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Aeg ja elu
Selles raamatus kirjeldab Galina Višnevskaja värvikalt oma lapsepõlve Kroonlinnas ja Leningradi blokaadis, lauljakarjääri algust ning tõusu Suure Teatri primadonnaks. Esimese järgu tähena käis ta läbi mitmete maailmakultuuri suurkujudega (Šostakovitš, Britten), puutus kokku Kremli kõrgete võimukandjatega (Bulganin, Brežnev), ent ka kuulsate dissidentidega (Solženitsõn, Sahharov). Pakkudes aastaid Solženitsõnile peavarju, sattus ta ka ise põlu alla ja oli sunnitud koos abikaasa Mstislav Rostropovitšiga emigreeruma.
420 pages, Paperback
First published August 1, 1984
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 35 reviews
November 1, 2012
This is a memoir that covers life of a Russian-born soprano star Galina Vishnevskaya from her birth and early childhood to her breaking of her ties with Russia and leaving to the West. This narration covers plenty of years, plenty of unexpected turns in her biography, and some significant periods of Soviet history (from the 1930s into the Second World War and the Siege of Leningrad and into Stalin's scary era, in which opera singers had their own reasons to be scared, followed by Khruschev and Brezhnev). They all get discussed in her book as well as more and less important figures in music.
I love reading this book and I reread it more than one time. She writes a story of her life and her encounters with various people with just the right balance of lightness and seriousness, humor and passion, reason and feeling.
My favorite moment of the book is her meeting and falling in love with her husband of many years Mstislav Rostropovich. She is able to make his and her characters very human and memorable. Quite frankly, this resulted in me buying many of their CDs which pretty much never disappointed.
I love reading this book and I reread it more than one time. She writes a story of her life and her encounters with various people with just the right balance of lightness and seriousness, humor and passion, reason and feeling.
My favorite moment of the book is her meeting and falling in love with her husband of many years Mstislav Rostropovich. She is able to make his and her characters very human and memorable. Quite frankly, this resulted in me buying many of their CDs which pretty much never disappointed.
August 23, 2023
Galina's memoir is out of print and not available as an e-book so I was very happy I managed to buy a secondhand copy online. Her life story is amazing, and her memoirs are witty, moving and very well written.
Galina was an opera star at the Bolshoi Theater and traveled the world as a soviet goodwill ambassador. She was married to cellist and conductor Mstislav Rostropovich and was friends with Shostakovich, Benjamin Britten & Peter Pears, and accommodated Solzhenitsyn in her garden house for many years. She sang for Stalin, and was wined and dined by Khrushchev and Brezhnev. The book brings all of these twentieth century greats to life too! Together with her husband she fell foul of soviet censors and her life story gives great insight into the soviet bureaucracy. Due to their super celebrity status they managed to avoid many of the regimes machinations, but in the end they lost the battle and were officially ignored. They asked absence of leave of the USSR and went into exile.
Galina describes many of the premieres she did, her way of preparing for a role, and the singing techniques she learnt. Looking up her recordings on Spotify brought her even more to life. She also writes in detail about growing up during the Second World War, and the struggles of ordinary life after that: the low salaries, the great difficulty to buy daily necessities, and the hidden unemployment. One job was shared between three people, as was the salary for it.
Highly recommended!
Galina was an opera star at the Bolshoi Theater and traveled the world as a soviet goodwill ambassador. She was married to cellist and conductor Mstislav Rostropovich and was friends with Shostakovich, Benjamin Britten & Peter Pears, and accommodated Solzhenitsyn in her garden house for many years. She sang for Stalin, and was wined and dined by Khrushchev and Brezhnev. The book brings all of these twentieth century greats to life too! Together with her husband she fell foul of soviet censors and her life story gives great insight into the soviet bureaucracy. Due to their super celebrity status they managed to avoid many of the regimes machinations, but in the end they lost the battle and were officially ignored. They asked absence of leave of the USSR and went into exile.
Galina describes many of the premieres she did, her way of preparing for a role, and the singing techniques she learnt. Looking up her recordings on Spotify brought her even more to life. She also writes in detail about growing up during the Second World War, and the struggles of ordinary life after that: the low salaries, the great difficulty to buy daily necessities, and the hidden unemployment. One job was shared between three people, as was the salary for it.
Highly recommended!
September 13, 2014
Vishnevskaya demonstrates that she is nearly as talented a writer as she is singer. It's easy to lapse into superlatives when discussing Vishnevskya. The extremes that dominated her life are read in her biography and heard in her singing. Rising from the most pathetic, impoverished conditions of abandonment and deprivation during the early years of collectivization and the Terror (with her own hands she had to dig the frozen Russian ground to bury her first born baby), she became the indisputable queen of the Bolshoi. As a political dissident, she was exiled and entirely erased from the historic record.
An artist similar to Callas in her dramatic and vocal gifts, beauty, intimidating personality, and worshipful followers, Vishnevskaya also, like Callas, possessed a unique voice given to extremes of expressive genius and cringe-producing shrillness.
The memoirs of Vishnevskaya and her contemporary, Maya Plisetskaya, ballerina assoluta of the Bolshoi, are overwhelming documents of survival of powerful, gifted women under the totalitarian, murderous conditions of a regime that supported, and harshly punished and controlled their cultural geniuses.
An artist similar to Callas in her dramatic and vocal gifts, beauty, intimidating personality, and worshipful followers, Vishnevskaya also, like Callas, possessed a unique voice given to extremes of expressive genius and cringe-producing shrillness.
The memoirs of Vishnevskaya and her contemporary, Maya Plisetskaya, ballerina assoluta of the Bolshoi, are overwhelming documents of survival of powerful, gifted women under the totalitarian, murderous conditions of a regime that supported, and harshly punished and controlled their cultural geniuses.
November 20, 2017
Amazing book that gives you a window into the psyche of a great and passionate artist. Living through hard and crushing siege of Leningrad and then the soviet machine she gives a glimpse into lives and creativity of some of the most amazing musicians of the 20 th century. Intimate portraits of Prokofiev, Shostakovich, Solzhenitsyn and of course, Rostropovich. I loved this book!
November 16, 2008
Wow, what a life! She and Rostropovich have such a lovely story.
February 27, 2020
A compelling and fascinating story of a great woman and artist. While narrating the story of her life, she navigates through significant periods of Soviet history. A must-read!
June 17, 2014
Prima donna of both the Bolshoi AND Soviet shit-disturbing, Vishnevskaya's book is half fascinating life narrative, half manifesto railing against the Soviet regime.. All of it very engaging. The body of the book is close to 500 pages, but at least 500 more could've been written (the actual opera-related material is comparatively small and the narrative cuts off in 1974). If the author comes across as a little bit borderline--every single character is either a saint or a devil--the stories from her horrific childhood give some insight. She was close to death twice, three times if you count the time Death literally visited her bedside (do I mean 'literally'? Yes. Sort of). Highly recommended.
September 6, 2013
This might be the best book I've ever read.
June 29, 2024
I’ve never thought that memoirs of a Russian opera singer could be one of the most interesting and illuminating reading experiences for me these days, but yes — this is a very cool book written by an awesome personality, and I recommend the memoirs wholeheartedly.
As I have zero interest in Russian theater, especially in Russian opera (a notoriously state-controlled area of their culture, together with ballet), I somehow had never noticed the name of Галина Вишневская before and did not know anything about her (now I see the mentionings of her everywhere, of course). I suppose I paid attention to these memoirs when I learned that she was the wife of Мстислав Ростропович and, together with him, left the USSR in the 1970s and, as a result, was stripped off her “Soviet citizenship,” which is a clear sign that she was probably at least a decent person, but I still was reluctant to pick up the book for a long time.
Well, I was wrong! First of all, she is indeed a very decent person (despite belonging for a long time to the Soviet “cultural elite” and being very privileged in many senses), but not because of her famous spouse. She was a very bright and talented personality herself all her life, and although her marriage with Мстислав Ростропович is indeed the most noticeable part of her biography for us today, I had an impression that this was an accidental albeit incredible “star alliance”: an awesome pair of two equally talented and intelligent people who were also lucky to be on the same page with their attitude to the state. (I even suspect that Галина Вишневская was more influential and strong-minded in their relationship — at least, their emigration was her initiative, according to her memoirs; it was she who had the idea in the first place and insisted on it, while Ростропович would have rather stayed anyway.)
Anyway, all her memoirs, regardless of Ростропович, are VERY interesting. She had a long and very eventful life and an amazing artistic career, being a unique singer and a beautiful actress who established herself as a prominent opera singer (probably number one in her voice range and artistic capabilities) who was not only one of the superstars in the USSR but also its powerful “export asset,” the face of Russian/Soviet opera for the West. She had a quite humble, even tragic beginning, growing up in a dysfunctional family and barely surviving in the siege of Leningrad. She was left all alone after the war and, although she was clearly gifted musically, her career started badly. Also, her father was repressed before the war, and although he was an awful jerk who never wanted to know her, this aspect of her biography was still very detrimental to her. Before Ростропович, she had a couple of not very good marriages, and her first child died soon after birth, after a lot of suffering for both of them. And so on. Despite all these problems, she was growing as an artist and a personality step by step, and at some point became a superstar, yes. And then, there was a crazy (after four days of their acquaintance! having not even seen/heard each other on the scene!) but incredibly happy and beautiful marriage with Мстислав Ростропович and their “elite” life in the USSR and abroad. And then, despite having EVERYTHING and being the key beneficiaries of the state, there was their resolute support for Солженицын, the following “punishment” (especially for Ростропович, who was pushed out to the provincial and low-level performances and denied from working in the capitals and going abroad), and their decision to emigrate because of it. And then she not only continued her brilliant career but also wrote the memoirs in order to tell all the world the truth about the USSR.
Only this simple summary is quite impressive, right? However, the memoirs are much more than a retelling of all these events. She was apparently also a very good writer, as the book is a fascinating read regardless of what she is talking about. The memoirs are a perfect balance of a personal story, an imprint of society and a particular historical period, and observations/reflections about her professional area — music and theater overall and opera singing in particular.
I cannot distinguish one note from another, and classic opera singing looks like one of the most boring and impenetrable kinds of art to me, and yet I was entranced by her stories about all the “insides” of this very specific area and her own work there. I wanted to find all the arias and plays she talks about and listen to them in order to pay attention to all the things she discussed with such passion and professional details. She talks about many interesting nuances of her work, and not necessarily only those that she considers “interesting” for a mass audience (although there were many funny and cool details of such kind as well). From her attitude to her work, you understand how thorough and hard-working she was, and that her “superstar” status was not an accident — she truly deserved all this by her diligence and excellence in everything she was doing. She was also friends with some of the most famous cultural figures, especially with Дмитрий Шостакович, and a large part of her memoirs allows us to understand this complex personality better. Overall, when she talks about the things or people she loved and respected, it’s a separate pleasure by itself — her narration is intelligent and thoughtful, saturated with observant details.
As for society: this book is also a remarkable example of honest and quite powerful evidence of “how the Soviet life worked for real.” There are many, many pages that have a seriously revealing and accusing character. She was never a “dissident” of any kind but it is obvious that she still retained a very clear understanding of the criminal and vicious organization of the USSR in its core. She was one of the main beneficiaries of this state and its pathological structure, but she still was never truly and sincerely supportive of it, and her memoirs may be considered part of “dissident literature” if you mean the overall message and intention. She wrote the book in 1984, when she was already abroad and denied “Soviet citizenship,” but the USSR was still very strong and working in exactly the same way she described in her book (she often says something like “it was like that for many years, and it still continues today”), so I suppose that her memoirs were very useful for the foreign public who maybe naively thought that, after the death of Stalin, the USSR was gradually becoming a weird but pretty “normal” country. For me, there was not much new, of course, but I think that the book may be also pretty helpful as a soft but still very informative introduction to the evil system from various points of view.
It’s a pity that she did not continue her memoirs after her emigration (she finishes them with her flight from the USSR in 1974, in the airplane from Moscow to Paris, literally with the words “Очертания земли сливаются в бесформенную, бесцветную массу, и белые облака словно саваном закрывают ее”), as she apparently had a very vibrant life abroad in the following years, and they also returned to “new democratic Russia” in the 1990s and died there, as we know. It would be very interesting to learn how they adapted to life abroad after emigration, how they decided to return, and what they thought about “new democratic Russia” in the last years of her life (she died in 2012, and Мстислав Ростропович died in 2007, both in Moscow, so they had seen some shit during those recent years, I think).
I highly recommend this book: it’s equally enjoyable and illuminating! For me, it was undoubtedly one of the best books of this year. I will not even leave any quotes — I liked everything and cannot choose what to quote here. Just try the book for yourself.
As I have zero interest in Russian theater, especially in Russian opera (a notoriously state-controlled area of their culture, together with ballet), I somehow had never noticed the name of Галина Вишневская before and did not know anything about her (now I see the mentionings of her everywhere, of course). I suppose I paid attention to these memoirs when I learned that she was the wife of Мстислав Ростропович and, together with him, left the USSR in the 1970s and, as a result, was stripped off her “Soviet citizenship,” which is a clear sign that she was probably at least a decent person, but I still was reluctant to pick up the book for a long time.
Well, I was wrong! First of all, she is indeed a very decent person (despite belonging for a long time to the Soviet “cultural elite” and being very privileged in many senses), but not because of her famous spouse. She was a very bright and talented personality herself all her life, and although her marriage with Мстислав Ростропович is indeed the most noticeable part of her biography for us today, I had an impression that this was an accidental albeit incredible “star alliance”: an awesome pair of two equally talented and intelligent people who were also lucky to be on the same page with their attitude to the state. (I even suspect that Галина Вишневская was more influential and strong-minded in their relationship — at least, their emigration was her initiative, according to her memoirs; it was she who had the idea in the first place and insisted on it, while Ростропович would have rather stayed anyway.)
Anyway, all her memoirs, regardless of Ростропович, are VERY interesting. She had a long and very eventful life and an amazing artistic career, being a unique singer and a beautiful actress who established herself as a prominent opera singer (probably number one in her voice range and artistic capabilities) who was not only one of the superstars in the USSR but also its powerful “export asset,” the face of Russian/Soviet opera for the West. She had a quite humble, even tragic beginning, growing up in a dysfunctional family and barely surviving in the siege of Leningrad. She was left all alone after the war and, although she was clearly gifted musically, her career started badly. Also, her father was repressed before the war, and although he was an awful jerk who never wanted to know her, this aspect of her biography was still very detrimental to her. Before Ростропович, she had a couple of not very good marriages, and her first child died soon after birth, after a lot of suffering for both of them. And so on. Despite all these problems, she was growing as an artist and a personality step by step, and at some point became a superstar, yes. And then, there was a crazy (after four days of their acquaintance! having not even seen/heard each other on the scene!) but incredibly happy and beautiful marriage with Мстислав Ростропович and their “elite” life in the USSR and abroad. And then, despite having EVERYTHING and being the key beneficiaries of the state, there was their resolute support for Солженицын, the following “punishment” (especially for Ростропович, who was pushed out to the provincial and low-level performances and denied from working in the capitals and going abroad), and their decision to emigrate because of it. And then she not only continued her brilliant career but also wrote the memoirs in order to tell all the world the truth about the USSR.
Only this simple summary is quite impressive, right? However, the memoirs are much more than a retelling of all these events. She was apparently also a very good writer, as the book is a fascinating read regardless of what she is talking about. The memoirs are a perfect balance of a personal story, an imprint of society and a particular historical period, and observations/reflections about her professional area — music and theater overall and opera singing in particular.
I cannot distinguish one note from another, and classic opera singing looks like one of the most boring and impenetrable kinds of art to me, and yet I was entranced by her stories about all the “insides” of this very specific area and her own work there. I wanted to find all the arias and plays she talks about and listen to them in order to pay attention to all the things she discussed with such passion and professional details. She talks about many interesting nuances of her work, and not necessarily only those that she considers “interesting” for a mass audience (although there were many funny and cool details of such kind as well). From her attitude to her work, you understand how thorough and hard-working she was, and that her “superstar” status was not an accident — she truly deserved all this by her diligence and excellence in everything she was doing. She was also friends with some of the most famous cultural figures, especially with Дмитрий Шостакович, and a large part of her memoirs allows us to understand this complex personality better. Overall, when she talks about the things or people she loved and respected, it’s a separate pleasure by itself — her narration is intelligent and thoughtful, saturated with observant details.
As for society: this book is also a remarkable example of honest and quite powerful evidence of “how the Soviet life worked for real.” There are many, many pages that have a seriously revealing and accusing character. She was never a “dissident” of any kind but it is obvious that she still retained a very clear understanding of the criminal and vicious organization of the USSR in its core. She was one of the main beneficiaries of this state and its pathological structure, but she still was never truly and sincerely supportive of it, and her memoirs may be considered part of “dissident literature” if you mean the overall message and intention. She wrote the book in 1984, when she was already abroad and denied “Soviet citizenship,” but the USSR was still very strong and working in exactly the same way she described in her book (she often says something like “it was like that for many years, and it still continues today”), so I suppose that her memoirs were very useful for the foreign public who maybe naively thought that, after the death of Stalin, the USSR was gradually becoming a weird but pretty “normal” country. For me, there was not much new, of course, but I think that the book may be also pretty helpful as a soft but still very informative introduction to the evil system from various points of view.
It’s a pity that she did not continue her memoirs after her emigration (she finishes them with her flight from the USSR in 1974, in the airplane from Moscow to Paris, literally with the words “Очертания земли сливаются в бесформенную, бесцветную массу, и белые облака словно саваном закрывают ее”), as she apparently had a very vibrant life abroad in the following years, and they also returned to “new democratic Russia” in the 1990s and died there, as we know. It would be very interesting to learn how they adapted to life abroad after emigration, how they decided to return, and what they thought about “new democratic Russia” in the last years of her life (she died in 2012, and Мстислав Ростропович died in 2007, both in Moscow, so they had seen some shit during those recent years, I think).
I highly recommend this book: it’s equally enjoyable and illuminating! For me, it was undoubtedly one of the best books of this year. I will not even leave any quotes — I liked everything and cannot choose what to quote here. Just try the book for yourself.
July 21, 2018
Milline elu! Leningradi blokaadil napilt laipu vedades ellu jäänud ja Suure Teatri primadonnaks tõusnud Višnevskaja oli kahtlemata suur muusik ja isiksus. Ma pole suur (auto)biograafiate fänn - aga see raamat, oh sa püha püss! See raamat on üheaegselt nii Nõukogude Liidu ja üldse Venemaa nukra poliitajaloo kui ka muusika ning kultuuriloo õpik. Višnevskaja lähiringi kuulusid Rostropovitš, Šostakovitš, Solženitsõv jpt. Samuti on see ühe tugeva naise pihtimus oma elu kõige valusamatest aga ka ülevamatest hetkedest. Ta ei tahtnud ilmselt kunagi saada "dissidendiks", vaid lihtsalt teha muusikat, aga mida sa teed kui su südametunnistus ei lase sul nõukogude absurditeatriga kaasa mängida... Inimesena, kes oleks võinud süsteemist endale kõik kasulikud mahlad välja imeda, otsustas ta jääda enda vastu ausaks ja säilitas (vähemalt sõnas) kaastunde nõukogude süsteemi ohvrite (alates naistest piimasabas) vastu.
Laulmisega kokku puutuvatele inimestele on siin ka näpuotsaga vokaaltehnilist juttu ja ooperite interpretatsioonidest.
Lõpuks üks paks raamat, kus iga lehekülg 420 seas õigustas ennast. Ma ei teagi, kas nutta või viina võtta, aga võib-olla tahan ooperisse minna.
Laulmisega kokku puutuvatele inimestele on siin ka näpuotsaga vokaaltehnilist juttu ja ooperite interpretatsioonidest.
Lõpuks üks paks raamat, kus iga lehekülg 420 seas õigustas ennast. Ma ei teagi, kas nutta või viina võtta, aga võib-olla tahan ooperisse minna.
July 17, 2017
В целом прекрасно, хоть для меня местами как для не просвещенной слишком много о музыке. Но это уже от скудности образования))))
July 23, 2024
En sú bók! Og ekki bara áhugaverð fyrir söngvara og tónlistarmenn heldur líka bara áhugafólk um rússneska sögu og Sovétríkin.
August 12, 2009
Great for anyone with an interest in Russian, Soviet, and Post-soviet music and musicians. Lots of my favorites appear there in sketches by Vishnevskaya (Shostakovich, Oistrakh, Mark Reizen, etc. and of course Rostropovich himself). Vishnveyskaya has a funny matter-of-factness about her (reminds me a bit of Beverly Sills) that renders some more or less extraordinary encounters very believable. My favorite scene is her description of her debut at La Scala as Liu in Puccini's Turandot (with Birgit Nillson and Franco Corelli!) and her rather shocked introduction to the stage (and off stage) maneuvering necessary at that grand hall! Read her description then listen to the recording (available from emusic and opera D'oro) and hear the electrifying moment she describes.
November 24, 2022
This took me some time to wade my way through it. I seem to be in the minority but I didn’t really like it. The insight into Russia was very interesting but I didn’t really like Galina.
Want to read
February 26, 202415 slegte
July 1, 2024
Yes, I know, we're all unique and we all have an important story to tell, but not like Galina Vishnevskaya. She basically owed the world her memoir. She was just that special had so unique a story to tell. Here are some of the bare bones: She knew from age nine that she had a spectacular voice. She lived through the Seige of Leningrad, virtually alone as a child/young teenager, having been abandoned by her parents (willingly by her father) and had to step over frozen corpses in the street. She was accepted into the Bolshoi Theater Company and trained to be a world-class opera singer during Stalin and sang with them throughout the Cold War, so in addition to soaring into the stratosphere of great singers, she had to survive the deadly paranoia of life under a dictatorship. She, along with her husband, the great cellist Msitslav Rostropovich, were stripped of their Russian citizenzhip because they sheltered Nobel laureate and dissident Alexander Solzhenitsyn.
One of the things that struck me most about Galina was her humility. Sure, she could pull her diva shtick when she was performing but she seemed to have had a life long respect and compassion for the average Russian who suffered so profoundly on a day-to-day basis under dictatorship. She had a profound respect for and lavished praise on many of the artists that she worked with. I know have a long list of Russian musicians that I can't wait to explore.
One of the things that struck me most about Galina was her humility. Sure, she could pull her diva shtick when she was performing but she seemed to have had a life long respect and compassion for the average Russian who suffered so profoundly on a day-to-day basis under dictatorship. She had a profound respect for and lavished praise on many of the artists that she worked with. I know have a long list of Russian musicians that I can't wait to explore.
March 20, 2019
Отличная книга: интересная, богатая фактами. Очень легко читается. Честно говоря, не ожидала, что она произведет на меня настолько положительное впечатление. Подсознательно проводила параллель - некие "ожидания" - с мемуарами Плисецкой: Майя Михайловна тоже очень интересно написала, но там - на мой вкус - серьезно проходит тема и настроение "я обвиняю". Вишневская в этом смысле пишет "спокойнее", но настолько по существу, живо, красочно и с деталями. Особняком - то, что и как Г.П. пишет о Шостаковиче: его поклонникам отдельно бы рекомендовала прочитать эти чудесные мемуары.
February 8, 2021
It's all about being an artist in Russia and just how awful it is. Galina is an opera singer, but we also hear about some other famous artists and Nobel-prize winners. Not easy to read and takes some time, especially if you are not interested in operas.
May 27, 2024
Неожиданное прорубленное окно в мир Советского Союза, жестокого, сложного и так или иначе родного. Нет ничего ценнее таланта и чести. Галина Вишневская крутая, Ростропович великолепен. Найти такую любовь и такую личность это недостижимые цель и мечта.
February 14, 2018
A most inspiring autobiography that gives insight to conditions in communist Russia during the cold war. I loved this read and recommend it highly.
August 30, 2018
A thoroughly enjoyable read! Galina writes incredibly well, and her life story is captivating.
February 26, 2020
Удивительная сильная автобиография. По новому взглянула на оперу и классическую музыку.
September 12, 2022
Если коротко — то это заказуха, а если длинно — то допишу позднее :) в целом: небезынтересное местами чтиво со скидкой на то, кто писал, зачем и под какую аудиторию
March 26, 2014
Võrratu ülevaade elust Nõukogude Venemaal. Kõigile, kes on sel ajal elanud, pakub raamat äratundmisõudust. Hästi kirjutatud, võrratult tõlgitud. Soovitan soojalt kõigil lugeda. ♥
"Vaatan ja imestan, te olete nii noor, aga soiute ja soiute nagu reumavalus vanamutt." - p101
"Kõik nad lootsid nagu tursked eunuhhid, nagu kupeldajad kannuseid teenida ja ilusat eevatütart härra voodisse sokutada." - p110
"See leseks jäänud talumees oli täies jõus ja tassis veel viljakotte, niisugused vanamehed said ka seitsmekümneselt lapsi. Maal juhtus sageli, et kui poeg ära oli, puges sihuke papi noore minia juurde ahju peale - neid kutsutigi miniakabistajateks." - p310
"Ükskord pärast päevast etendust suvilasse minnes leidsin eest sünge meeleolu ja leina... maa kohal siugles paks must suits... meie puitelamu (!) lahtisel verandal miilas lõke... Põrandal oli kuhi tuhka, mille juures seisid kolm inimest: võidurõõmus Rostropovitš ning nutetud silmadega Olga ja Lena.
"Mis juhtus?!"
"Rohkem need neetud teksased mu elu ei mürgita... valasin nad bensiiniga üle ja panin põlema! Kogu lugu!"
Õnn, et sadas juba sügisvihma, muidu oleksime seisnud majast järele jäänud tuhahunniku ümber." - p349
"Minu vestluskaaslane kuulas mind väga tähelepanelikult, noogutas sõnatult ja oli paljudes asjades minuga isegi justkui nõus. Äkki viskas ta pea selga, vaatas mind sihukese pika paljutähendava pilguga ja sosistas mulle kuumalt kõrva, mis oli kui maksahaak:
"Kas ta Leninit armastab?"
"?!"
Arvasin, et kuulsin valesti. Ootasin temalt kõike, ainult mitte niisugust totakat kirglikku küsimust.
"Mida-a?!"
"Ma küsisin, kas ta Leninit armastab?"
Jäin sõnatuks. Mul tekkis isegi mõttekramp. Nagu unes kuulsin enda kõrvalt tema kurba õiglast häält:
"Te va-a-aikite. Seep' see on... Ta ei armasta-a-a Leninit..."" - p356
"Vaatan ja imestan, te olete nii noor, aga soiute ja soiute nagu reumavalus vanamutt." - p101
"Kõik nad lootsid nagu tursked eunuhhid, nagu kupeldajad kannuseid teenida ja ilusat eevatütart härra voodisse sokutada." - p110
"See leseks jäänud talumees oli täies jõus ja tassis veel viljakotte, niisugused vanamehed said ka seitsmekümneselt lapsi. Maal juhtus sageli, et kui poeg ära oli, puges sihuke papi noore minia juurde ahju peale - neid kutsutigi miniakabistajateks." - p310
"Ükskord pärast päevast etendust suvilasse minnes leidsin eest sünge meeleolu ja leina... maa kohal siugles paks must suits... meie puitelamu (!) lahtisel verandal miilas lõke... Põrandal oli kuhi tuhka, mille juures seisid kolm inimest: võidurõõmus Rostropovitš ning nutetud silmadega Olga ja Lena.
"Mis juhtus?!"
"Rohkem need neetud teksased mu elu ei mürgita... valasin nad bensiiniga üle ja panin põlema! Kogu lugu!"
Õnn, et sadas juba sügisvihma, muidu oleksime seisnud majast järele jäänud tuhahunniku ümber." - p349
"Minu vestluskaaslane kuulas mind väga tähelepanelikult, noogutas sõnatult ja oli paljudes asjades minuga isegi justkui nõus. Äkki viskas ta pea selga, vaatas mind sihukese pika paljutähendava pilguga ja sosistas mulle kuumalt kõrva, mis oli kui maksahaak:
"Kas ta Leninit armastab?"
"?!"
Arvasin, et kuulsin valesti. Ootasin temalt kõike, ainult mitte niisugust totakat kirglikku küsimust.
"Mida-a?!"
"Ma küsisin, kas ta Leninit armastab?"
Jäin sõnatuks. Mul tekkis isegi mõttekramp. Nagu unes kuulsin enda kõrvalt tema kurba õiglast häält:
"Te va-a-aikite. Seep' see on... Ta ei armasta-a-a Leninit..."" - p356
July 1, 2012
This is a fascinating story of the life of Galina Pavlovna, a Russian Prima Donna. She is an amazing woman and I was constantly impressed by her courage and strong will in such a debilitating and humiliating communist society. Her story tells of the musical arts in soviet Russia and the powerful hold that the government has on that. She is so passionate about the musical arts and that passion is what drives her through life in that difficult country. My heart ached for all of the composers and writers and artists that were crippled by the government or even killed, and it is still like that today. I had no idea.
Galina was so beautiful and such an amazing opera singer that, luckily, she was spared a lot of suffocation from the Soviet (or KGB or whatever) but she saw so many amazing artists smothered by the ridiculousness of the Soviet Union. She described the world's loss so clearly with each artist that the Soviet killed. Eventually she too was exiled. Here's a quote by Galina "In that country you cannot simply be a human being who has his own view of the world and lives by the laws of his own God. On the contrary: you must drive Him out of your soul, and fill the vacuum with Marx, Engels, Lenin, Stalin and all their nonsense. That must be your religion." It really is a tragic story, my heart ached through the majority of the book, but Galina never takes it lying down. She's a powerful woman :) And I really appreciate her story.
Galina was so beautiful and such an amazing opera singer that, luckily, she was spared a lot of suffocation from the Soviet (or KGB or whatever) but she saw so many amazing artists smothered by the ridiculousness of the Soviet Union. She described the world's loss so clearly with each artist that the Soviet killed. Eventually she too was exiled. Here's a quote by Galina "In that country you cannot simply be a human being who has his own view of the world and lives by the laws of his own God. On the contrary: you must drive Him out of your soul, and fill the vacuum with Marx, Engels, Lenin, Stalin and all their nonsense. That must be your religion." It really is a tragic story, my heart ached through the majority of the book, but Galina never takes it lying down. She's a powerful woman :) And I really appreciate her story.
January 2, 2013
The great Russian soprano, Galina Vishnevskaya, widow of cellist Mstislav Rostropovich, died last month at the age of 86, prompting me to head straight to the library. Readers’ quotes on Amazon heralded it as “the greatest operatic autobiography ever.” Not having read the others, I can’t speak with authority, but I can say that if this is any indication of the level of literature in store for me in 2013, then the year’s reading is off to a very promising start.
Vishnevskaya doesn’t mince words describing the life she & Slava lived in Russia, the personal vicissitudes created by the Soviet system, or the vengeance that befell artists and writers such as Shostakovich & Solzhenitsyn, retributions that left enormous emotional scars upon them. Those same retributions were directed equally at her and Rostropovich. Her story reads like a Kafkaesque novel and her fearless personality shines through on each and every page. I was so caught up in the sections dealing with Shostakovich that I read to the accompaniment of both his 5th Symphony & his Cello Concerto, an enhancement to a book that really needed none. However, both works are Russian to the core & I couldn’t resist.
Galina ends with the family’s exile in 1974 and the evocation of her raw sorrow is utterly poetic. Would that she had written a sequel.
Vishnevskaya doesn’t mince words describing the life she & Slava lived in Russia, the personal vicissitudes created by the Soviet system, or the vengeance that befell artists and writers such as Shostakovich & Solzhenitsyn, retributions that left enormous emotional scars upon them. Those same retributions were directed equally at her and Rostropovich. Her story reads like a Kafkaesque novel and her fearless personality shines through on each and every page. I was so caught up in the sections dealing with Shostakovich that I read to the accompaniment of both his 5th Symphony & his Cello Concerto, an enhancement to a book that really needed none. However, both works are Russian to the core & I couldn’t resist.
Galina ends with the family’s exile in 1974 and the evocation of her raw sorrow is utterly poetic. Would that she had written a sequel.
July 19, 2013
If I could, I would rate this book 7 stars. For me, who lived in the communist era, this book gave revelations. Made me understand how and why the system worked. Besides this, it's an inspiring story of music, art and love. If you think you don't like opera, this book makes you think again and you will definitely buy your first opera ticket. Amazing, heart warming, a bit sad (the soviet communism wasn't full of laughter) and first of all true, beautifully written story. You pick it and won't be able to put it down. Give it a try!
August 17, 2016
Ik heb dit boek gewoon in de Nederlandse vertaling uit 1987 gelezen. ik kreeg het van iemand te leen. heel interessant en goed geschreven. De schrijfster heeft inderdaad een prachtige stem en het is leuk om haar over de verschillende opera's te lezen. daarnaast is het natuurlijk een beschrijving van het absurde, misdadige Russische systeem, waaronder alle artiesten daar moesten werken. Op zich voor mij niet zo veel nieuws, maar het is wel anders om het vanuit het persoonlijke gezichtspunt van een van de slachtoffers te lezen.
March 3, 2015
Талантливый человек талантлив во всем. Такова Галина Вишневская. Яркая, страстная, бескомпромиссная, во всем идущая до конца: петь, так Петь; писать, так через Сердце. Низкий поклон и вечная память Женщине, через свое творчество сияющей нам Звездой веры в справедливость, которая рано или поздно, но восторжествует.
Читать всем: рожденным при Союзе и знающим о нем только по наслышке.
Читать всем: рожденным при Союзе и знающим о нем только по наслышке.
June 29, 2015
I guess being a drama queen is a part of the profession - and as for that part she is definetely The Queen.
It's not so much a book in the sense of piece of literature - rather a wonderful document of the epoch and the people. And it always keeps you wondering where the truth might have been stretched.
It's not so much a book in the sense of piece of literature - rather a wonderful document of the epoch and the people. And it always keeps you wondering where the truth might have been stretched.
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