Georgian opera star debuts in Berlin premiere of Vasco da Gama

Germany’s second largest opera house, the Deutsche Oper Berlin, has cast up-and-coming Georgian soprano Nino Machaidze in its premiere of the Vasco da Gama opera this Sunday.

The famous theatre, which is also home to the Berlin State Ballet, said the young Georgian singer was "one of the most in-demand young singers in her field”.

For the opera’s six October performances Machaidze will perform the role of Ines, the daughter of Admiral Don Diego in a fictional story of the 15^th Century explorer Vasco da Gama.

The Vera Nemirova-directed production was a revised version of the 1865 classic L’Africaine by composer Giacomo Meyerbeer with libretto by French dramatist Eugène Scribe.

The opera Vasco da Gama is a revised version of L’Africaine by 19^th Century composer Giacomo Meyerbeer. Photo from www.deutscheoperberlin.de.

The Georgian soprano received her vocal training in Tbilisi and performed at the city’s Opera and Ballet State Theatre for five years until 2005 when she joined the academy of the famous La Scala opera in Milan, Italy.

Machaidze achieved her international breakthrough with a performance in Romeo and Juliet at the 2008 Salzburg Festival alongside Mexican tenor Rolando Villazón.

She has since performed at the most prestigious worldwide opera stages including the Vienna State Opera, the Staatsoper Berlin, the Royal Opera House Covent Garden and the Metropolitan Opera New York.

The revised Vasco da Gama opera first premiered at Germany’s Chemnitz Opera House in 2013.