Renowned Russian opera singer Galina Vishnevskaya, a former star soprano at the Bolshoi Theater, passed away on Tuesday at the age of 86.
Renowned Russian opera singer Galina Vishnevskaya, a former star soprano at the Bolshoi Theater, passed away on Tuesday at the age of 86.
Naturally endowed with an inimitable voice and an exceptional musical memory, Galina Vishnevskaya began performing on stage in 1944; in 1952, she was accepted as a trainee at the Bolshoi Theater. Photo: 1959.
That she had no Conservatory education was no obstacle to her emerging as the Bolshoi’s leading singer.
She sang nearly 30 parts at the Bolshoi. She was the first to sing Natasha Rostova in Sergei Prokofiev’s “War and Peace” and Katherina in Shebalin’s “The Taming of the Shrew” (Photo).
A scene from Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky’s “Eugene Onegin” with Galina Vishnevskaya as Tatyana.
Prague Spring in 1955 was where Vishnevskaya met the famous cello player Mstislav Rostropovich. Photo: Mstislav Rostropovich and Vishnevskaya. 1964.
They gave birth to two daughters, Olga and Yelena. Photo: Vishnevskaya with daughters. 1959.
In 1959, Vishnevskaya went on her first U.S. tour, singing Aida, Cio-Cio San, and other parts. In 1962, she made her debut at Covent Garden, following with La Scala in 1965.
Vishnevskaya was the first to sing the works dedicated to her by Dmitry Shostakovich, Benjamin Britten and other great composers. In 1966, she played a part in the movie version of Dmitry Shostakovich’s “Katerina Izmailova.”
A scene from Pyotr Tchaikovsky’s “Queen of Spades,” with Vishnevskaya as Liza. 1973.
In the late 1960’s, Rostropovich and Vishnevskaya gave refuge, at their country house, to the dissident author Alexander Solzhenitsyn, thus inflicting upon themselves the wrath of the secret services. They left the Soviet Union in 1974 and were stripped of their nationality and all honorary titles and decorations in 1978.
“I had to save my family and so I decided that we should leave. I came to the West to continue and wind up my singing career,” said Vishnevskaya.
Vishnevskaya could only come back home in the early 1990s. By then, she had left the professional stage.
In Moscow she devoted herself to teaching. Vishnevskaya’s Opera Singing Center was unveiled on September 1, 2002, where she now trains promising young singers. Photo: With Spain’s Placido Domingo.
Russian president’s wife Svetlana Medvedeva and singer Vishnevskaya at the opening ceremony of the International Rostropovich Festival. In the background: First Russian president Boris Yeltsin’s widow Naina. 2010.
