Top Italian opera house casts Georgian singer in grand performance

One of Italy’s most prestigious opera houses is celebrating the reopening of the world’s second largest Egyptian museum in the city by casting Georgian mezzo soprano Anita Rachvelishvili in lead role in Aida, an opera set in Egypt and first performed in 1871.

Rachvelishvili, a mezzo soprano, was cast to perform the role of Amneris, one of the opera’s leading characters, at the performances at Teatro Regio opera house in Turin, Italy. 

The opera was written by famous 19th Century Italian composer Giuseppe Verdi in 1870 and first performed a year later, but over the years has been adapted several times; the Teatro Regio opera house performance was American film director William Friedkin’s staging of the classical production.

Rachvelishvili was cast in all ten shows of the program between October 14 and 25, while other performers performed the role in alternative show dates. 

Rachvelishvili shared her preparations for the October 22 performance of Aida for her near-3,500 Instagram followers. Photo from Anita Rachvelishvili/Instagram.

The four-act show celebrated the reopening of the Museo Egizio museum in Turin - home to one of the oldest collections of Egyptian artefacts worldwide.

Once completing her performances of Aida at the Teatro Regio, Rachvelishvili was scheduled to perform in a charity evening at the Espace Pierre Cardin Theatre in Paris alongside Georgian pianist David Aladashvili on October 28.

The Georgian singer rose to international fame with her 2009 title role performance of Carmen in Milan, Italy. She also received global praise for her 2014 appearance in the same opera at New York’s Metropolitan Opera by Huffington Post:

Rachvelishvili's Carmen is full of fire and mischief, her eyes flashing as she sets about seducing Don Jose. She has a strong voice and she uses it to fine advantage to convey a woman who is free-spirited and unafraid even in the face of death,” said arts and culture reviewer Wilborn Hampton about her performance.

The singer’s New York performance was also noted by culture critics of www.latinpost.com, who said it was "hard to find a better singer who possesses all the qualities needed for Carmen”.