Tbilisi opera troupe delights Festival Puccini crowds in Italy
Tweet 
Share
Tbilisi’s state opera troupe has drawn plaudits from the Italian media for its first show in this year’s Festival Puccini on Thursday.
The company of the Tbilisi Opera and Ballet State Theatre — led by its soloists and also involving the choir and orchestra from the venue — went on stage at the event hosted in Torre del Lago in Italy’s north-west.
The performance of Manon Lescaut entertained the crowds at the festival with talents of a roster that included Georgian soprano Makvala Aspanidze, tenors Giorgi Oniani, Paata Sukhitashvili and Anzor Pilia as well as bass Gocha Datusani.
Makvala Aspanidze and Giorgi Oniani perform at the festival on Thursday. Photo: Tbilisi Opera and Ballet State Theatre.
With the line-up involving singers of the Tbilisi company and invited Georgian artists, the selection also featured soloists and actors of the Puccini academy, while the choir was led by Avtandil Chkhenkeli.
Italy’s La Gazzetta di Viareggio newspaper said the show had "made it clear” that work of famed composer Puccini was popular back in Georgia while also praising the cast for their effort that deserved "high acclaim”.
The Tbilisi troupe will appear before the festival audience in two other productions before the event comes close in August.
The Georgian singers will be involved in two more shows before the event comes to close. Photo: Tbilisi Opera and Ballet State Theatre.
In Turandot, their appearance will be broadcast live to viewers of Canale 5 TV, while the July 27 show of La bohème will also showcase the company’s talents.
This year marks the 64th edition of Festival Puccini, which was first held in 1930 and draws tens of thousands of audience annually.
It celebrates the connection between the great composer and the town of Torre del Lago, where he arrived in the late 19th century looking for a quiet spot to inspire his creativity.
One of the major international opera stages, the Carnegie Hall venue in New York, will see major Georgian stars join each other in celebration of the First Democratic Republic of the country.
A brand-new international competition for young opera singers will be launched in Tbilisi next month, with an aim of discovering emerging talent judged by famed opera professionals from leading companies.
Georgian soprano Salome Jicia will be part of a star-studded cast of performers in Opera Royal de Wallonie’s bill of La Donna del lago, to be performed for the first time in 15 years at the Belgian venue this spring.
Celebrated sopranos Salome Jicia and Nino Machaidze are under spotlight at Italy’s famed Teatro Massimo in an ongoing program of the opera classic Guillaume Tell.
The Festival Verdi, an acclaimed Italian opera event, will now also be hosted in Georgian cities, after the Tbilisi Opera and State Ballet Theatre signed a deal with Italy's celebrated Teatro Regio di Parma.
Georgian mezzo-soprano Ketevan Kemoklidze has been awarded the 2018 Voice of Female Protagonist Prize from the Teatre Principal de Palma in Palma De Mallorca, Spain.
The opera venue of Georgia’s capital city will mark the Christmas season by bringing Jules Massenet’s classic opera Werther by to its stage for the first time in over 75 years.
Georgian soprano Tsisana Giorgadze will debut on the world-famous stage of Teatro alla Scala in Milan next week when she steps into one of the principal roles of a Gianni Schicchi production staged by director Woody Allen.
Daisi, one of the most popular productions of the professional Georgian opera scene and a major piece by the country's celebrated 20th century composer Zakaria Paliashvili, on Wednesday celebrated its first performance in Italy, when the show was staged at Catania's Teatro Massimo Bellini to mark the international Music Festival.