Galina Pavlovna Vishnevskaya |

Galina Vishnevskaya

She performed in Leningrad in an operetta. Entering the Bolshoi Theater (1952), she made her debut on the opera stage as Tatyana. During the years of work in the theater, she performed the parts of Lisa, Aida, Violetta, Cio-Cio-san, Martha in The Tsar’s Bride, etc. Participated in the first productions on the Russian stage of Prokofiev’s opera The Gambler (1974, Polina’s part), the mono-opera The Human voice” Poulenc (1965). She starred in the title role in the film-opera Katerina Izmailova (1966, directed by M. Shapiro). People’s Artist of the USSR.

In 1974, together with her husband, cellist and conductor Mstislav Rostropovich, she left the USSR. She has performed at many opera houses around the world. She sang the part of Aida at the Metropolitan Opera (1961), Covent Garden (1962). In 1964 she first appeared on stage at La Scala (Liu’s part). She performed as Lisa in San Francisco (1975), Lady Macbeth at the Edinburgh Festival (1976), Tosca in Munich (1976), Tatiana at the Grand Opera (1982) and others.

She performed the part of Marina in the famous recording of Boris Godunov (1970, conductor Karajan, soloists Gyaurov, Talvela, Spiess, Maslennikov and others, Decca). In 1989 she sang the same part in the film of the same name (director A. Zhulavsky, conductor Rostropovich). The recordings also include the part of Tatiana (conductor Khaikin, Melodiya) and others.

In 2002, the Galina Vishnevskaya Center for Opera Singing was opened in Moscow. In the center, the singer passes on her accumulated experience and unique knowledge to talented young singers so that they can adequately represent the Russian opera school on the international stage.

E. Tsodokov