Galina Vishnevskaya to be buried next to her husband, Mstislav Rostropovich

The ceremony to bid farewell to legendary opera singer Galina Vishnevskaya will take place held on December 13 in her Opera Centre, located on Ostozhenka Street, 25.

On December 14, the funeral service will be held at the Cathedral of Christ the Savior in Moscow. Afterwards, Galina Vishnevskaya will be buried at Novodevichy Cemetery, where her husband, Mstislav Rostropovich, is buried.

Russia's Minister for Culture, Vladimir Medinsky, expressed condolences to the family of Galina Vishnevskaya. He called the singer's death "an irreparable loss for the country," adds BFM.ru.

Russian President Vladimir Putin expressed his condolences too. "We all have lost a great woman - a person, who had an amazing talent, strength of will, generosity and sense of dignity," said the head of the country.

World-famous opera singer Galina Vishnevskaya died on December 11, 2012. She was 86 years old.

In early December, President Vladimir Putin signed a decree to decorate Vishnevskaya with the Order "Of Merit for the Fatherland" of the first degree "for outstanding contribution to the development of national culture and music." Thus, the people's artist of the USSR became a full knight of the award, noted Vesti.ru.

Galina Vishnevskaya was born on October 25, 1926 in Leningrad. She dedicated her entire life to opera. In 1944, she became a soloist of the Leningrad Operetta Theatre, and in 1952 - a soloist of the Bolshoi Theatre.

In 1974 Galina Vishnevskaya and her husband Mstislav Rostropovich left the Soviet Union. In 1978, they were deprived of Soviet citizenship. Vishnevskaya sang at world's largest theaters (Covent Garden, the Metropolitan Opera, the Grand Opera, La Scala, the Munich Opera, etc.). She performed with most celebrated masters of musical and theatrical culture.

In the early 90's Vishnevskaya returned to Russia and became an honorary professor at the Moscow Conservatory. On September 1, 2002, the Opera Center of Galina Vishnevskaya opened in Moscow.

Vishnevskaya's world-famous husband, cellist and conductor Mstislav Rostropovich died in 2007.