Galina Kalinina is a Russian opera singer, a prima of the Bolshoi Theater of the 1970-1990s, one of the most beautiful, stylish and talented artists of the Soviet, and then the world opera stage. Due to various circumstances, Kalinina did not receive such mass popular recognition as, for example, Elena Obraztsova or Irina Arkhipova, but the older generation of classical music lovers in our country knows and remembers the singer with her wonderful soprano voice.
Biography and career
On June 30, 1948, in the small village of Osinovaya Roshcha, Vyborgsky District, Leningrad Region, a girl, Galya, was born into a family of ordinary employees. As a child, she had no prerequisites for a creative career - her parents were far from music, her daughter grew up, like many children of the post-war period: she studied at school, was fond of volleyball and gymnastics, went to the pool. For the first time, a school teacher of singing drew attention to Galina's musical talent and advised the girl to make music. And Galya entered a music school, where she mastered playing the piano, sang in the choir with pleasure, and also took part in performances and amateur performances at the school.
In the early 60s, the family moved to Moscow. After completing school education, Galina Kalinina got a job at the Isaac Dunaevsky School of Music, where she not only taught, but also studied at the vocal department. This preparation allowed the girl to enter the Gnesins State Music College in 1967, in the vocals class of M.P. Alexandrovskaya. At the end of the school Kalinin, on the advice of the accompanist I.F. Kiryan, tried to enter the Bolshoi Theater in the internship group, but did not pass the selection. Fate turned out that Elena Obraztsova, an already leading singer of the Bolshoi and Honored Artist of the RSFSR, saw the upset crying girl in the theater lobby. She reassured Kalinina, began to practice vocals with her, and this was the beginning of a brilliant career for a young singer. She entered the Gnesins Music and Pedagogical Institute, in the class of teacher G.A. Maltseva. Then, in 1973, while studying in the second year, I still got into the internship group of the Bolshoi Theater, and at the institute I transferred to the evening department. And in the same year she received the second prize in Geneva at the International Competition of Musicians (moreover, the first prize was not awarded to anyone then). The following year, 1974, Kalinina became a laureate and won the III prize in Moscow at the V International Competition named after P.I. Tchaikovsky. While still a student, the young singer received the title of Honored Artist of the RSFSR. In 1977, Kalinina graduated from the Gnesinsky Institute.
For almost twenty years - from 1975 to 1992 - Galina Kalinina was one of the leading soloists of the Bolshoi Theater of the Soviet Union, performing the main parts in almost all opera productions - classical and modern: Tatyana in "Eugene Onegin", Lisa in "The Queen of Spades", Iolanta from the opera of the same name P.I. Tchaikovsky, Leonora in the opera Troubadour by J. Verdi and Floria Tosca in Tosca by J. Puccini, Donna Anna in The Stone Guest by A.S. Dargomyzhsky, Natasha Rostova in "War and Peace" S.S. Prokofiev, Lisa Brichkina in the opera "Dawns Here Are Quiet" K.V. Molchanova and many others. In addition to working at the Bolshoi Theater, Kalinina constantly took part in large gala concerts broadcast on television, starred in Blue Lights, recorded at a recording studio, and went on tour around the country. In 1981, her merits were evaluated by the government with the Order of the Badge of Honor, and in 1984 the singer was awarded the title of People's Artist of the RSFSR.
Creation
Galina Kalinina is not only an outstanding singer, but also a wonderful actress, very subtly conveying the images of her stage heroines. An example is the touching and soulful performance of the vocalise-memoirs of Lisa Brichkina from Kirill Molchanov's opera "Dawns Here Are Quiet." There is no text in this vocal number - it, as befits a vocalise, is performed on the syllable "a", is a sad melody with features of a folk lyric song. But how piercingly and emotionally she is performed by Kalinina, conveying intonation, gestures, facial expressions a whole gamut of feelings of a young girl, torn from her comfortable peaceful life and forced to go to the front, where she was soon destined to die.
Incredibly subtle and reverent, Kalinina performed the part of Tatiana in Eugene Onegin, demonstrating not only the highest vocal, but also dramatic skill. Singer Elena Obraztsova praised Tatyana’s image created by Kalinina:"
The actress has not yet begun to sing, but already - Tatyana
and those huge, sad eyes, thin face, pure girlish, naive voice
Kalinin also tried her hand at the cinema: in 1979 at the Lentelefilm film studio director Yevgeny Makarov made a musical film based on the operetta F. Legar “The Merry Widow” called “Ganna Glavari”. The main roles in this film were played by Galina Kalinina and the famous Gerard Vasilyev.
A new turn in the biography of the singer
In the 1980s, Galina Kalinina began to go on tour abroad, where she also received recognition and love from the public. In 1986, concerts in the UK with the Scottish Opera took place, and in 1987 Kalinina had the opportunity to open the season in Argentina, in the Colon Theater in Buenos Aires, performing Lisa's part in Tchaikovsky’s Queen of Spades. This was followed by invitations to different countries and world famous theaters - including Covent Garden, La Scala, where the singer made her debut in 1993, performing the role of Theodora in the opera of the same name by U. Jordan. There were tours to France, Italy, the USA, Canada and other countries.
In 1993, Galina Kalinina made an unexpected decision for many to leave her homeland and move to permanent residence in Germany. Here her creative career continued at the Deutsche Oper Theater in Berlin, where she became a leading soloist. Kalinina’s stage repertoire was constantly expanding - “Aida”, “Othello”, “Macbeth”, “Turandot” and many other opera performances, where Galina Kalinina performed the main female parts, went on stages in German cities and in other countries.
For two decades, Galina Kalinina has been almost forgotten in our country. And suddenly she appeared on Russian television on the channel "Culture" in the third season of the project "Grand Opera". Even connoisseurs did not immediately recognize the singer, once beloved by millions of Soviet people, in a bright, spectacular woman with short red hair. Galina accepted the invitation to become a member of the jury of the Big Opera, where she very strictly evaluated the contestants and gave them very valuable advice on vocal and acting skills.
Today, the singer Galina Kalinina lives both in Germany and in Russia, performs on the stages of different countries of the world, including her native Bolshoi Theater, and takes part in television projects.
