成人论坛

On 21 August 1968, the 成人论坛 Proms were in full swing. That evening鈥檚 concert had long been sold out: the Russian State Symphony Orchestra with their chief conductor Yvgeny Svetlanov were to make their Proms debut, joined by the world's greatest living cellist, Mstislav Rostropovich.

But on the morning of the concert, the world woke to the shocking news that Soviet troopes had rolled into Prague, killing dozens of people and injuring many more in a brutal response to the Prague Spring. The new Czech leader Alexander Dubczeck had encouraged free speech, freedom of movement and other steps towards democracy; something the Soviets could not tolerate. The USSR ordered the invasion of Prague as a warning to other countries in the Eastern bloc.

Some of the Russian musicians heard the news at their London hotel on Radio Liberty, an American-sponsored station that broadcast in Russian. They went to tell Svetlanov, who had not heard and asked his KGB minder to confirm the news for him. The musicians were concerned and confused. Would the concert be cancelled? What would the audience reaction be?

The 成人论坛 decided that the concert would go ahead. When the musicians arrived at the Albert Hall for rehearsals, they were greeted by a long queue of Prommers who had been waiting for day tickets to be released - and by a crowd of demonstrators shouting "Russians go home!" and "Soviet murderers!". When the orchestra entered the stage at the start of the concert, they were greeted with shouts of protest and counter-protests from people who objected to having their concert spoiled by all the shouting. The orchestra was stressed and terrified.

Rostropovich entered the stage for the second item in the programme, Dvo艡谩k's Cello Concerto. The irony was not lost on the audience - nor on any of the performers - that the official representatives of the oppressors - the Russians - were about to play a famous and much-loved piece by a Czech composer. No-one could have planned or foreseen such a devastating alignment of circumstances. Rostropovich later said that he felt as though he was was putting his head on the scaffold as he walked across the platform to take his seat. The shouting started up again: 鈥楪et out of Czechoslovakia!鈥� - "Russians go home!" - "Shame on you!鈥� The shouts continued even after the long orchestral introduction started.

When the solo cello line finally began, people in the audience said that Rostropovich's sound was like a searing cry of pain. This was a rage that Rostropovich was forbidden from expressing in words, but which he could broadcast to the world through his cello. In places, his rage almost got the better of him and his famous technical mastery slipped for a moment as he risked everything to transmit the power of his fury and his shame. By the time he reached the second big melody in the first movement - the beautiful, expansive, sad song - the tears were streaming down his face.

This is one of 100 significant musical moments explored by 成人论坛 Radio 3鈥檚 Essential Classics as part of Our Classical Century, a 成人论坛 season celebrating a momentous 100 years in music from 1918 to 2018. Visit bbc.co.uk/ourclassicalcentury to watch and listen to all programmes in the season.

This is an excerpt from a recording by cellist Mstislav Rostropovich with the USSR State Symphony Orchestra and conductor Yevgeni Svetlanov.

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