GALINA: A Russian Story

London: Hodder & Stoughton, 1984. First printing. Very Good/very good. Seldom does an autobiography appear that not only brings alive the events of a remarkable life, but also captures the spirit of a time and a place. A born storyteller, Galina Vishnevskaya describes her rise from a childhood of bitter poverty to stardom as the Soviet Union's most celebrated diva. But she does more than tell her own story. Galina bears witness to Soviet history, vividly evoking life in Stalinist Russia; the squalor in the cities, the purges, the Nazi blockade, the famine, and Stalin himself. And as her operatic career soars, she is patronized by Khrushchev, courted by Bulganin, married to Rostropovich, befriended by Brezhnev, offended by Yevtushenko, relied on by Solzhenitsyn, immortalised by Shostakovich and Akmatova. Galina describes an artist's world infested by KGB surveillance and party control and recounts the growing disillusionment that drove her and Rostropovich from the Russian they love. This is a Russian story - a story of art and love, of deprivation and success, and a final turning away. Translated from the Russian by Guy Daniels. Blue boards with writing to spine. Dj slight shelf wear. Tight binding and clean pages. Owner inscribed, not price clipped. First Edition AB53