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Russian Opera Star Vishnevskaya Dies


Galina Vishnevskaya with her cellist husband Mstislav Rostropovich
Galina Vishnevskaya with her cellist husband Mstislav Rostropovich
The 20th-century Russian opera star Galina Vishnevskaya has died.

She was 86.

Vishnevskaya, one of the most famous Russian opera singers, was married to cellist Mstislav Rostropovich, with whom she performed regularly.

The couple left the Soviet Union in 1974 and settled in the United States and Paris.

Vishnevskaya staged Rimsky-Korsakov’s opera "The Tsar’s Bride" in Washington.

After returning as the Soviet Union collapsed she opened her own opera theater in Moscow called the "Galina Vishnevskaya Opera Center."

Based on reporting by Interfax and ITAR-TASS

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