The Oscars of Opera:
Georgian singers nominated among international stars

Opera enthusiasts can vote for who they believe should win top international awards for best performances of the last opera season from a collection of global stars including two Georgian singers.

Nino Surguladze and Anita Rachvelishvili have been nominated alongside a handful of other opera singers in the 2016 GBOSCAR - The Excellence in Opera awards by the prestigious Italian online magazine GBOPERA.

Surguladze and Rachvelishvili were selected for one of the seven categories featuring 35 of the top opera performers from around the world.

See singer Nino Surguladze perform at the 2013 Al Bustan International Festival of Music and Performing Arts below:

The two Georgians will compete for the Best Mezzo Soprano/Contralto award, which will be decided by public online vote, similarly to the other six categories.

Surguladze was nominated for her performance in Nabucco at the 2015 Opera Festival at Arena di Verona venue in Italy.

Rachvelishvili was selected for her part in the famous opera Aida, performed at the same opera festival.

See singer Anita Rachvelishvili speak about the role of Amneris in opera Aida below:

The complete list of GBOSCAR awards are listed below:

• Best Production
• Best Conductor
• Best Soprano
• Best Mezzo Soprano/Contralto
• Best Tenor
• Best Baritone
• Best Bass

The public can vote online for the awards on Facebook. The number of ‘likes’ received by the magazine's reviews on participating nominations will reveal the ultimate winners.

The articles were listed on the award's Facebook page here.

Organisers announced the polls would close on April 10 and the winners awarded on May 17 at a special opera event at the Riccardo Zandonai Theatre in Rovereto, Italy.