Mstislav Leopoldovich Rostropovich KBE (Russian: Мстисла́в Леопо́льдович Ростропо́вич, Mstislav Leopol'dovič Rostropovič, ), (March 27 1927 – April 27 2007), known to close friends as “Slava”, was a Russian cellist and conductor. He was married to the soprano Galina Vishnevskaya. He is widely considered to be one of the greatest cellists of the 20th century.