The Archive: Rostropovich and Groves

The Archive: Rostropovich and Groves

This episode of ‘The Archive’ is devoted to the cellist Mstislav Rostropovich. In 1962, he made his first appearance on French TV, performing the two ‘bourrée’ of the Cello Suite No.3 in C major, BWV 1009 by Johann Sebastian Bach. Again for French TV, he performed Beethoven’s Variations over “Ein Mädchen oder Weibchen” from Mozart’s “Magic Flute” in 1970. He was accompanied by one of his favourite partners, the pianist Vasso Devetzi. Accompanied by Bruno Rigutto, he performed ‘Nocturne and Scherzo’ by Claude Debussy in Paris in 1969. It was the first time this work had been performed since it was composed a century before. To close this broadcast, Rostropovich performed Dmitri Shostakovich’s Concerto No.1 in E flat with the London Symphony Orchestra conducted by Charles Groves for British TV in 1961.