George Gagnidze will debut at the Teatro Massimo Bellini in Catania on October 29, 2024, with his signature role Rigoletto in the first cast of a new production by Leo Nucci and under the musical direction of Jordi Bernàcer. He will sing alongside Enkeleda Kamani as Gilda, Ivan Magrì as Duca di Mantova, Ramaz Chikviladze (Sparafucile), and Elena Belfiore (Maddalena). An additional performance will be on October 31.

Rigoletto is George Gagnidze’s most performed role, with over 110 performances under his belt in some of the most prestigious opera houses and festivals, such as Teatro alla Scala, Metropolitan Opera, LA Opera, Deutsche Oper Berlin, Hamburg Staatsoper, Dallas Opera, Atlanta Opera, Festival Verdi at the Teatro Regio Parma, Vienna Festwochen and Aix-en-Provence Festival: Next year, Opéra Bastille in Paris will join this impressive list.

The Georgian baritone made his Metropolitan Opera debut in 2009 with this opera, singing 25 performances in two productions so far (Otto Schenk and Michael Mayer.)

[Photo by Dario Acosta]