Galina Vishnevskaya

Galina Pavlovna Vishnevskaya (Russian: Галина Павловна Вишневская, née Ivanova, Иванова; 25 October 1926 – 11 December 2012) was a Russian soprano opera singer and recitalist who was named a People's Artist of the USSR in 1966. She was the wife of cellist Mstislav Rostropovich, and mother to their two daughters, Olga and Elena Rostropovich.

Vishnevskaya was born in Leningrad (now Saint Petersburg). She made her professional stage debut in 1944 singing operetta. After a year studying with Vera Nikolayevna Garina, she won a competition held by the Bolshoi Theatre in Moscow (with Rachmaninoff's song "O, Do Not Grieve" and Verdi's aria "O patria mia" from Aida) in 1952. The next year, she became a member of the Bolshoi Theatre.

On 24 March 1957, she made her debut in Finnish National Opera as Tatyana in Eugene Onegin. On 9 May 1960, she made her first appearance in Sarajevo at the National Theatre, as Aida. In 1961, she made her Metropolitan Opera debut as Aida; the following year she made her debut at the Royal Opera House with the same role. For her La Scala debut in 1964, she sang Liù in Turandot, opposite Birgit Nilsson and Franco Corelli.

In addition to the roles in the Russian operatic repertoire, Vishnevskaya also sang roles such as Violetta, Tosca, Cio-cio-san, Leonore, and Cherubino.

Benjamin Britten wrote the soprano role in his War Requiem (completed 1962) specially for her, though the USSR prevented her from traveling to Coventry Cathedral for the premiere performance. The USSR eventually allowed her to leave in order to make the first recording of the Requiem.

Vishnevskaya was married to the cellist Mstislav Rostropovich from 1955 until his death in 2007; they performed together regularly (he on piano or on the podium). Both she and Rostropovich were friends of Dmitri Shostakovich, and they made an electrifying recording of his opera Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk for EMI. Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, a friend and an ally in various causes, lived at their dacha for about three years from 1968, at a time when he was closely watched by the KGB and had become an official non-person; the home of the two acclaimed musicians offered safety and freedom from the risk of being spied on at home.

Vishnevskaya made many recordings, including Eugene Onegin (1956 and 1970), Mussorgsky's Songs and Dances of Death (1961 and 1976), Britten's War Requiem (with Peter Pears and Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, conducted by the composer; 1963), The Poet's Echo (1968), Mussorgsky's Boris Godunov (1970 and 1987), Puccini's Tosca (1976), Tchaikovsky's The Queen of Spades (with Regina Resnik, 1976), Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk (1978), Tchaikovsky's Iolanta (with Nicolai Gedda, 1984), and Prokofiev's War and Peace (1986).

2nd class (18 October 2006) - for outstanding contribution to music and many years of fruitful creative activity

3rd class (25 October 1996) - for great personal contribution to the development of musical art

4th class (18 October 2011) - for outstanding contribution to the development of national musical culture, and many years of teaching and educational activities

Medal "For the Defence of Leningrad" (1943)

Diamond Medal of the City of Paris (1977)

Galina Vishnevskaya Street in the Moscow district of Novokosino. On June 26, 2013, the Moscow Government decided to assign the name Galina Vishnevskaya Street to the projected passage No. 326, located on the territory of the Novokosino district of the Eastern Administrative Okrug of Moscow between Suzdalskaya and Novokosinskaya Streets.

Galina Vishnevskaya Street in Vidnom, Moscow region.

The Airbus A321 airliner of the Aeroflot airline "Vishnevskaya".

The Children's Music School No. 8 in Kronstadt is named after G. Vishnevskaya.

A minor planet of the Solar System, No. 4919, is named after G. Vishnevskaya.