Celebrated Russian soprano and actress, Galina Vishnevskaya died in Moscow, Dec. 11, according to npr music. She was 86. The soprano had been suffering from a heart ailment for the past few years and is said to have passed away in peace surrounded by her loved ones.

The renowned singer and actress started her career in 1944 singing operetta. She was a popular artist in Russia but rose to fame worldwide after her marriage to cellist and conductor Mstislav Rostropovich. The duo was a celebrated couple in the Soviet Union.

She was the reigning queen of the artistic scene in Russia. But the couple spent years in Washington as they were exiled from the Soviet Union in 1974 due to their support of certain beliefs that came in conflict with that of the government's.

Vishnevskaya was known worldwide not just for her performances but also her candid nature. According to The Telegraph, opera producer Boris Pokrovsky described Vishnevskaya as, "This young, beautiful and clever woman with extraordinary musical and vocal abilities, theatrical charm, hot temperament, natural feeling of the stage, and bold outspokenness seemed to have come down from heaven to test our artistic intuition. She could perform any part with top-class professionalism."

Vishnevskaya's voice was so enchanting that it even inspired British composer Benjamin Britten to write a soprano part of "War Requiem," just for her. She was awarded the "People's Artist of the USSR" in 1996.

"What she did for Russian culture, for the development of Russian society, cannot be overstated," said Mikhail Shvydkoy, special envoy, International Culture Cooperation. "She was an amazing woman, an amazing singer and an amazing person. This is a great loss not just for Russian, but for world culture."

Vishnevskaya will be buried in the Novodevichy cemetery in Moscow, near her husband, Dec. 14.