Zurab Andjaparidze, Tenor

Biography

The
name of the legendary Georgian tenor Zurab Andjaparidze (April 12, 1928 - April
12, 1997) has been etched in gold into the history of opera.  His great artistry embraced his native
Georgia, a land whose musical culture flourished with the help of his creative
energy.  However, there is little doubt
that for the artist himself as well as for the musical culture of the former
Soviet Union, his most illustrious, productive and important period of work
came during the time he spent at the Bolshoi Theater in Moscow.

A
native of Kutaisi and a graduate of the Tbilisi State Conservatory (where he
was taught by David Andguladze, a renowned vocal pedagogue and a one-time
leading tenor of the Tbilisi Opera), Andjaparidze came to conquer the Soviet
capital with a star-caliber professional potential: besides a magnificent
voice, charisma and solid vocal training, he also had the stage record of seven
seasons at the Tbilisi Opera Theater, where he performed a series of lead tenor
roles.  This was truly an impressive foundation
since the Tbilisi Opera was recognized as one of the Soviet Union's top five
theaters, with celebrated masters gracing its stage.

Arriving
at the Bolshoi in 1959, Andjaparidze remained the theater's number one tenor
until his departure in 1970.  His
exceptionally beautiful voice, striking stage presence and fiery temperament
all immediately propelled Andjaparidze through the top ranks and made him into
the sole and inimitable master of the tenor domain.  Bolshoi directors eagerly assigned him to the key repertoire
productions that would make vocalists' dreams - Carmen, Aida, Rigoletto, La
Traviata, Boris Godunov, Iolanthe. 
He also sang the lead roles in the most significant theater premiers of
the time, ones like Faust, Don Carlo and The Queen of Spades.  His constant partners on the Moscow stage
included such great Russian opera singers as Irina Arkhipova, Galina
Vishnevskaya, Tamara Milashkina, Pavel Lisitsian and Ivan Petrov, among others.  According to many contemporaries, he reached
the height of his Italian repertoire when performing Radames in Verdi's Aida
- never before or after Andjaparidze had anyone seen such a brilliant Radames
on the Moscow opera scene.  But
Andjaparidze's most lasting work during his Moscow period, one that won him international
acclaim, came in the role of Hermann in Tchaikovsky's The Queen of Spades.  A Bolshoi tour performance of this opera at
the La Scala in 1964, left one Italian newspaper to remark: "Zurab Andjaparidze
was a revelation for the Milanese public. 
This singer has a strong, sonorous and even voice that concedes nothing
to the most revered singers of the Italian opera stage."

Back
in Georgia, Andjaparidze performed a multifaceted repertoire at the Tbilisi
State Opera that included a large variety of Georgian operas - Abesalom and
Eteri, Daisi and Latavra by Paliashvili, Taktakishvili's Mindia,
Lagidze's Lela, and other works. 
He also created memorable characters of Othello and Canio that still
resonate on the Tbilisi Theater stage to this day.  The tenor once even served as the theater's director, although
according to his daughter, renowned pianist Eteri Andjaparidze, his heart was
never really into this work.  "He was
never too drawn to administrative assignments," she says.  "After all, all his subordinates were also
his friends, and he never felt comfortable 'directing' his friends."  Andjaparidze also did some teaching, first
as Professor at the Tbilisi Conservatory and then as Head of the Musical
Theater Department at the Tbilisi Theater Institute.

The
memory of the "Soviet Franco Corelli" (as he was once dubbed by the Italian
press) today lives on in the memories of his colleagues, enthusiastic admirers
of his great talent, and - perhaps few in number but remarkable in artistic
value - recordings of Russian, Italian and Georgian operas.