This year's Mstislav Rostropovich Music Festival has started in the musician's native city, the Azerbaijani capital of Baku. The event has been held in Baku since 2007. This year the opening ceremony was attended by Olga Rostopovich and Azerbaijani Minister of Culture and Tourism Abulfas Garayev.
Mstislav Rostropovich was a Soviet and Russian cellist and conductor. He is considered by many to have been the greatest cellist of the second half of the 20th century, and one of the greatest of all time.
Rostropovich was internationally recognized as a staunch advocate of human rights, and was awarded the 1974 Award of the International League of Human Rights.
The musician died in Moscow in April 2007.
