Anita Rachvelishvili lauded for Chicago Symphony Orchestra "rock-star performance" of 'Aida'
Anita Rachvelishvili (third from right) joined conductor Riccardo Muti on stage for a second time, for the Chicago Symphony Orchestra production of 'Aida'. Photo: Todd Rosenberg.
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Mezzo-soprano Anita Rachvelishvili has received acclaim for her role in a Chicago Symphony Orchestra show of Aida last week, with the Chicago Classical Review praising her "rock-star performance".
Led by Riccardo Muti, the orchestra's music director, the show saw Rachvelishvili hold only her second performance with the acclaimed conductor.
Also involving the Chicago Symphony Chorus, the production saw the Georgian singer (cast as Amneris) joined by Krassimira Stoyanova as Aida, Kiril Manolov as Amonasro and Francesco Meli as Radames in the principal roles.
Tonight’s performance of Verdi’s Aida marks the finale of Riccardo Muti’s 2018/19 residencies with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. Thank you, @MaestroMuti, for a year of unforgettable musical moments, and until next season, ciao!
— Chicago Symphony Orchestra (@chicagosymphony) June 26, 2019
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The evening was stolen lock, stock and barrel by Anita Rachvelishvili who delivered a rock-star performance as the villainous Amneris."
The degree of emotional desperation in Rachvelishvili’s singing was nearly clinical and wholly riveting–the kind of head back, old-fashioned, no-holds barred singing one rarely encounters in the opera house today. Wow," a review by Lawrence A. Johnson for the website said.
Johnson also noted the "rich sable tone and almost unhinged intensity" introduced by Rachvelishvili, whom Muti regards the "world's best Verdi mezzo today", to her character.
The only previous time the Georgian had joined Muti came in 2017, when she entered the roster as a last-minute substitute in the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra's show of Requiem.
The mezzo-soprano has expressed her joy at being able to work with the conductor, saying it was “always my dream to work with Maestro Muti".
Rachvelishvili has not been short of critical praise for her principal roles in opera productions over the recent seasons, having been praised as “Carmen of the moment” for her part in an Opera National de Paris bill in April.
Earlier in the year she was also singled out by The Washington Post, The New York Times and the Operawire review website after her “show-stopping” debut in Adriana Lecouvreur at New York’s Metropolitan Opera House.