Paata Burchuladze
About
Born in the Georgian capital Tbilisi, Paata Burchuladze began his vocal training with Olimpi Khelashvili. In 1986 he became a member of the Opera Company and was chosen to finish his studies with Giulietta Simionato and Edoardo Mueller at Milan’s Teatro alla Scala. Paata Burchuladze has won several competitions including the international vocal competition Voci Verdiane in Busseto (1981), the gold medal and first prize at the Tchaikovsky Competition in Moscow (1982), first prize at International Luciano Pavarotti Competition (1985) and First Prize in the Maria Callas Competition (1986).
His stunning Covent Garden debut was in the role of Ramfis in Verdi’s Aida (1984), with Luciano Pavarotti and Katia Ricciarelli with Zubin Metha conducting, and subsequent Covent Garden performances have included Rossini’s Il Barbiere di Siviglia (Basilio), Mussorgsky’s Boris Godunov, Borodin’s Prince Igor (Khonchak), Prokofiev’s The Fiery Angel, Tsar Dodon in Rimsky-Korsakov’s The Golden Cockerel and title role in Attila. Soon after his debut at Covent Garden, he made his debut at Teatro alla Scala.
A highlight of Paata’s career was working with Maestro Herbert von Karajan in opera and concert performances, including at the Salzburg Festival 1987 singing the role of Commendatore in Don Giovanni. In Salzburg he has also performed in the Verdi and Mozart Requiems both conducted by Karajan and returned to Salzburg in summer 2002 for a new production of Turandot with a new ending written by Berio and conducted by Valery Gergiev.
Paata performs regularly in concert with orchestra and in recital at the world’s leading music venues and festivals including La Scala, Musikverein and Konzerthaus Vienna, Salzburg Festival, Covent Garden, the Deutsche Oper Berlin, the Bavarian State Opera, Stuttgart State Opera, Tonhalle Zurich, La Monnaie in Brussels, La Bastille, and Salle Gaveau in Paris, Solothorn, the Palau in Barcelona, Sevilla, Warsaw and Moscow.
Recent engagements include Grand Inquisitor Don Carlo and Old Convict Lady Macbeth of Mtensk for the Royal Opera House, Titurel Parsifal at Liceu Barcelona, Crespel Hoffmann for Opera de Monte Carlo, Basilio in Il Barbiere di Siviglia and Zaccaria in Nabucco at the Metropolitan Opera, Konchak in Prince Igor at the Hamburg State Opera, Grand Inquisitor in Don Carlo at the Deutsche Oper Berlin, Sparafucile in Rigoletto and Boris Godunov at the Palau de les Arts in Valencia, Fiesco in Simon Boccanegra and Gala concerts with Placido Domingo at the Royal Opera House Covent Garden, Banco in Macbeth at the Deutsche Oper Berlin, Kotshubej in Mazeppa in Monte Carlo, and Commendatore in Don Giovanni and Ivan Khovansky in Khovanshchina for Paris Opera, as well as opera Gala concerts in the Kremlin Palace in Moscow and in Tblisi.