Georgian opera singers perform leading roles in La Scala opera

World renowned opera house Teatro alla Scala in Milan, Italy, is the venue of a series of performances of Carmen, in which several Georgian singers are performing leading roles.

Sofia Mchedlishvili, soprano, will take to the stage as Mercedes, a companion of lead character Carmen, in several performances from March 22 until June 16.

However in late June, two other Georgian singers Anita Rachvelishvili and Nino Machaidze will join the cast in the same production and perform the roles of Carmen and Micaela.

The opera, by Frenchman Georges Bizet, tells the tale of a free, secular and rebellious Carmen who uses her charm to seduce males, particularly Don Jose, who ends up being heavily influenced by the seductive Carmen.

When the opera was composed in the early 1870s, the opera was deemed groundbreaking in its realism and it rapidly became one of the most popular Western operas of all time.

Soprano Mchedlishvili has spent several years in Italy training her voice. In 2009 she made her debut as the first Dame in Mozart’s Magic Flute, and from November 2013 she has attended a course for young singers at Accademia La Scala in Milan.

In 2014 Mchedlishvili performed the role of Contessa di Folleville in Il viaggio a Reims, conducted by Antonino Fogliani at Belcanto Opera Festival (Rossini in Wildbad) in Germany.

Meanwhile Georgian singer Rachvelishvili, who will join the cast in June, has an international reputation. When she first performed in the prestigious Italian opera house in December 2009, her performance in the title role as Carmen opposite Jonas Kaufmann as Don Jose, saw her transform into a global star.

This performance was the young artist’s first leading role.