Galina Kovalyova
Galina Kovalyova was a Soviet Russian opera singer, chamber singer, and music teacher. She was born on March 7, 1932, in the settlement of Goryachy Klyuch, in the North Caucasus Krai, later part of Krasnodar Krai. A lyric coloratura soprano, she became one of the notable singers associated with the Kirov Opera and Ballet Theatre in Leningrad. She was awarded the title People's Artist of the USSR in 1974.
In 1959 she graduated from the Saratov Conservatory named after Leonid Sobinov, where she studied singing with O. N. Strizhova. During her studies she received the Sobinov scholarship. While still a fourth-year student, she took part in concerts of the 6th World Festival of Youth and Students in Moscow in 1957. From 1958 she was a soloist at the Saratov Opera and Ballet Theatre.
From 1960 Kovalyova was a soloist of the S. M. Kirov Leningrad Opera and Ballet Theatre, now the Mariinsky Theatre. In 1961 she made her debut there as Rosina in Rossini's The Barber of Seville. She later became known in the foreign repertoire for roles such as Lucia in Donizetti's Lucia di Lammermoor and Violetta in Verdi's La Traviata. She was also closely associated with Russian opera, performing Marfa in Rimsky-Korsakov's The Tsar's Bride, the Swan Princess in The Tale of Tsar Saltan, Volkhova in Sadko, Antonida in Glinka's Ivan Susanin, and Lyudmila in Ruslan and Lyudmila.
Her stage repertoire was broad and included Gilda in Rigoletto, Leonora in Il trovatore, Aida in Aida, Manon in Massenet's Manon, the Queen of the Night in The Magic Flute, Micaela in Carmen, Snegurochka in The Snow Maiden, Natasha Rostova in War and Peace, Iolanta in Iolanta, Lakme in Lakme, Oscar in Un ballo in maschera, and many other parts. She also sang in duets with prominent singers of her time, including Nicolai Ghiaurov, Georg Ots, Hendrik Krumm, Vladimir Atlantov, Virgilijus Noreika, Elena Obraztsova, and Irina Bogacheva. Alongside her operatic work, she also appeared as a concert singer.
As a chamber performer, Kovalyova maintained an extensive repertoire. It included romances by Tchaikovsky, Rachmaninoff, Taneyev, Bulakhov, Gurilyov, Varlamov, and Glazunov, as well as works by Prokofiev, Shostakovich, Shaporin, Gliere, and Sviridov. Her concert programs also featured Schumann, Schubert, Brahms, Bach, Liszt, Handel, Grieg, Chausson, Duparc, and Debussy. She often included in concert arias and scenes from operas that she had not performed in the theater, and for many years she collaborated with organists, especially the Leningrad organist N. I. Oksentyan. She also performed major solo parts in Verdi's Requiem, Haydn's The Seasons, Mahler's Second Symphony, Rachmaninoff's The Bells, and Shaporin's symphony-cantata On Kulikovo Field.
Kovalyova toured widely, appearing in Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia, France, Italy, Canada, Poland, East Germany, Japan, the United States, Sweden, the United Kingdom, and countries of Latin America. She also took part in film work, including performances in When the Song Does Not End, Wedding in Malinovka, and Karambolina-Karamboletta.
From 1970 she taught at the Leningrad Conservatory as an associate professor, and from 1981 as a professor. Among her well-known students were S. A. Yalysheva and Yu. N. Zamyatina. Her honors included prizes at international vocal competitions in Sofia, Toulouse, and Montreal; the titles Honored Artist of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic and People's Artist of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic; the Glinka State Prize of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic in 1978 for her performances as Antonida and Marfa; and the Order of the Red Banner of Labour.
She died on January 7, 1995, in St. Petersburg after an oncological illness and was buried at the Literatorskie Mostki section of Volkovo Cemetery. Her memory has been preserved in her native Goryachy Klyuch, where a museum exhibition was dedicated to her, and in St. Petersburg, where a memorial plaque was installed in 2008 on the house where she lived.
Connections
This figure has 1 connection in the Music Lineage catalog.