Galina Pavlovna Vishnevskaya entered history as a primadonna of the global stage, possessing flawless talent and an iron will – a brilliant singer, a unique dramatic actress, a theatre director, and a prominent public figure. As the leading soloist of the Bolshoi Theatre, she conquered the world's major opera stages: from London's Covent Garden and Milan's La Scala to the Metropolitan Opera in New York. Her interpretations of Tatyana in 'Eugene Onegin’, Aida, Tosca, and Natasha Rostova in ‘War and Peace’ are recognized as definitive masterpieces worldwide.

Galina Vishnevskaya's life journey was not only a triumph of art but also an example of rare civic courage. Having survived the Siege of Leningrad, she forged a steel character and unwavering inner strength. In 2026, as the entire global cultural community celebrates the 100th anniversary of the primadonna's birth, the true greatness of her personality and her contribution to art becomes even more profoundly evident.

In the 1970s, alongside her husband, the outstanding cellist and conductor Mstislav Rostropovich, she openly stood up in defence of the exiled writer Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn. This uncompromising stance resulted in the couple's expulsion from the country and the loss of their citizenship, yet it could not strip them of what mattered most – their inner freedom and allegiance to the truth.

In December 2012, the world of opera was left orphaned – the passing of the legendary primadonna was an immense loss for global musical culture. However, in the memory of her colleagues and millions of admirers, Galina Pavlovna will forever remain an unsurpassed standard of the stage – a great artist who combined a rare vocal genius with inexhaustible creative energy.

The great legacy of the singer lives on in her recordings, her best-selling autobiography ‘Galina’, her poignant screen role in Aleksandr Sokurov's film ‘Alexandra’, and, of course, in her crowning achievement – the Galina Vishnevskaya Opera Centre in Moscow. Until her very last days, Vishnevskaya personally taught students, generously passing down to new generations of vocalists not just the secrets of vocal technique, but the main purpose of her life – an authentic, selfless devotion to the art of opera.