R.I.P.

Jack Valenti, confidant of President Lyndon B. Johnson, and the force who lead the Motion Picture Association of America to a voluntary film-rating system that gave new meaning to letters like G, R and X, died yesterday at age 85 at his home in Washington. While some believe the ratings system stemmed from a paternalistic moralism, I believe Valenti was more interested in free expression and keeping the government out of making moralistic judgements for moviegoers.

Cellist and conductor Mstislav Rostropovich has also died. From the NY Times:

Mstislav Rostropovich, a cellist and conductor who was renowned not only as one of the great instrumentalists of the 20th century, but also as an outspoken champion of artistic freedom in Russia during the final decades of the Cold War, died in Moscow today. He was 80 and lived in Paris, with homes in Moscow, St. Petersburg, London and Lausanne, Switzerland. [...] As a cellist, Mr. Rostropovich played a vast repertory that included works written for him by some of the greatest composers of the 20th century. Among them were Shostakovich Cello Concertos, Prokofiev’s Cello Concerto, Cello Sonata and Symphony-Concerto, Britten’s Sonata, Cello Symphony and three Suites. He also played the premieres of solo works by Walton, Auric, Kabalevsky and Misaskovsky, and concertos by Lutoslawski, Panufnik, Messiaen, Schnittke, Henri Dutilleux, Arvo Pärt, Krzysztof Penderecki, Lukas Foss and Giya Kancheli...

I am listening to the live recording of Shostakovich's 11th Symphony by Mstislav Rostropovich and the London Symphony Orchestra. It's big and wild and a good listen.