Lauded by the New York Times for his "expressive, resonant baritone", "insightful phrasing" and "confident, imposing presence", George Gagnidze ranks among the leading singers of his genre.
In the 2008/09 season, the dramatic baritone made his sensational debut at the Metropolitan Opera as Rigoletto and has since then returned in almost 150 performances, singing roles such as Nabucco, Macbeth, Amonasro (Aida), Scarpia (Tosca), Michele (Il tabarro), Tonio (Pagliacci), Alfio (Cavalleria rusticana) and Shaklovity (Hovanščina).
Regularly invited by the most prestigious international opera companies, George Gagnidze’s 2024/25 season includes a return to the Metropolitan Opera, where he portrays his “exceptionally menacing Scarpia” (The New York Times), the Staatsoper Hamburg as Miller in Luisa Miller, and the Opéra National of Paris in the title role of Rigoletto. He also makes his house debuts at the Teatro Massimo Bellini of Catania as Rigoletto and at the Washington Concert Opera debut as Miller. At the Oper im Steinbruch Festival, he reprises the title role of The Flying Dutchman in a new production.
George kicked off his 2023/24 season in the title role of Nabucco at the Metropolitan Opera in the Fall, followed by his house debut at the Atlanta Opera in the title role of Rigoletto. He subsequently returned to the MET for their winter run of Nabucco, including a Live in HD broadcast. Other engagements featured star turns at the Las Palmas Opera as Scarpia, in Bologna for his Teatro Comunale debut in a new production of Macbeth, and at the Staatsoper Unter den Linden in Berlin as Shaklovity in a new staging of Hovanščina. With the Kaunas City Symphony Orchestra, he sang a gala concert featuring arias by Verdi, Puccini and Giordano and at the Festival Ópera Benicàssim he appeared in Recital.
In the 2022/23 season, George Gagnidze made his debut at the Dallas Opera in the title role of Rigoletto, a part he also performed at the Staatsoper Hamburg. He returned to the Metropolitan Opera as Scarpia and Amonasro, to the Gran Teatre del Liceu of Barcelona as Scarpia, to the Teatro San Carlo of Naples in the title role of Macbeth and to the Staatsoper Unter den Linden in Berlin for his role debut as Grand-Prêtre de Dagon in Samson et Dalila.
Other past highlights are Rigoletto, La traviata (Germont), Tosca and Aida at the Teatro alla Scala; Nabucco and Tosca at the Vienna State Opera; Otello (Iago), La traviata, Tosca, Francesca da Rimini and Aida at Opéra National of Paris; Simon Boccanegra (title role), Nabucco, Tosca and Aida at the Teatro Real Madrid; Andrea Chénier (Carlo Gérard) and Aida at the San Francisco Opera; La traviata at the Royal Opera House Covent Garden; La traviata, Cavalleria rusticana and Pagliacci at the Gran Teatre del Liceu; Rigoletto, Aida and Pagliacci at the Los Angeles Opera; Tosca and Aida at the Staatsoper Berlin; Nabucco, Rigoletto, Otello, La traviata, La Gioconda (Barnaba), Andrea Chénier and Tosca at the Deutsche Oper Berlin; Nabucco and Luisa Miller at the Palau de les Arts Reina Sofia in Valencia; Nabucco and La traviata at the Arena of Verona; Macbeth, Tosca and La traviata at the Teatro San Carlo; Rigoletto at the Festival of Aix-en-Provence; Hovanščina at the BBC Proms in London and Otello at the Washington National Opera, the Hollywood Bowl with the Los Angeles Philharmonic, the Greek National Opera of Athens and the Staatsoper Hamburg, where he has also sung Nabucco, Cavalleria rusticana and Pagliacci.
Born in Tbilisi and trained at the State Conservatory of his home town, George Gagnidze debuted as Renato in Un ballo in maschera in 1996 at the Paliashvili State Opera. He entered the “Concorso Voci Verdiane” in 2005 as an award-winner of the “Leyla Gencer Voice Competition” and the “Elena Obraztsova Competition”. The jury, chaired by José Carreras and Katia Ricciarelli, awarded him first prize for his outstanding vocal interpretation. After launching his international career from Germany, he was soon engaged by many of the world’s important opera houses.
In the course of his career, George Gagnidze has worked with many renowned conductors and directors, including Daniel Barenboim, Semyon Bychkov, James Conlon, Plácido Domingo, Gustavo Dudamel, Mikko Franck, James Levine, Jesús López Cobos, Fabio Luisi, Nicola Luisotti, Lorin Maazel, Michele Mariotti, Zubin Mehta, Yannick Nézet-Séguin, Gianandrea Noseda, Daniel Oren, Kirill Petrenko, Yuri Temirkanov and Juraj Valčuha, Simone Young; Luc Bondy, Henning Brockhaus, Liliana Cavani, Robert Carsen, Giancarlo Del Monaco, Claus Guth, Michael Mayer, David McVicar, Peter Stein, Robert Sturua and Francesca Zambello.
In September 2021, the star baritone presented his first solo album on the Orfeo label featuring arias by Leoncavallo, Giordano, Verdi, Wagner and Mozart, which was immediately nominated for the prestigious 2022 International Classical Music Awards in the Vocal Music category. His DVD/Blu-Ray recordings include Tosca from the Metropolitan Opera, Aida from La Scala and Nabucco from the Arena of Verona.
October 2024
