George Gagnidze

The success of Verdi’s third opera, a stirring drama about the fall of ancient Jerusalem at the hands of Nebuchadnezzar (Nabucco), catapulted the 28-year-old composer to international fame. The music and Verdi himself were subsumed into a surge of patriotic fervor culminating in the foundation of the modern nation of Italy. Specifically, the Chorus of the Hebrew Slaves ('Va, pensiero'), in which the Israelites express their longing for their homeland, came to stand for the country’s aspirations for unity and that exciting era in Italian history, the Risorgimento, or 'Resurgence'.

La production spectaculaire du Met de l’épopée égyptienne de Verdi capture à la fois la grandeur et l’intimité de cette puissante histoire d’amour et de politique. Liudmyla Monastyrska incarne Aida, la princesse éthiopienne devenue esclave amoureuse du guerrier égyptien Radamès, chantée par Roberto Alagna. Olga Borodina est sa rivale, Amneris, fille du Pharaon, et George Gagnidze chante le père d'Aïda, Amonasro, le roi d'Éthiopie. Le chef principal Fabio Luisi est sur le podium.

La nouvelle production du réalisateur David McVicar donne une nouvelle vie au programme double préféré de l'opéra, plaçant les deux opéras dans le même décor sicilien, séparés par deux générations. Marcelo Álvarez réalise le rare exploit de chanter les deux premiers rôles de ténor. Dans Cavalleria, il est Turiddu, le jeune homme qui abandonne Santuzza (Eva-Maria Westbroek) dans sa poursuite de Lola mariée (Ginger Costa-Jackson) - et finit par être tué en duel avec son mari, Alfio (George Gagnidze) . À Pagliacci, Álvarez est Canio, le chef d'une troupe itinérante de vaudeville. Patricia Racette chante Nedda, sa jeune épouse infidèle, dont les plans de fugue avec son amant sont déjoués par son admirateur éconduit Tonio (George Gagnidze) – avec des conséquences tout aussi tragiques. Le chef principal du Met Fabio Luisi est sur le podium.

Puccini’s musical thriller of lust, murder, and politics is one of the most dramatically riveting operas in the repertoire. Luc Bondy’s production, with sets by Richard Peduzzi and costumes by Academy Award-winning designer Milena Canonero, opened the Met’s 2009–10 season. Karita Mattila stars as the beautiful and dangerously impulsive singer Floria Tosca. Marcelo Álvarez is her lover, the painter Cavaradossi, a political enemy of the powerful chief of police, Scarpia (George Gagnidze), who wants Tosca for himself.

Luc Bondy’s dramatic production of Puccini’s operatic thriller stars Patricia Racette in the title role of the jealous diva, opposite Roberto Alagna as her lover, Cavaradossi, the painter whose political ideals lead them both into tragedy. George Gagnidze is Scarpia, the villainous chief of police who wants Tosca for himself. Riccardo Frizza leads the Met’s musical forces in this powerful verismo score.

Any performance of Giuseppe Verdi’s Aida at La Scala, Milan, is guaranteed to be an experience – but, when it’s a new production, it becomes a major event, especially given the theatre’s notoriously critical audience. Legendary stage director Peter Stein succeeds in delivering a lucid production acclaimed in equal measure by the press and public: “a perfect coup de théâtre” (Giornale della musica). A “stellar cast” (La Stampa) contributes to the production’s success under the musical direction of Verdi specialist Zubin Mehta, who leads the orchestra in a “gorgeously colourful performance”, while “the entire ensemble is brilliant in its portrayal of the characters” (Die Presse).

In celebration of Verdi's 200th birthday in 2013, the Festival d’Aix-en-Provence produced the composer's colorful masterpiece Rigoletto for the first time in its history. Verdi expert Gianandrea Noseda conducted the London Symphony Orchestra in a production that marked the return of the Canadian stage director Robert Carsen to the festival following a 17 year hiatus. Carsen sets his interpretation of this classic opera in the cutthroat world of the circus. Based on Victor Hugo's play Le roi s’amuse, Verdi's opera in three acts Rigoletto premiered in 1851. Similar to the play that inspired it, the opera faced censorship because of its controversial subject of libertinism at court. The opera’s tragic story revolves around the licentious Duke of Mantua, his hunchbacked court jester Rigoletto, and the jester’s beautiful daughter, Gilda.