Lado Ataneli - 30 Years on the World Opera Stages
By Mariam Chanishvili
Friday, Novrmber 1
Tbilisi Opera and Ballet Theater hosted the famous Georgian baritone Lado Ataneli's evening - "30 Years on World Opera Stages" on October 30.
The program included the fourth act from Giuseppe Verdi's opera "Rigoletto" and the first act from Opera Macbeth. Macbeth is an opera in four acts by Giuseppe Verdi, based on William Shakespeare's play of the same title. Written for the Teatro della Pergola in Florence, it was Verdi's tenth opera and premiered on 14 March 1847.
The event featured: Nino Surguladze, Marika Machitidze, Khatuna Chokhonelidze, Shalva Mukeria, Armaz Darashvili, Gocha Datusani, Irina Sherazadishvili, Filipe Ghachava, Tbilisi Opera and Ballet Theater Orchestra and the conductor Zaza Azmaiparashvili.
Lado Atanelli made his debut at the Tbilisi Opera and Ballet Theater in 1989 with Verdi’s "Ball-Masquerade" Scene and Aria of Renato.
Since 1996, the singer has been performing successfully on some of the world's largest opera scenes - New York, London, Paris, Berlin, Vienna, Milan, Zurich, Geneva, Washington, Tokyo, etc. Since then, he has regularly appeared in such roles as Scarpia, Sharpless, Tonio, Alfio, Gerard, Jago, Giorgio Germont, Jack Rance, Don Carlo Vargas, Renato, Simone Boccanegra, Amonasro, Rigoletto, Barnaba, Rodrigo, and Conte di Luna at the Vienna State Opera, the Deutsche Oper Berlin, the Hamburg State Opera and the Bavarian State Opera in Munich.
In 2009, Lado Ataneli founded the charity foundation Tanadgoma, which aims to help young talented vocalists and help them find the way for their international careers.
Since 2010 Lado Ataneli Vocalists Competition has been taking place. In 2011 Lado Ataneli was awarded the Shota Rustaveli State Prize and the Gold Medal. In the same year, he was recognized by the Georgian Writers' Union as a "Knight of Kindness." In 2012 he was awarded the Order of Excellence. In 2017 he was elected as an honorary citizen of Tbilisi. The same year, Lado Ataneli's star opened in front of the Tbilisi Opera and Ballet Theater.
In 2012 he gave the concert Canzone Napoletana with the "Tbilisi State Opera Symphony Orchestra," conducted by Gianluca Marciano in Tbilisi. Canzone Napoletana was also produced as a CD.
Lado Ataneli -"One of the healthiest, roundest, most mellifluous voices on the planet" (L.A. Times, October 2002) -is one of the world's most sought-after interpreters of Verdi, Puccini and Verismo roles.
