Anita Rachvelishvili facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Anita Rachvelishvili ანიტა რაჭველიშვილი
Rachvelishvili in 2019
Background information
Born	(1984-06-28) 28 June 1984 (age 41) Tbilisi, Georgia
Genres	Classical music, Jazz, Crossover music
Occupation(s)	Mezzo-soprano

Anita Rachvelishvili (pronounced ra-tch-veli-shvili) is a famous opera singer from Georgia. She was born in Tbilisi in 1984. She is known for her powerful voice, which is called a mezzo-soprano in opera.

Many people think she is one of the best opera singers in the world. A famous conductor named Riccardo Muti said in 2018 that she was "without doubt the best Verdi mezzo-soprano today on the planet." She is especially famous for playing the main character in the opera Carmen.

Anita Rachvelishvili has a strong stage presence. People describe her as having "dark, smoldering eyes and cascading black curls." She seems to draw power from within herself when she performs. Early in her career, she became the youngest singer ever to open a season at La Scala, a very famous opera house in Italy.

Early Life and Music

Anita Rachvelishvili grew up in Tbilisi, Georgia. Her family was very musical. Her mother was a folk dancer and ballet dancer, and her father was a composer and bass guitarist. Both of her parents also sang.

Growing up was tough for Anita. After the breakup of the Soviet Union, there were civil wars in Georgia. She remembers times with "no electricity, no water, no food, nothing." Despite these challenges, she learned to speak Georgian, English, and several other languages.

As a young girl, Anita studied piano. She also enjoyed listening to rock bands like Led Zeppelin and Pink Floyd. Later, she loved singing popular music by artists like Whitney Houston and Mariah Carey. Her friends and family noticed her amazing voice and encouraged her to try opera. She started studying opera singing when she was 16 years old.

Training and Career

Anita Rachvelishvili passed her audition and began training at the Tbilisi State Conservatoire. She studied singing with Manana Egadze. The president of Georgia, Mikheil Saakashvili, even helped her financially with a special payment.

While still a student, she performed for the first time at the Georgian National Opera Theater. She played the role of Maddalena in the opera Rigoletto. In 2007, she won the Paata Burchuladze Prize.

After her studies in Georgia, she went to the young singers’ academy at the Teatro alla Scala in Milan, Italy. Her family had to go into debt to help her get this amazing opportunity. Her big break came when Daniel Barenboim, the music director of La Scala at the time, chose her. He picked her to sing the main role in a new show of Carmen.

This performance of Carmen in 2009 was shown on TV all over the world. It made Anita Rachvelishvili famous internationally. She said it was "unbelievable and a fabulous challenge for me, something which changed a lot in my life."

Because of her powerful voice and strong stage presence, many opera houses wanted her to play Carmen. She has performed this role at famous places like The Royal Opera in London, the Canadian Opera Company, and the Metropolitan Opera in New York.

Anita is very respected in her home country. A Georgian newspaper called The Financial said she might be "the best Bizet’s Carmen ever." She often performs charity concerts on Georgian television. Sometimes she even sings jazz or folk songs. She cares deeply about Georgia and wants to see her country do well.

She has also played other important roles in operas. These include Orfeo in Orfeo ed Euridice, Dalila in Samson and Delilah, and Amneris in Aida. In 2018, her performance as Amneris at the Metropolitan Opera was highly praised. A New York Times review called her singing "stupendous."

Recorded Music

Anita Rachvelishvili has appeared in DVDs of operas like Orfeo ed Euridice and Prince Igor. You can also watch her performances of Carmen, Aida, and Adriana Lecouvreur online. She also sang on an album by an Italian rock band called Profusion.

Albums

See also

In Spanish: Anita Rachvelishvili para niños