Galina Vishnevskaya

Born in Leningrad, Galina Vishnevskaya endured a childhood marked by extreme poverty and the siege of her home city during World War II, a crucible that forged an unyielding spirit. Despite a lack of formal training, her extraordinary voice propelled her from local amateur groups to the Bolshoi Theater, where she became a prima donna, captivating audiences with her dramatic interpretations and vocal prowess.

Vishnevskaya's professional life was as dramatic as her performances. She often clashed with Soviet bureaucracy, refusing to compromise her artistic integrity or personal beliefs. Her greatest act of defiance, and kvell-worthiness, came when she and her husband, cellist Mstislav Rostropovich, sheltered dissident writer Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, leading to official censure and ultimately, their forced exile from the Soviet Union in 1974.

Stripped of their citizenship, the couple continued their careers abroad, becoming vocal critics of the Soviet regime. Vishnevskaya performed in leading opera houses worldwide and later returned to Russia, her citizenship restored, as a national hero. While undeniably a titan of the classical music world, her powerful voice and even more powerful moral compass ensured she was always singing from her own, very Russian, hymnbook.