It’s always sad to wake to the news that a person you met has died.

Mstislav Rostropovich, for me, was more than a musician. He was an ambassador to our humanity. Listening to a performance by the maestro, whether solo on his cello or conducting a full orchestra, was to look deep into the heart. I recommend Johann Sebastian Bach’s cello suites 1–6.

Town & Country magazine gave me the privilege of meeting Rostropovich in 1989 at the home of the Chilean Ambassador. Here he is pictured with (left) Mrs. James Scott Rosebush, Chairwoman of the National Symphony Orchestra’s Annual Benefits Fundraiser, (right) his wife opera singer Galina Vishnevskaya, and (far right) Mrs. Octavio Errazuriz, wife of the Chilean Ambassador to Washington, DC.

• http://www.sonyclassical.com/artists/rostropovich/bio.html

• http://www.amazon.com/Bach-Cello-Suites-Nos-1-6/dp/B000002RUY

• http://www.townandcountrymag.com/

• http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/index.php?pid=41865

• http://www.rostropovich.org/founders.html

• http://www.theodora.com/wfb1989/chile/chile_government.html