Background
Vishnevskaia, Galina was born on October 25, 1926 in Leningrad.
Vishnevskaia, Galina was born on October 25, 1926 in Leningrad.
Studied singing, and began performing in 1944 at the Leningrad Oblast’ Operetta Theatre, then appeared with the Leningrad Philharmonic. Studied singing, and began performing in 1944 at the Leningrad Oblast’ Operetta Theatre, then appeared with the Leningrad Philharmonic.
In 1952, soloist with the Moscow Bolshoi Theatre. Was once the darling of Soviet audiences and the Soviet government. Married the internationally-known cellistconductor Mstislav Rostropovich.
Suffered persecution by the Soviet bureaucracy: for example, in 1962, prevented from appearing in a part written for her by Britten in his War Requiem. In the early 1970s, together with her husband, persecuted by the authorities for having offered refuge to A. Solzhenitsyn. Forced to leave the Soviet Union in 1974.
In 1978, both were stripped of Soviet citizenship following interviews in which they were critical of the Soviet government. Has performed all over the world. Lives in France and the USA. Her memoirs, Galina, have been translated into many languages.