Though he appeared frail, acclaimed Russian cellist and conductor Mstislav Rostropovich beamed happily Tuesday during an evening reception honouring him on his 80th birthday.

Rostropovich entered the Moscow tribute accompanied by his wife, former soprano Galina Vishnyevsakaya, and one of his biggest fans, Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Famed conductor and cellist Mstislav Rostropovich, seen here in 2006, is being celebrated by Russians, including President Vladimir Putin.
(Fyodor Savintsev/Associated Press)

"I feel myself the happiest man in the world," Rostropovich said in remarks shown on Russian state television.

"I will be even more happy if this evening will be pleasant for you," he told the private gathering of conductors, musicians, politicians and other dignitaries.

Earlier on Tuesday, Putin joined Russian newspaper columns and TV reports in their praise of the famed conductor's vast musical accomplishments as well as his activism.

"In all of the world you are known not only as a brilliant cellist and gifted conductor but as a confirmed defender of human rights and freedom of spirit and an uncompromising fighter for the ideals of democracy," Putin said in a statement.

Other events held to celebrate the conductor's birthday included television broadcasts about his life and a concert at the Moscow Conservatory.

An icon of the classical music world, Rostropovich worked closely with three of the 20th century's leading composers: Sergei Prokofiev, Benjamin Britten and Dmitri Shostakovich, who was his mentor.

However, he is also renowned for speaking out against censorship and having housed his friend, dissident writer Alexander Solzhenitsyn, in his home for four years — after which Rostropovich and his family were forced into exile from the Soviet Union.

The government of the time also stripped Rostropovich and Vishnyevskaya of their citizenship. They were later restored in 1990, after the fall of the Communist government.

Rostropovich, who now divides his time between Russia, the U.S. and Europe, recently suffered an unspecified health scare and was hospitalized in Moscow after falling ill in Paris.

Russian media has reported that the composer had checked into the country's leading cancer hospital.

During his hospital stay, the composer was visited by Putin, who also recently awarded him a Russian national award of distinction.

Putin presented him with the medal — the Order of Service to the Fatherland — at the Kremlin gala Tuesday evening.

With files from the Associated Press