I’ve just read the news of the death of Galina Vishnevskaya.  I’m taking it a bit hard because she was an important part of my education in classical music.  She, of course, created the soprano solo role in Britten’s War Requiem and was also a notable performer in the premiere of Shostakovich’s 14th Symphony.  Both of these works meant a great deal to me as a teenager and still do 40 years later.  There’s a good obituary in the Guardian.