Nino Machaidze

Nino Machaidze (Georgian: ნინო მაჩაიძე; born 8 March 1983) is a Georgian operatic soprano.^[1] She performs in 19th-century Romantic repertoire, primarily in operas by Rossini and Verdi as well as French operas. Beginning her career at La Scala, she gained international attention after being cast as Juliette in Gounod's Roméo et Juliette at the 2008 Salzburg Festival, after which she earned the nickname "Angelina Jolie of Opera" from the Austrian press.^[2][3]

Nino Machaidze
ნინო მაჩაიძე
Machaidze at the curtain call of La fille du régiment, Metropolitan Opera, 24 December 2011
Born	(1983-03-08) 8 March 1983 (age 40) Tbilisi, Georgian SSR
Occupation	Operatic soprano
Years active	2007–present
Spouse	Guido Loconsolo ​ (m. 2011)​
Website	Nino Machaidze on Facebook

Early life

Nino Machaidze was born to a Georgian language teacher mother and an economist father and raised in Tbilisi. At the age of six she began piano and vocal lessons at a school affiliated with the Tbilisi State Conservatoire, which she later also attended. At 17, she also attended flute lessons, hoping to strengthen the diaphragm. Between 2000 and 2005, she had role engagements as Zerlina in Don Giovanni, Gilda in Rigoletto, Rosina in The Barber of Seville, and Norina in Don Pasquale at the Georgian National Opera Theater.^[4]

In 2005, she was among the 9 applicants accepted into the Accademia del Teatro alla Scala after an intense competition. At the academy, she studied with Luciana Serra, Leyla Gencer, and Luigi Alva and also attended masterclasses of Renato Bruson and Mirella Freni.^[5] In 2006 she debuted at the theater as Najade in Ariadne auf Naxos^[6] and won first prize in the Leyla Gencer Voice Competition in Istanbul.^[7]

Career

Early career (2007–2013)

Machaidze proceeded to perform several roles in sequential seasons at La Scala: Silvia in Ascanio in Alba, Marie in La fille du régiment, Despina in Così fan tutte, Lauretta in Gianni Schicchi, and Musetta in La bohème.^[8] She returned in 2010 for L'elisir d'amore and 2011 for Roméo et Juliette.^[9] She also made guest appearances at the Teatro dell'Opera di Roma (Marie),^[10] the Teatro Carlo Felice (Amina in La sonnambula),^[11] and the Teatro Regio di Parma (Gilda in Rigoletto).^[12]

Spotted by artistic director Jürgen Flimm as Lauretta led her to play Juliette in the new Salzburg Festival production of Gounod's Roméo et Juliette in 2008 opposite Rolando Villazón when Anna Netrebko dropped out due to pregnancy.^[13][14] The performance turned out to be successful, therefore propelled her to international fame.^[15][16] She then sang the role at the Concertgebouw.^[17] She would return to Salzburg in 2010 for the same opera, sharing Juliette with Netrebko, and in 2012 for La bohème (Musetta) with Netrebko as Mimì.^[18] In 2009, she was cast as Elvira in I puritani opposite Juan Diego Flórez at the Teatro Comunale di Bologna,^[19] before repeating Juliette at La Fenice.^[20] She sang Lucia in Lucia di Lammermoor first at La Monnaie,^[21] and later in Salerno and Valencia.^[22]

Machaidze was cast as Donna Fiorilla in a new production of Il turco in Italia at the Theater an der Wien in July 2009.^[23] Later in the year, she made her Los Angeles Opera debut with Adina (L'elisir d'amore),^[24] and subsequently made her Bavarian State Opera debut in the same role, premiering David Bösch's production.^[25] In 2010, she made her Liceu debut in La fille du régiment,^[26] and Royal Opera, London debut with Juliette.^[27] The year 2011 saw her Metropolitan Opera performances: Rigoletto in January and May,^[28] and La fille du régiment in December.^[29] She returned to Los Angeles for Fiorilla and, later in the year, for Juliette, which she also sang at the Verona Arena and BOZAR.^[30][31]

In September 2011, she made her Hamburg State Opera debut singing Gilda and Lucia.^[32] In 2012, she sang Gilda at the Paris Opera and Teatro Pérez Galdós in Las Palmas.^[33] In 2013, she returned to the Teatro Carlo Felice (Gilda) and Liceu (Fiorilla),^[34][35] and made her Teatro Real debut with L'elisir d'amore,^[36] in which she later made her Vienna State Opera debut in Otto Schenk's production.^[37] During the years, she added two French roles: Leïla in Les pêcheurs de perles (Teatro Filarmonico in Verona),^[38] a role she repeated at the Salle Pleyel in Paris,^[39] and the title role in Thaïs, alongside Plácido Domingo (Teatro de la Maestranza).^[40] They would unite in concert performances of the same opera at the Liceu in 2017.^[41]

Mid-career (2014–present)

Machaidze returned to the Los Angeles Opera for Thaïs in May 2014 and her first Violetta in La traviata, which opened the 2014/15 season.^[42] She would sing her first Mimì in La bohème in 2015/16 and Leïla in 2017/18.^[43][44] The season also saw her return to Hamburg for the premiere of Andreas Homoki's new Luisa Miller, her debut in the title role, and La traviata.^[45] The Luisa production would later revive in 2016 and 2018 with her.^[46] In 2015, she made several role debuts after singing Fiorilla in Turin:^[47] Contessa di Folleville in Il viaggio a Reims (Dutch National Opera), Micaëla in Carmen (La Scala), Ninetta in La gazza ladra (Rossini Opera Festival), and Inès in L'Africaine (Deutsche Oper Berlin),^[48][49] followed by Gilda in Toulouse.^[50]

She sang her first Desdemona in Rossini's Otello in February 2016 in Damiano Michieletto's new production at the Theater an der Wien.^[51] She returned to the Verona Arena for Violetta,^[52] before heading to the Royal Opera House Muscat for Roméo et Juliette with the Opéra de Monte-Carlo.^[53] She then made Teatro di San Carlo and the Grand Théâtre de Genève debuts respectively with Desdemona and Mimì.^[54][55] In 2017, after stepping in as Fiorilla at the Bergen National Opera,^[56] she repeated Folleville at the Royal Danish Theatre, and made her San Francisco Opera debut with her last Gilda.^[57] She returned to the Rossini Opera Festival for Pamira in Le siège de Corinthe.^[58] She made her first appearance in Korea in La traviata, and returned in the same season for Mimì at the Seoul Arts Center.^[59][60]

Machaidze added two new roles in 2018: Mathilde in William Tell (Teatro Massimo in Palermo), and Nedda in Pagliacci in Geneva.^[61][62] She made her Zürich Opera House debut with Luisa Miller,^[63] during which she briefly returned to Georgia to sing the national anthem "Tavisupleba" on the parade for the centenary of the Democratic Republic of Georgia.^[64] She returned to Naples for Violetta,^[65] and in the next season for her first Antonia in The Tales of Hoffmann. She sang at the Badisches Staatstheater Karlsruhe (Juliette, June 2018; Antonia, December 2019).^[66] Later in the year, she reprised Rosina in The Barber of Seville, in Verona and Amsterdam.^[67] In 2019, she was a guest performer at the Semperopernball.^[68] She debuted in the title role in Manon at the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées and Vienna State Opera. She was rejoined by Domingo in concert performances of Luisa Miller at the Salzburg Festival. Despite announcing withdrawal from La traviata in Paris claiming medical treatment, she stepped into Otello at the Oper Frankfurt, in the Michieletto production she premiered.^[69]

In 2020, she performed Mimì at the New National Theatre Tokyo.

Personal life

Machaidze has been residing in Milan, Italy since 2005.^[16] She married baritone Guido Loconsolo on 26 September 2011. They have two children: Alessandro (born 9 August 2013), and Elena (born 18 January 2021).^[70] She enjoys swimming but not jogging.^[4] She is active on social media and has over 100,000 followers on Facebook.^[71]

Awards

Machaidze was awarded the Best Female Opera Singer in the Premios Líricos Teatro Campoamor in Oviedo for the 2012/13 season, for her performances in Il turco in Italia (Liceu) and Thaïs (Teatro de la Maestranza).^[72]

Opera roles

• Zerlina, Don Giovanni (Mozart)
• Norina, Don Pasquale (Donizetti)
• Rosina, Il barbiere di Siviglia (Rossini)
• Gilda, Rigoletto (Verdi)
• Naiad, Ariadne auf Naxos (Strauss)
• Silvia, Ascanio in Alba (Mozart)
• Marie, La fille du régiment (Donizetti)
• Despina, Così fan tutte (Mozart)
• Lauretta, Gianni Schicchi (Puccini)
• Amina, La sonnambula (Bellini)
• Musetta, La bohème (Puccini)
• Juliette, Roméo et Juliette (Gounod)
• Elvira, I puritani (Bellini)
• Lucia, Lucia di Lammermoor (Donizetti)
• Fiorilla, Il turco in Italia (Rossini)
• Adina, L'elisir d'amore (Donizetti)
• Olga Sukarev, Fedora (Giordano)
• Leïla, Les pêcheurs de perles (Bizet)
• Thaïs, Thaïs (Massenet)
• Violetta, La traviata (Verdi)
• Luisa, Luisa Miller (Verdi)
• Folleville, Il viaggio a Reims (Rossini)
• Micaëla, Carmen (Bizet)
• Ninetta, La gazza ladra (Rossini)
• Inès, L'Africaine (Meyerbeer)
• Desdemona, Otello (Rossini)
• Mimì, La bohème (Puccini)
• Pamira, Le siège de Corinthe (Rossini)
• Mathilde, Guillaume Tell (Rossini)
• Nedda, Pagliacci (Leoncavallo)
• Antonia, Les contes d'Hoffmann (Offenbach)
• Manon, Manon (Massenet)
• Giselda, I Lombardi alla prima crociata (Verdi)
• Daria, Viva la Mamma (Donizetti)
• Armida, Armida (Rossini)

Recordings

Machaidze has been a Sony artist since January 2011.^[73]

CDs

• Giordano: Fedora (as Olga Sukarev; 2010). Angela Gheorghiu, Plácido Domingo. La Monnaie Orchestra and Chorus, Alberto Veronesi (Deutsche Grammophon)
• Romantic Arias – Rossini, Donizetti, Massenet, Bellini, Gounod (2011). Teatro Comunale di Bologna Orchestra, Michele Mariotti (Sony)
• Arias & Scenes (2013). Orchestre National de France, Daniele Gatti (Sony)

DVDs

• Puccini: Il trittico (as Lauretta; 2008). Riccardo Chailly, La Scala (Hardy Classic)
• Gounod: Roméo et Juliette (as Juliette; 2008). Rolando Villazón. Yannick Nézet-Séguin, Salzburg Festival (Deutsche Grammophon)
• Verdi: Rigoletto (as Gilda; 2008). Leo Nucci. Massimo Zanetti, Teatro Regio di Parma (Unitel Classica)
• Bellini: I puritani (as Elvira; 2009). Juan Diego Flórez. Michele Mariotti, Teatro Comunale di Bologna (Decca)
• Gounod: Roméo et Juliette (as Juliette; 2011). Stefano Secco. Fabio Mastrangelo, Arena di Verona (BelAir Classiques)
• Puccini: La bohème (as Musetta; 2012). Anna Netrebko. Daniele Gatti, Salzburg Festival (Deutsche Grammophon; Unitel Classica)

References

1. "Georgia's Rising Star, Soprano Nino Machaidze". Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty. 16 January 2010. Retrieved 11 January 2018.
2. ""Angelina Jolie der Oper"". Österreich (in German). 2 April 2008.
3. Spiegler, Almuth (27 July 2008). "Salzburger Festspiele: Chemische Liebe und die Angelina Jolie der Oper" [Salzburg Festival: Chemical Love and the Angelina Jolie of the Opera]. Die Presse.
4. "Das ist bei mir Natur" [This is Nature for Me]. Cluverius.com (in German). 17 August 2009.
5. Lodola, Francesco (6 July 2016). "Intervista a Nino Machaidze". Ieri, Oggi, Domani, Opera! (in Italian).
6. Malasoma, Ugo (6 June 2006). "Milano - Teatro alla Scala: Ariadne auf Naxos". OperaClick (in Italian).
7. "4th Leyla Gencer Voice Competition Winners". Leylagencer.org. Retrieved 12 May 2019.
8. ""Julia" Nino Machaidze gilt als neue Netrebko". Österreich (in German). 4 August 2008.
9. Franini, Piera Anna (3 October 2010). "Un "Elisir" che si gusta sempre volentieri Ma Villazon e Machaidze non soddisfano". Il Giornale. Gavazzeni, Giovanni (8 June 2011). ""Roméo et Juliette" convince tutti". Il Giornale.
10. Gagua, Irakli (5 March 2012). . Stream Press. Archived from the original on 28 March 2019.
11. Cascini, Etta (29 April 2008). "SONNAMBULA (LA) - regia Patrick Mailler". Sipario (in Italian).
12. "Festival Verdi a Parma: Rigoletto, debutta Nino Machaidze". Il Corriere della Grisi (Review) (in Italian). 17 October 2008.
13. "Machaidze ersetzt Netrebko bei Salzburger Festspielen" [Machaidze replaces Netrebko at the Salzburg Festival]. Der Standard. 18 March 2008.
14. Taylor, James C. (1 November 2011). "Nino Machaidze is not nervous about 'Romeo and Juliet'". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 11 January 2018.
15. Spahn, Claus (7 August 2008). "Musiktheater: In Blitzlichtgewittern". Die Zeit.
16. Smith, Sam (1 October 2010). "Features: Nino Machaidze". musicOMH. Retrieved 11 January 2018.
17. van der Lint, Peter (11 November 2008). "Invallende Romeo en Julia pakken Matineepubliek in". Trouw (in Dutch).
18. "Salzburger Festspiele: Bravos für Netrebko als Julia". Die Presse. APA. 11 August 2010. Zerbinetta (8 August 2012). "La bohème in Salzburg with Netrebko and a tenor surprise". Bachtrack.
19. Barbieri, Guido (12 January 2009). "L'ambiguità risolta dei Puritani di Bellini". la Repubblica.
20. Cammarano, Alessandro (19 February 2009). "Venezia - Teatro La Fenice: Roméo et Juliette". OperaClick.
21. Ponthir, Philippe (18 April 2009). "Lucia di Lammermoor - Bruxelles (La Monnaie)". Forumopera.com.
22. Tredicine, Bruno (15 May 2009). "Salerno - Teatro Verdi: Lucia di Lammermoor". OperaClick. Labastida, Mikel (23 January 2010). "Una 'prime donne' pone voz a Lucia". Las Provincias.
23. Troger, Dominik (2 July 2009). "Il Turco in Italia". Operainwien.at (in German).
24. Moran, Rita (18 September 2009). "L.A. Opera delivers despite losing two key stars to injuries". Ventura County Star.
25. Thiel, Markus (2 December 2009). "Premiere an der Bayerischen Staatsoper: David Bösch inszenierte Donizettis "Liebestrank"". Münchner Merkur. Irurzun, José M (21 July 2010). "Münchner Opernfestspiele 2010 - Donizetti, L'Elisir d'Amore". Seen and Heard International.
26. "'La fille du régiment' vuelve al Liceu ambientada en la I Guerra Mundial". La Vanguardia. EFE. 5 March 2010.
27. Christiansen, Rupert (28 October 2010). "Romeo et Juliette, Royal Opera House, review". The Telegraph.
28. "Verdi's RIGOLETTO Returns to the Met". BroadwayWorld. 29 September 2010. Tommasini, Anthony (27 April 2011). "'Rigoletto' at the Met conducted by Fabio Luisi - Review". The New York Times.
29. Woolfe, Zachary (13 December 2011). "Donizetti's 'Fille du Régiment' at the Met - Review". The New York Times.
30. Swed, Mark (20 February 2011). "Opera review: 'The Turk in Italy' by Los Angeles Opera". Los Angeles Times. Gregson, David (7 November 2011). "Vittorio Grigolo and Nino Machaidze in Sensational Los Angeles "Roméo et Juliette"". Opera West.
31. Aquaro, Peppe (19 August 2011). "Arena, Roméo et Juliette: storia d'amore e di ragazzi". Corriere della Sera. Blanmont, Nicolas (13 March 2013). "Juliette au balcon de Bozar". La Libre.
32. "Nino Machaidze gibt Debüt an der Staatsoper". lifePR.de (in German). 1 September 2011.
33. Brunetto, Antoine (27 January 2012). "Rigoletto - Paris (Bastille)". Forumopera.com. Corral, Sergio (23 May 2012). "Fiat Lux". Mundoclasico.com.
34. Badino, Ilaria (5 March 2013). "Rigoletto al Carlo Felice". il Corriere Musicale.
35. "'Il turco in Italia' de Rossini s'estrena al Gran Teatre del Liceu". Revista Musical Catalana. 16 May 2013.
36. Álvarez, Ylenia (1 December 2013). "'L'elisir d'amore', en una playa mediterránea". HoyEsArte.
37. Wagner, Renate (4 March 2014). "WIEN / Staatsoper: L'ELISIR D'AMORE". Online Merker.
38. Bagnoli, Giorgio (13 April 2011). "Verona, Teatro Filarmonico: "Les pêcheurs de perles"". GBOpera.
39. Peter, Christian (17 February 2013). "Les Pêcheurs de perles - Paris (Pleyel)". Forumopera.com.
40. "Plácido Domingo abre con 'Thaïs' la temporada operística del Maestranza". El País. 24 October 2012.
41. Cia, Blanca (27 February 2017). "Plácido Domingo: "Seguiré cantando hasta que Dios me dé voz"". El País.
42. Ward, Steven (12 May 2014). "Nino Machiadze Talks Opera for Upcoming "Thaïs"". Living Out Loud LA. Byrd, Craig (11 September 2014). "Curtain Call: When it Comes to La Traviata, the Waiting Was the Hardest Part for Nino Machaidze". Los Angeles Magazine.
43. Ginell, Richard S. (15 May 2016). "L.A. Opera delivers some Parisian déjà vu in 'La Bohème'". Los Angeles Times.
44. Vittes, Laurence (8 October 2017). "Fishing for pearls: LA Opera's second attempt at Bizet proves a charmer". Bachtrack.
45. Forsthoff, Christoph (18 November 2014). "Tödliche Regie". Concerti.de. "Diese Konzerte in Hamburg sollten Sie nicht verpassen". Hamburger Abendblatt. 28 January 2015.
46. "Verdi's "Luisa Miller" wieder ab 22.9 in der Staatsoper Hamburg zu erleben". Das Opernmagazin. 12 September 2018.
47. Pelligra, Edoardo (14 March 2015). "Rossini's Il turco in Italia: the strife of a poet pining for inspiration". Bachtrack.
48. Korenhof, Paul (May 2015). "Amsterdam: Il Viaggio a Reims". Opera News. Vol. 79, no. 11. "Milano - Teatro alla Scala: Torna Carmen con Anita Rachvelishvili e Francesco Meli". OperaClick. 3 June 2015.
49. "La Gazza Ladra (8/19/15), La Gazzetta (8/20/15),..." Opera News. Vol. 80, no. 5. November 2015. Pullinger, Mark (5 October 2015). "Paradise regained: Vasco da Gama sets sail in style at Deutsche Oper". Bachtrack.
50. Salle, Maurice (17 November 2015). "Rigoletto - Toulouse - Critique". Forumopera.com.
51. "Otello-Premiere: Familienaufstellung mit Fremden". Kurier. 21 February 2016.
52. Petrosino, Raffaella (6 July 2016). "Arena di Verona Opera Festival 2016: "La traviata"". GBOpera.
53. Verany, Cedric (16 September 2016). "L'opéra de Monte-Carlo ouvre sa saison à Oman". Monaco-Matin.
54. Fiorito, Lorenzo (5 December 2016). "Rossini's Otello returns to its birthplace in Naples". Bachtrack.
55. Joly, Sandra (14 December 2016). "Le grand amour bohème de Giacomo Puccini". GHI.
56. "Nino Machaidze steps in for ill artist to rescue Norwegian opera show". Agenda.ge. 30 March 2017.
57. Machaidze, Nino (2 July 2017). "I made my debut in this Part when I was only 17..." (Facebook post).
58. Salazar, Francisco (7 August 2017). "Artist Of The Week: Nino Machaidze Brings Vocal Beauty To Rossini's 'The Siege Of Corinth'". OperaWire.
59. "BMW 그룹 코리아, 고객 대상 송년 오페라 '라 트라비아타' 공연" [BMW Group Korea to perform 'La Traviata', the year-end opera for customers]. BMW Group Korea. 8 December 2017.
60. "파르마 왕립극장 프로덕션, 수지오페라단 오페라 <라보엠>" [Parma Royal Theater Production, Sugi Opera 'La bohème']. Seoul Culture Today (in Korean). 24 May 2018.
61. Imam, James (25 January 2018). "Damiano Michieletto's controversial Guillaume Tell resurfaces in Palermo". Bachtrack.
62. Schmitt, Jacques (22 March 2018). "À Genève, le triomphant vérisme à l'italienne". ResMusica.
63. Sannemann, Kaspar (15 April 2018). "Zürich: LUISA MILLER, 15.04.2018". Oper Aktuell.
64. "Nino Machaidze performs national anthem". 1TV. 26 May 2018.
65. "Tradition thrives in the new Naples Traviata". Classicagenda. 4 June 2018.
66. "HOFFMANNS ERZÄHLUNGEN". Staatstheater Karlsruhe. Retrieved 19 June 2021.
67. ""Il Barbiere di Siviglia" al debutto in Arena per il festival lirico". VeronaSera. 2 August 2018. Venkataraman, Santosh (25 November 2018). "Dutch National Opera 2018-19 Review: Il Barbiere Di Siviglia". OperaWire.
68. "Semperopernball 2019: Sylvie Meis übernimmt wieder die Moderation". Dresdner Neueste Nachrichten. 3 July 2018.
69. "Oper Frankfurt zeigt Rossinis "Otello"". Musik Heute. 8 September 2019.
70. Maxime Pierre (22 January 2021). "Carnet rose : Nino Machaidze est maman pour la deuxième fois !". Forumopera.com.
71. Simeonov, Jenna (28 May 2017). "Talking with singers: Nino Machaidze". Schmopera.
72. "Concedidos en Oviedo los premios Campoamor". ABC. EFE. 1 December 2013.
73. Inverne, James (14 January 2011). "Soprano Nino Machaidze signs for Sony". Gramophone.

External links

• archived on 2012-08-22
• Nino Machaidze at IMDb
• Nino Machaidze at Zemsky Green Artists Management
• Nino Machaidze at Opéra National de Paris