Mr Putin’s telegram reads, in particular:
“I was stunned by the news of the passing of your husband and father. I know how courageously he fought his serious illness right up until the last minute. Today you have lost the person most loved and dear to you, and Russia and the entire world have lost an exceptional musician and humanist.
This is an irreplaceable loss that we will never be able to resign ourselves to. Mstislav Leopoldovich’s creative genius and the scale and depth of his personality are a unique example of loyalty to common human values and a truly illustrious symbol of selfless service to the arts and to people. He will always live on in our memories as a spiritually generous man, never indifferent, and always full of purpose and passion”.