Galina Vishnevskaya Opera singer Date of Birth: 25.10.1926 Country: Russia

1. A Glorious Career in Opera
2. Family and Influence
3. Life on Two Continents
4. A Life of Flowers and Diamonds
5. Unwanted Admiration and Marital Unwavering

Galina Vishnevskaya and Mstislav Rostropovich: A Life Defined by Art and Exile

For nearly a quarter of a century, opera singer Galina Vishnevskaya and cellist Mstislav Rostropovich have lived outside of Russia. On March 15, 1978, they were stripped of their Soviet citizenship. While they now frequently visit their homeland, that moment marked a profound turning point in their lives. Destiny had been both kind and cruel to them.

A Glorious Career in Opera

Galina Vishnevskaya, reflecting on her recent anniversary, expressed a sense of fulfillment and gratitude. "Age is irrelevant," she remarked. "What matters is how you feel. The tragedy is when a young person can't move, or for a singer to lose their voice in their youth—those are catastrophes. But as the years pass, you gain some things and lose others. That's just the way it is."

Vishnevskaya's illustrious opera career spanned over four decades. "I sang on stage until I was 45—that's a long time," she said. "I could have continued for another 10 years, but not in opera. Age is crucial for a soprano. I would never have allowed myself to sing young girls' roles at 60 years old. That would have been inappropriate, even indecent."

Despite her exceptional talent, Vishnevskaya faced pressure to compromise her artistic integrity in the West. "I never encountered that," she affirmed. "Never! Throughout my career, I never asked or begged for anything from anyone. My career has been the most fortunate, from the very beginning."

One notable exception to her refusal to compromise was her performance in Muradeli's opera "October," where she was pressured to sing the role of the nurse Marina. "I didn't want to do it at all," she recalled. "But I had to—the performance was being held at the Palace of Congresses for Lenin's 100th anniversary."

Family and Influence

Vishnevskaya described herself as a "normal woman" in her family life. "Family is family, there's no need to dominate there," she explained. "I'm old-fashioned in that sense. A woman shouldn't be the man of the house. We don't need dictators."

With two daughters and six grandchildren, Vishnevskaya acknowledged the influence of her husband's famous surname, Rostropovich. "My daughters live quiet lives, raising their children," she said. "They're proud of the Rostropovich name. In the artistic world, it's not common to give up your father's surname."

Life on Two Continents

Vishnevskaya's life has been divided between two continents. She owns residences in Paris, England, and the United States, but primarily resides in Paris. "I have a large estate in America, with 400 hectares of land," she revealed. "We also have apartments in Washington, D.C., and New York City, which I don't particularly like because it's so big. I also have homes in Lausanne and London, where Slava performs with the London Symphony Orchestra."

Despite her frequent travels around the world, Vishnevskaya expressed a desire to limit her long-distance flights. "They're very tiring," she admitted. "I've been on stage since I was 17. It's a nightmare! Especially in the beginning of my career—in 1944, I joined the operetta. The airplanes at that time were terrible! The only option was trains—night trains, freight trains, all kinds. The war was still going on. So I traveled a lot to small towns and villages, performing 25 shows a month."

A Life of Flowers and Diamonds

Flowers have always been a constant in Vishnevskaya's life. "I've been surrounded by them since I was 17," she noted. "But oddly enough, they wilt quickly for me. I don't know why."

On her anniversary, Vishnevskaya received a particularly lavish gift from her husband, Mstislav Rostropovich. "He gave me a ring with two large, beautiful diamonds," she disclosed. "It wasn't a surprise—that's what he does. Who else would give me diamonds?"

Unwanted Admiration and Marital Unwavering

Throughout her life, Vishnevskaya attracted the attention of influential men, including Nikolai Bulganin, the former chairman of the Soviet government. "I would have liked to see my husband's reaction if other men gave me diamonds!" she exclaimed. "It's inappropriate. Bulganin's way of courting was very Soviet: he would come and say, 'I'm at your service.' I would get in his car with my husband, and we would drive to his dacha. He would confess his love to me—in front of my husband. Those were different times. Slava didn't react much. He would listen and drink vodka with the love-struck minister."

In recent years, Rostropovich has declined to perform in Russia due to what he perceived as disrespectful treatment from the press. "He was pushed to it by the rudeness and tactlessness of the press," Vishnevskaya said. "Freedom of speech doesn't mean that everything is permitted. When you write about an artist of his stature, you need to choose your words carefully."

Vishnevskaya expressed frustration with the lack of decency in the Russian press. "Sometimes I want to say, 'Enough, gentlemen, it's time to implement some censorship!'"