A monument to Russiaýs top conductor and cellist Mstislav Rostropovich is due to appear in central Moscow next year.

In 2012, a sculpture depicting the great maestro playing the cello will be installed not far from Moscow Conservatory where
Rostropovich

used to study and later teach. Earlier, plans regarding the location of the new monument suggested that it should be in Bolshaya Nikitskaya street, exactly where the Moscow Conservatory stands. However, this idea was rejected because of the complications to coordinate this project with the Master Plan of the city.

The special committee for monumental art at Moscow City Duma made its final decision regarding the monument on July 12. The monument will be placed near a beautiful church built in the 17th century in Bryusov lane. This church is one of the few that were not closed during the Soviet era and one of even fewer that have managed to preserve their primordial interiors.

This area was a planned site for a monument to another great Russian - Nikolay Karamzin, writer, poet, historian and critic. However, the project did not succeed due to a lack of funds. The proposal to place the statue of Rostropovich there first arose in 2009.

The statue was designed by Soviet and Russian sculptor Aleksandr Rukavishnikov. His most prominent works include the monument to Vladimir Nabokov in Montreux, Switzerland and a monument to Russian Emperor Alexander II in Moscow, a relatively new work situated in the immediate surroundings of the Cathedral of Christ the Savior.

The project will be financed by the Rostropovich Foundation named in his honor. The monument is planned to open on March 27, 2012 for the 85th anniversary of the great musician?s birth.
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