Yesterday a great Russian opera diva Galina Vishnevskaya marked her 85th birthday to storms of applause and greetings from her numerous admirers.

        A big Moscow gala-concert in the Tchaikovsky Concert Hall was given in honour of "the Russian opera queen" Galina Vishnevskaya. Many the contry's political and public leaders, as well as the cream of the Russian cerebral society became the guests pf the concert. There were also such world opera stars, as Carlo Guelfi, Irina Bogacheva and Makvala Kasrashvili. They perfomed Vishnevskaya's favourite arias, and the Moscow State Chamber Chorus of Vladimir Minin performed best scenes from operas by Verdi, Tchaikovsky, Offenbach, Borodin and other great composers.

        Russian President and Prime Minister submitted their official birthday greetings, where praised Vishnevskaya's beautiful voice and passionate performances. “As an outstanding Russian singer, you have conquered the best stages of the planet and performed tens of solo parts that became the classics of the world’s music art,” the message says.

        Galina Vishnevskaya, a former leading Bolshoi Theater singer and a unique lyric-dramatic soprano, holds the title of People’s Artist of the USSR and has excelled on the most prestigious of stages, including the Paris and Vienna Operas and the Carnegie Hall in New York. Together with her late husband, renowned conductor and cello player, Mstislav Rostropovich, she gained global recognition of her art.

      Now Galina Vishnevskaya is a head of a newly built Opera Center in downtown Moscow. She is also one of the juries of the Open International Competition of Opera Singers named after Vishnevskaya and a head of the Russian Singers’ Fair in Yekaterinburg, the Urals region.

      Galina Vishnevskaya sings Mussorgsky's "Where are you, star?", words by N. Grekov.

      Sources: Vesti.ru RIA Novosti 1TV Image: Calend.ru

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