Galina Vishnevskaya

During the 22 years of her career with the Bolshoy Theater (1952-1974), Galina Vishnevskaya performed over thirty unforgettable female parts in Russian and Western European operas. Having begun with her excelent Tatiana in "Eugeny Onegin", she continued as Aida and Violet (verdi, "Aida" and "Traviata"), Tio-tio-san (Piccini, "Tio-tio-san"), Natali Rostova (Prokofyev, "War and Peace", Catherine (Shebalin, "The Taming of the Shrew", the first performer, 1957), Lisa (Tchaykovsky, "Queen of Spades"), Kupava (Rimsky-Korsakov, "Snow Maiden"), Martha (Rimsky-Korsakov, "The Royal Bride"), and a lot of others. She participated in working over the first attempt to adapt Prokofyev"s "Gamer" for the Russian stage (as Polina, 1974) and Poulenk"s mono-opera "Human Voice", played the hero in the opera movie "Catherine Izmailova" (1966, directed by M.Shapiro).
Under the Soviet regime, Galina Vishnevskaya actively opposed the authorities. Together with her husband, the prominent cellist and conductor Mstislaw Rostropowicz, she provided valuable assistance to the renowned Russian author and human rights advocate Alexander Solzhenitzyn which resulted in constant attention and pressure fron the Soviet secret police. In 1974, Galina Vishnevskaya and Mstislaw Rostropowicz left the Soviet Union and in 1978 their citizenship was revoked. After that, they lived in the USA, France, and Great Britain. Galina Vishnevskaya performed on all major stages of the world (Covent Garden. Metropolitain Opera, Grand Opera, La Scala, Munich Opera, etc.) working with the most prominent personalities of the musical community. She starred as Marina in the unique recording of "Boris Godunov" (conductor: Herbert von Karajan, soloists Gyaurov, Talvela, Spiss, Maslennikov); in 1989, she sang the same part in a movie (directed by A.Zhulawsky; conductor: M.Rostropowicz). Among the recordings finished during her forced emigration, there are a complete version of S.Prokofyev"s "War and Peace", five disks with romance songs by Russian composers: M.Glinka, A.Dargomyzhsky, M.Musorgsky, A.Borodin, and P.Tchaikovsky.
Galina Vishnevskaya"s entire life and activity have been devoted to continuing and glorifying the great tradition of Russian opera. After the beginning of the reforms, Galina Vishnevskaya and Mstislaw Rostropowicz returned to Russia and their citizenship was restored. Ms.Vishnevskaya became a Professor Honoris Causa of the Moscow conservatory; she wrote an autobiography ("Galina", English edition: 1984, a Russian version: 1991).
Galina Vishnevakaya is Doctor Honoris Causa of a few universities; for years she has been training young actors in master classes held all around the world, and acting as a referee at major international contests. Besides, she is Chairperson of the Russian Singing Fair held in Ecaterinburg.
September 1, 2002, a Galina Vishnevskaya Opera Singing Center was opened in Moscow; she had long dreamed about that event. This is where she teaches young talented singers who are to become valuable representatives of the Russian opera school on foreign stages. The Center has so far staged six operas: "Ruslan and Lyudmila" (M.Glinka), "The Royal Bride" (N.Rimsky-Korsakov), "Faust" (Ch. Gounaud), "Rigoletto" (G.Verdi), "Vampuka, an African Bride" (V.Ehrenberg), "Jolantha" (P.Tchaikovsky). The actors have frequently performed both in Russia and abroad (in Germany, Italy, France, SAR, Azerbaidjan, Macedonia, the Netherlands, etc.). The missionary activities by Galina Vishnevskaya have been spotlighted by all major federal and local media, heads of theaters and concert companies, as well as the musical community.
Galina Vishnevskaya has been awarded the top world prizes for her valuable contribution into the art of music among which one should mention the Giacomo Puccini International Prize; she received numerous awards from various governments: a medal "For Leningrad Defense" (1943), the Lenin order (1971), the Diamond Paris Medal, the order "For Merits, 3rd grade" (1996), "2nd grade" (2006). She is Grand-officier of the Literature and Arts Order (France, 1982), was awarded Legion d"Honneur (France, 1983), granted the status of a Kronstadt Honored citizen (1996). For her contribution into the Russian culture and in regard to the 60th anniversary of her activities celebrated September 1, 2004, she was awarded an order of Holy Apostolic Princess Helga by the Russian Orthodox church, and a Peter the Great order by the Police Academy.
The part of Alexandra Nickolayevna which she performed in "Alexandra" by Sokurov is her first ever performed for a feature movie.