Anita Rachvelishvili’s ‘Il Trovatore’ named among NY Times’ Best Performances of 2018
Anita Rachvelishvili photographed in an ‘Il Trovatore’ performance at the Metropolitan Opera in January. Photo: Karen Almond/Metropolitan Opera.
Tweet 
Share
Georgia’s award-winning opera singer Anita Rachvelishvili has been named among The New York Times’ top performers of the past year for her “overwhelming” appearance in Il Trovatore at the beginning of 2018.
It was Rachvelishvili’s performance in the Verdi classic at New York’s Metropolitan Opera that earned the mezzo-soprano her spot among singers, shows and festivals that the newspaper picked as the finest of stage art.
This young Georgian mezzo-soprano had been daringly grim in Carmen and sensuous in Prince Igor in recent seasons at the Metropolitan Opera, but I was still unprepared for her overwhelming portrayal of Azucena in Verdi’s Il Trovatore in January, sung with bel canto elegance and startling authority”, critic Zachary Woolfe noted.
The performer’s reintroduction of “warmth, fear and eloquence” to the role was pivotal for Woolfe to pick Rachvelishvili for the honours.
The singer’s selection in the list of top performances comes in the year in which Rachvelishvili unveiled her debut album and was named a winner of the German Record Critics' Award for her recording of arias by opera composers.
She also enjoyed a major year in 2017, claiming the Best Female Singer Award in a poll from opera review website Bachtrack and being nominated for the International Opera Awards.
The Georgian singer rose to international fame with her 2009 title role performance of Carmen at Milan’s Teatro alla Scala.
She also received critical acclaim from Huffington Post for her 2014 appearance in the same opera at New York’s Metropolitan Opera.
The mezzo-soprano has also performed in productions staged at other prominent international venues including Staatsoper Berlin and San Francisco Opera.
Georgia’s widely acclaimed mezzo-soprano Anita Rachvelishvili has been singled out by judges of the German Record Critics' Award for her recording of opera arias of famed composers.
Georgian mezzo-soprano Anita Rachvelishvili will debut at the Vienna State Opera as part of a line-up for the Verdi classic Aida at sold-out shows starting next week.
Georgia’s internationally recognised opera star Anita Rachvelishvili will release her debut album on Sony Classical, with the prominent label announcing an exclusive deal with the singer.
Georgian opera star Anita Rachvelishvili has earned her newest international prize after winning the Best Female Singer Award poll from a leading opera review website Bachtrack on Friday.
Georgia’s internationally recognised mezzo-soprano Anita Rachvelishvili has drawn praise from classical music critics for her “show-stopping” debut in Adriana Lecouvreur at New York’s Metropolitan Opera House.
Georgian opera star Anita Rachvelishvili will be a principal performer in the first new production of Samson et Dalila at New York’s famed Metropolitan Opera in two decades, when she steps on the stage this week.
Mezzo-soprano Anita Rachvelishvili has received critical acclaim as the “Carmen of the moment” for her part in the ongoing Opera National de Paris bill of the Bizet classic.
Georgian opera star Anita Rachvelishvili’s Metropolitan Opera appearances during the ongoing season have been named in a top 10 of roles performed at the famed venue by OperaWire website.
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".