Anita

Winner of the 'Jahrespreis' 2018 - Preis der deutschen Schallplattenkritik.

Critic Michael Stegemann writes: "The recorded debut of the young Georgian mezzo soprano Anita Rachvelishvili (born 1984), is genuinely spectacular. Since her Carmen at La Scala, Milan, she has counted as one of the "shooting stars" of the international opera scene, celebrated in London and New York as much as in Paris, Munich or Berlin. The glowing intensity of her focused voice and her sure feeling for style bring Teresa Berganza or Marilyn Horne to mind, while the naturally dark timbre is reminiscent of Olga Borodina. Rachvelishvili has ever shade of expression at her disposal, from seduction (Carmen and Dalila) to fragility (Charlotte and Santuzza) and confidence (Eboli and Sapho). This recording is more than a promise of things to come – it's the confirmation of a great artist."

Featuring

Giacomo Sagripanti
Anita Rachvelishvili
Barbara Massaro
Orchestra Sinfonica Nazionale della RAI
Coro del Teatro Municipale di Piacenza
Georges Bizet

Camille Saint-Saëns
Giuseppe Verdi
Jules Massenet
Dmitri Arakishvili
Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov
Pietro Mascagni
Charles Gounod

Did you know?

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Performer Biography

Rachvelishvili comes from a musical family in Tbilisi, Georgia, with her mother being a ballerina and her father a bass player in a rock band.

Performer Biography

Anita Rachvelishvili, a Georgian mezzo-soprano, made her operatic debut at age 25 at La Scala, Milan, singing Carmen with Daniel Barenboim conducting and Jonas Kaufmann as Don José.

Composer's Artistic Vision

Dimitri Arakishvili, a Georgian composer, completed 'The Legend of Shota Rustaveli' in 1919, basing it on the folk legend of Tamar the Great, who ruled Georgia from 1184 to 1213 as an independent female king.

Performer Biography

Anita Rachvelishvili only discovered opera at age 17, when her first singing teacher sent her to see Don Giovanni at the Tbilisi State Opera.

Interpretation

For her debut as Carmen, Rachvelishvili studied the role completely afresh in France, avoiding traditional recordings to develop her own interpretation from the score.

Interpretation

Rachvelishvili aims to portray strong female characters in opera, such as Dalila and Azucena, as realistic, complex, and three-dimensional human beings, rather than stereotypes.