula Zahn>Such is Rostropovich. <v Paula Zahn>Art is bread said Slava. <v Paula Zahn>Essential from his first breath, music was life. <v Paula Zahn>At the Moscow Conservatory, he won the highest prizes <v Paula Zahn>and the friendship and attention of the great Soviet composers. <v Paula Zahn>Shostakovich sparked his passion for contemporary music. <v Paula Zahn>Prokofiev thought the cello a crazy instrument.

<v Paula Zahn>Slava helped change his mind, even though Stalin's <v Paula Zahn>regime condemned the music of his mentors. <v Paula Zahn>Slava stood by them. <v Paula Zahn>His loyalty as profound as his talent. <v Paula Zahn>A symbol of Soviet artistry, Slava toured the world. <v Paula Zahn>In Prague, he met Galina Vishnevskaya, star soprano of the Bolshoi Opera. <v Paula Zahn>Slava wooed her with flowers, filling a taxi with lilies. <v Paula Zahn>They married in a matter of days. <v Paula Zahn>Slava and his family were the darlings of Soviet society, living a life of <v Paula Zahn>privilege and celebrity. <v Paula Zahn>And then Rostropovich met dissident novelist Alexander Schultzineton.

<v Paula Zahn>He needed a place to work. <v Paula Zahn>Slava offered his country house. <v Paula Zahn>The state did not approve. <v Paula Zahn>Slava defended his friend from relentless government attacks. <v Paula Zahn>In 1970, he wrote a letter of protest in just a few hundred <v Paula Zahn>words, Slava risked everything his family, his home, <v Paula Zahn>his music. <v Paula Zahn>Why is it, he asked, namely in our literature and our art, that the final word belongs <v Paula Zahn>to people without the slightest competence in that area? <v Paula Zahn>It was one question too many. <v Paula Zahn>Recordings and concerts were canceled, <v Paula Zahn>four years of persecution and despair drove him into exile.

<v Paula Zahn>Slava's mentor, Shostakovich, struck back at repression with a Lethal <v Paula Zahn>Weapon- music, his Fifth Symphony was ironically titled <v Paula Zahn>Are Soviet Artists Practical, Creative Reply to just criticism. <v Paula Zahn>Tonight, the last movement of that symphony will be conducted by Dmitri Shostakovich's <v Paula Zahn>son, Maxime. <v Paula Zahn>[music plays] <v Paula Zahn>And now in the Slava tradition of spotlighting up and coming talent, a bright

<v Paula Zahn>new star, she has performed in every major opera house in the world. <v Paula Zahn>You'll remember her name, Maria Guleghina. <v Paula Zahn>[music plays] <v Paula Zahn>Now, it is my distinct pleasure to introduce you to the chairman of the John

<v Paula Zahn>F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, James D. <v Paula Zahn>Wolfensohn. <v James D. Wolfensohn>When Slava left the Soviet Union in 1974, he was already <v James D. Wolfensohn>an established international artist, a cellist of enormous <v James D. Wolfensohn>brilliance and sensitivity. <v James D. Wolfensohn>But it was here in Washington that Slava fulfilled his other great genius, <v James D. Wolfensohn>that of a conductor when he became the musical director of the National <v James D. Wolfensohn>Symphony Orchestra. <v James D. Wolfensohn>How fortunate we were that he chose us to become his family. <v James D. Wolfensohn>There was an immediate love affair. <v James D. Wolfensohn>We loved him and he loved Washington and he loved this orchestra. <v James D. Wolfensohn>Under Slava's leadership, the National Symphony achieved international <v James D. Wolfensohn>acclaim.

<v James D. Wolfensohn>And here at home, Slava fostered the careers of many <v James D. Wolfensohn>young artists, he championed new music. <v James D. Wolfensohn>Not only by commissioning great works, but by performing them around the world. <v James D. Wolfensohn>In fact, one of them, Steve at Albert, Symphonie, Riverrun won <v James D. Wolfensohn>a Pulitzer Prize. <v James D. Wolfensohn>Slava has made an enormous contribution to us. <v James D. Wolfensohn>Not just to the orchestra, to young people, to <v James D. Wolfensohn>young artists. <v James D. Wolfensohn>But to you, our audience and tonight, Slava, we want you to know that however <v James D. Wolfensohn>long the Kennedy Center stands. <v James D. Wolfensohn>Your voice, your music and your spirit will be in the walls of this hall. <v James D. Wolfensohn>Now, to join our celebration, I would like to welcome one of the National Symphony's <v James D. Wolfensohn>finest artists. Tonight is a milestone for him as well.

<v James D. Wolfensohn>After 53 years with the orchestra, he will be retiring <v James D. Wolfensohn>at the end of the season. <v James D. Wolfensohn>To all cellists such as me. <v James D. Wolfensohn>And by the way, Paula Zahn. <v James D. Wolfensohn>He is an inspiration. <v James D. Wolfensohn>Ladies and gentlemen, principal cellist John Martin performing <v James D. Wolfensohn>Alexander Glaznov, Chant du Menestrel. <v James D. Wolfensohn>[music plays] <v Boris Yeltsin>Thank you, ladies and gentlemen, Slava, maestro.

<v Boris Yeltsin>Now the coronation chorus from Boris Yeltsin, think <v Boris Yeltsin>this could have been written for you tonight. <v Speaker>[music plays] <v Paula Zahn>Rostropovich never doubted that he would get back to his beloved Russia.

<v Paula Zahn>The astounding political events of the last few years made it possible. <v Paula Zahn>Slava has gone home several times, twice with the National Symphony, <v Paula Zahn>and wants to bravely stand with Boris Yeltsin at the Russian White House. <v Paula Zahn>That was during the anti democracy coup attempt in nineteen ninety one. <v Paula Zahn>Here now is a surprise guest, Slava's daughter, Olga Garrone <v Paula Zahn>Hermes. <v Ogla Garrone Hermes>Papa, I have a greeting for you from a friend <v Ogla Garrone Hermes>who could not be here with us tonight. <v Ogla Garrone Hermes>I will read it on his behalf. <v Ogla Garrone Hermes>He speaks for all of us. <v Ogla Garrone Hermes>On the day when Suslov Rostropovich takes his farewell from the National

<v Ogla Garrone Hermes>Symphony Orchestra. After 17 years, if it's held, <v Ogla Garrone Hermes>I too would like to add my voice to this festive gathering. <v Ogla Garrone Hermes>It is not for me to speak of Rostropovich's extraordinary musical talent. <v Ogla Garrone Hermes>But let me note that he is more than a great artist. <v Ogla Garrone Hermes>He exemplifies an artist with a big and generous heart. <v Ogla Garrone Hermes>An artist who raises goodwill towards people. <v Ogla Garrone Hermes>The words his audience, whom he loves sincerely and he impulsively, <v Ogla Garrone Hermes>brings to them joy and the belief in good. <v Ogla Garrone Hermes>The volcanic energy of his nature.[laughing] prevents <v Ogla Garrone Hermes>him from being confined to art alone. <v Ogla Garrone Hermes>Over and above his giving to people the fruits of art, Rostropovich <v Ogla Garrone Hermes>has on many occasions helped people directly, especially <v Ogla Garrone Hermes>those who are in need or who are suffering.

<v Ogla Garrone Hermes>This is why the meaning of today's gala transcends the bounds <v Ogla Garrone Hermes>of this whole and the musical world itself. <v Ogla Garrone Hermes>And so, dear friend. <v Ogla Garrone Hermes>I wish you continued breathtaking achievements in whatever new <v Ogla Garrone Hermes>path you tread in the years to come. <v Ogla Garrone Hermes>Alexander Solzhenitsyn. <v Ogla Garrone Hermes>[applause] <v Speaker>[music plays]

<v Narrator>Our salute to Slava was made possible by the generous financial support of Mobil

<v Narrator>Corporation, a proud sponsor of public television for over twenty three years, <v Narrator>and the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and by annual <v Narrator>financial support from viewers like you.