Galina Vishnevskaya: Bellini Norma, Casta Diva

Galina Pavlovna Vishnevskaya (Russian: Галина Павловна Вишневская) (born 25 October 1926) is a Russian soprano opera singer and recitalist who was named a People s Artist of the USSR in 1966. Vishnevskaya was born in Leningrad. She made her professional stage debut in 1944 singing operetta. After a year studying with Vera Nikolayevna Garina, she won a competition held by the Bolshoi Theatre in Moscow (with Rachmaninoff s song O, Do Not Grieve and Verdi s aria O patria mia from Aida) in 1952. The next