Georgian opera star makes debut at top Japanese theatre

An acclaimed Georgian baritone is gearing up to perform the title role in the last opera written by famous 19th Century Italian composer Giuseppe Verdi in a series of performances at one of Japan’s top theatres.

George Gagnidze will lead a cast of international and local performers in a contemporary staging of Falstaff in Tokyo’s New National Theatre for four days over the next two weeks.

This will be the first time Gagnidze has performed the principal role of Sir John Falstaff.

Starting this Thursday, Gagnidze will perform in the three-act opera created by Verdi based on the 16th Century comedy The Merry Wives of Windsor by William Shakespeare.

Falstaff will be performed at the Opera Palace of the New National Theatre in Tokyo. Photo from New National Theatre.

The four performances in early December will see the play presented at the Tokyo theatre for the first time in eight years, after it was first staged there by British theatre and opera director Jonathan Miller in 2004.

The Georgian singer will be joined by well-known internationally acclaimed opera singers including baritone Massimo Cavalletti and soprano Aga Mikolaj. The opera will be supported by the New National Theatre Chorus and the Tokyo Philharmonic Orchestra, led by conductor Yves Abel.

Tbilisi-born Gagnidze trained at the capital’s State Conservatory and made his debut in Verdi’s classic Rigoletto as the lead character at the New York Metropolitan Opera in 2009.

He recently featured in contemporary staging of Rigoletto at the New York Metropolitan Opera, partnered by Russian soprano Olga Peretyatko. He also appeared in the Metropolitan double bill of the operas Cavalleria Rusticana and Pagliacci earlier this year.