Georgian opera singer Khibla Gerzmava. Khibla Gerzmava: personal life

Khibla Levarsovna Gerzmava (born January 6, 1970, Pitsunda) is a Russian opera singer (soprano) of Abkhaz origin. Soloist since 1995

People's Artist of Russia (2012). People's Artist of Abkhazia (2006).

Gerzmava gained worldwide fame from performances at the London Royal Opera House, Paris and other major stage venues.

In 2001, she organized the annual music festival “Khibla Gerzmava invites...” in Abkhazia. The host of the festival for many years was musicologist Svyatoslav Belza. In 2014, the festival moved to Moscow.

On February 23, 2014, she took part in the Closing Ceremony of the Winter Olympic Games in Sochi: she performed the Olympic Waltz, moving through the ocean of air in the ship “Herald of Spring”.

She has repeatedly performed at concerts in front of official delegations and distinguished guests in the Kremlin at the personal invitation of Vladimir Putin.

On January 20, 2015, a presentation of the CDs “Vocal Cycles and Romances of Russian Composers” and “Khibla Gerzmava, Soprano”, as well as a vinyl record with the singer’s recordings, took place at the New York Theater.

It was the first time that such an event in honor of a Russian artist was held in ““. Gerzmava spent the winter of 2015 in the USA; in January and February she sang the role of Antonia in Offenbach's opera The Tales of Hoffmann at the Metropolitan Opera.

From February 22, 2015 to May 24, 2015, she was a member of the jury of the third season of the show “One to One!” on the Russia-1 channel.

In 2016, she gave a series of charity concerts in Germany dedicated to the victims of terrorist attacks.

Khibla Gerzmava – performances in the 2018-2019 and 2019-2020 seasons*

September 12, 2018

April 1, 2019, starts at 19:30
April 4, 2019, starts at 19:30
April 7, 2019, starts at 14:30

Paris National Opera / Paris (France)
"Othello"
Composer: Giuseppe Verdi
Conductor: Bertrand de Billly
Director: Andrey Shcherban
Performed by: Alexander Antonenko, Georgy Gagnidze, Frederic Antun, Alessandro Liberatore, Paul Gay, Thomas Dear, Khibla Gerzmava, Marie Gautreau

April 17, 2019 – starts at 19.00

/ Russia Moscow
Concert with the State Symphony Orchestra “New Russia”
Conductor: Alexander Lazarev
Soloist: Khibla Gerzmava (soprano)
The program includes works by Ottorino Respighi, Richard Strauss, Dmitry Shostakovich

July 4, 2019, starts at 20:00
July 8, 2019, starts at 20:00
July 19, 2019, starts at 20:00
July 23, 2019, starts at 20:00
July 25, 2019, starts at 20:00

/ Madrid, Spain)
"Troubadour"
Composer: Giuseppe Verdi
Conductor: Maurizio Benini
Director: Francisco Negrin
Performed by: Arthur Rutsinsky, Khibla Gerzmava, Marie-Nicole Lemieux, Piero Pretty, Roberto Tagliavini, Cassadra Berton, Fabian Lara, Moises Marin
Chorus and Orchestra of the Royal Theater of Madrid

September 22, 2019 – starts at 20.00

, Great Hall / Russia, St. Petersburg
Solo concert
Soprano: Khibla Gerzmava
Piano part: Ekaterina Ganelina
The program includes romances by Russian and foreign composers

December 28, 2019 – starts at 19.00

Moscow International House of Music, Svetlanov Hall / Russia, Moscow
X Moscow Music Festival “Vladimir Spivakov invites”
Concert with the National Philharmonic Orchestra of Russia
Conductor:
Soloists: Khibla Gerzmava (soprano), Arsen Soghomonyan (tenor)
The concert program will feature arias, duets and orchestral excerpts from operas by Giuseppe Verdi and verist composers

July 13, 16, 2020 – starts at 18:00
July 19, 2020 – starts at 15:00

/ Royal Opera House / UK, London
"Don Carlos", opera
Composer: Giuseppe Verdi
Conductor: Richard Farnes
Director: Nicholas Hytner
Performed by: Michael Fabiano, Khibla Gerzmava, , , (June 13, 16) / Ruxandra Donose, Evgeniy Stavinsky, Andres Presno and others
Featuring the Royal Opera House Orchestra and Chorus

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As part of the anniversary season on the stage of the K.S. Stanislavsky and Vl. I. Nemirovich-Danchenko hosted a solo concert by Khibla Gerzmava. The singer congratulated her native troupe on its 100th anniversary with an exclusive program, performing opera arias and romances accompanied by the jazz group Yakov Okun. The joint project of the artists proved: classical music and jazz are closer to each other than it seems at first glance.

- The evening’s program united two major areas of musical culture. We tried to merge them as much as possible, to show the viewer that today classics cannot live without jazz, and jazz cannot live without classics,” Khibla Gerzmava told Izvestia.

The instrumental arrangements of arias and romances, performed by Yakov Okun at the singer’s request, confirm that she was right. Operatic cantilena and jazz dance, Italian bel canto and American drive, classical tonality and blues harmonies are intertwined into a harmonious ensemble. And famous masterpieces changed their appearance beyond recognition.

The arranger enriched “Ave Maria” in the transcription of Johann Sebastian Bach and Charles Gounod with a poignant saxophone melody (expressive solo by Andrei Krasilnikov), thanks to which the restrained prayer turned into a passionate song of love. The energetic miniature “The Road of Love” by Francis Poulenc, colored with jazz harmonies, in the interpretation of the group received a shade of melancholy. On the contrary, Vincenzo Bellini's lyrical Casta Diva, which Yakov Okun generously filled with syncopations, acquired unprecedented courage. I was especially impressed by the ostinato counterpoint of the double bass (virtuoso pizzicato by Makar Novikov) echoing the soloist’s voice.

Some numbers of the program referred to the classical tradition. Adrienne Lecouvreur's aria from Francesco Cilea's opera of the same name, specially arranged for the anniversary, almost retained its original appearance, but the Italian cantilena, presented by the singer in all its glory, was diluted by a meditative background of percussion (subtle work by Artem Yurlov) and several piano improvisations by Yakov Okun.

The author of the idea and hostess of the evening, Khibla Gerzmava, once again captivated the audience with the diversity of her talent. Combining academic depth and jazz freedom in her performance, the singer was equally convincing in both genres and techniques. Heavenly operatic vocals in “Adrienne Lecouvreur” were replaced by spectacular blues glissandos in Giuditta’s aria from Franz Lehár’s operetta. Bravura coloraturas in Donizetti's Me voglio fa"na casa - a chamber interpretation of the song Morgen by Richard Strauss.

The soloist appeared unexpectedly brave in Russian romances. In contrast to the optimistic atmosphere of the concert, Sergei Rachmaninov’s “Twilight” was performed, which the singer, together with a jazz ensemble, turned into a dramatic ballad. A special page of the evening consisted of fragments from music for films. The singer enriched Charlie Chaplin’s Smile and Isaac Dunaevsky’s “Spring” with oriental jazz melismatics. The soloist performed another Dunaevsky composition, “My Dear Muscovites,” as an encore.

Gerzmava Khibla is a famous Russian opera singer originally from Abkhazia. She sings soprano. Currently she is a soloist at the Nemirovich-Danchenko Musical Theater located in Moscow. She has the title of People's Artist of Abkhazia and People's Artist of Russia. Well known not only in our country, but throughout the world. She has performed on the stage of the Mariinsky Theatre, Metropolitan Opera, Rome Opera, Royal Opera Covent Garden in London, the largest and most popular stage venues in the world.

Biography of the singer

Gerzmava Khibla was born in 1970. She was born in the Abkhaz resort town of Pitsunda. Translated from the local language, her name means “golden-eyed”.

A caring father brought three-year-old Khibla Gerzmava a piano from Germany. Since childhood, she began to sing, and over time, play the piano. The heroine of our article spent her childhood under the walls of the Orthodox church in Pitsunda, she constantly listened to the organ music coming from there. Even at school age she began performing in pop groups. She achieved her first success in the song and dance ensemble "Sharatyn" in Pitsunda.

Her youth was tragic. By the age of 18, her father and mother had died. This had a strong influence on her worldview.

She went to a music school in Gagra to receive a music education. In Sukhumi she graduated from a music school in piano. Since childhood, I dreamed of becoming an organist, impressed by what I heard as a child in the cathedral.

In 1989, Khibla Gerzmava, whose photo is in this article, set off to conquer Moscow. She entered the capital's conservatory, from which she successfully graduated in 1994.

Professional career

Gerzmava Khibla not only successfully graduated from the vocal department, but also attended elective classes for three years to learn how to play the organ.

She attracted the close attention of foreign experts when she took third place at a competition in Italian Busseto, and then second at the prestigious vocal festival in Spain in Viñasa and the Rimsky-Korsakov competition, which took place in St. Petersburg.

During her student years, the heroine of our article achieved a major victory at the international Tchaikovsky competition, which took place in the Russian capital in 1994. She performed the arias of the Snow Maiden and Rosina, deservedly winning the Grand Prix.

In 1995, she began performing at the Nemirovich-Danchenko Musical Theater. She still remains his soloist. Even though in 1998 she received an invitation to perform at the Bolshoi Theater, but was forced to refuse due to a busy tour schedule.

The singer's creativity

During her career, singer Khibla Gerzmava performed dozens of roles in famous productions of the capital's musical theater.

Among the most successful, experts note Lyudmila in the opera “Ruslan and Lyudmila” by Glinka, the Swan Princess in “The Tale of Tsar Saltan” by Rimsky-Korsakov, Rosina in “The Barber of Seville” by Rossini, Adele in “Die Fledermaus” by Strauss, Medea in the opera of the same name by Cherubini .

Participation in festivals and competitions

Gerzmava Khibla has won many victories at prestigious competitions. For example, in 2008 she triumphantly performed at the Crescendo music festival. In the same year, she performed the role of Tatiana in Tchaikovsky's opera Eugene Onegin on the stage of Covent Garden in London. During her career, she visited the most famous theater venues in the world.

In 2010 she made her debut at the Metropolitan Opera in New York. There she got the incredibly difficult role of Antonia in an opera written by Jacques Offenbach called “The Tales of Hoffmann”. Few of the world's opera stars dare to perform it, because this is the only performance on the world opera stage in which a soprano has to be performed by four different voices at once within the framework of one work. The heroine of our article succeeded brilliantly, after which she earned the title of one of the greatest opera singers in the world. Nowadays, only one other opera performer successfully implements such experiments - the German Diana Damrau.

Since 2011, Gerzmava has been performing at the Rome Opera. There she performs the role of Mimi in Puccini's La bohème, as well as the role of Liu in another Puccini opera called Turandot.

In 2012, Khibla returned to the Covent Garden stage as Donna Anna. Mozart's Don Giovanni was a great success in London that season. At the same time, the singer performed the role of Liu from Turandot at the Metropolitan Opera.

At the same time, her experiments with a unique voice continued. She appeared on the stage of the Vienna Opera in La Clemenza di Titus with the complex role of Vitelia, which today, in general, few people undertake to perform. In this Mozart work, she presented her signature recitatives as well as lengthy arias with a varied vocal range. She performed the same role that season at the French Grand Opera.

Participation in modern productions

It is noteworthy that the heroine of our article regularly takes part not only in classical, but also in modern experimental productions. But he always emphasizes that he agrees to sing only in operas with taste, in which the creators do not cross the line of theatrical convention.

During foreign performances he successfully popularizes Abkhaz culture. Her songs in this language are always asked to be repeated as an encore. According to her own estimates, the most demanding and experienced audiences flock to opera productions in New York and Moscow.

For many years, Gerzmava has been fruitfully collaborating with and implementing a project with director Alexander Titel. She has repeatedly performed on the same stage with Denis Matsuev, the National Philharmonic Orchestra of Russia.

Personal life

The singer does not like to talk about her personal life. This is understandable. Khibla Gerzmava’s husband has been living separately from his family for a long time. They are divorced. Journalists were unable to obtain detailed information about who this person was.

It is known that in 1999 they had a son, and soon after that their paths diverged. Now Sandro, as the boy was named, is being raised by Khibla herself. She actively attracts him to creativity. Her son performs in the children's choir of the capital's musical and Nemirovich-Danchenko.

Interestingly, after the birth of her son, the singer’s voice changed. As experts note, he has become much softer and more lyrical. Tremolation, which previously often prevented her from performing, has disappeared. The romantic notes intensified, something she had strived for from the very beginning of her career.

Khibla Gerzmava is a Russian opera singer, People's Artist of Abkhazia and People's Artist of Russia. Khibla was born in 1970 on January 6 in the resort of Pitsunda. There, on the sun-drenched coast, she spent her childhood and youth. From an early age, Khibla sang and played the piano.

As a child, the singer studied at a music school in Gagra, and later at the Sukhumi Music College. However, the future star was going to become not a vocalist, but a pianist. Although Khibla always loved to sing, and even composed songs herself, neither Khibla herself nor her relatives seriously thought about a vocal career. The girl's cherished dream was to become an organist. However, the piano teacher recognized her extraordinary singing talent and took eighteen-year-old Khibla Gerzmava to a vocal class with teacher Josephine Bumburidi. This step was decisive for the birth of a future opera star.

The very next year, in 1989, Khibla entered the Moscow Conservatory in the vocal department, which she graduated in 1994. There, Professor Irina Ivanovna Maslennikova and Professor Evgenia Mikhailovna Arefyeva became her mentors.

But even before graduating from the conservatory in 1993, vocal student Khibla Gerzmava attracted the attention of vocal masters at the Verdi Voices competition, which was held in Busseto in Italy. At this competition, the young singer was awarded the third prize for her voice, artistry and energy.

The next year, 1994, was no less successful for the talented student: first, second places at the Villas competition in Spain and the Rimsky-Korsakov competition in St. Petersburg, and then the Grand Prix, which Gerzmava won in Moscow at the X International Competition. Tchaikovsky, captivating the jury in the finale with the arias of Rosina and the Snow Maiden.

Although Gerzmava was going to devote her life entirely to her vocal career, she still did not give up her childhood dream - to learn to play the organ. Khibla took an elective organ class for three years and still mastered the complex instrument. The piano and organ lessons were not in vain. It is thanks to the professional education and training of the pianist that Khibla Gerzmava feels the score more thoroughly and performs each part more expressively, capturing all the intonations of the instruments and using their intonation features. This helps the singer enhance the effect of her colorful soprano on the listener.

1995 marked the beginning of Gerzmava’s creative career at MAMT. Khibla's dramatic talent, her clear and strong voice, as well as mutual understanding and creative union with stage director Alexander Titel helped the young soloist become a bright star on the stage of the Moscow Musical Theater. On its stage she created amazing images of Rosina (“The Barber of Seville” by Rossini), Adele (“Die Fledermaus” by Strauss), the Swan Princess (“The Tale of Tsar Saltan” by Rimsky-Korsakov), Lyudmila (“Ruslan and Lyudmila” by Glinka), and the Queen of Shemakha (“The Golden Cockerel” by Rimsky-Korsakov), Violetta (“La Traviata” by Verdi), etc.

The singer's talent was awarded in 2001 with the Golden Orpheus theater award. She won the “Best Singer” nomination, and in 2010 Khibla Gerzmava received the Russian national theater award “Golden Mask” for the role of Lucia. Her awards also include the Casta Diva Award, the Moscow Art Prize and the first independent Triumph Award, received in 2011.

Khibla Gerzmava tours a lot around the world. She performed on the stage of the New York Metropolitan Opera. Her debut took place there in 2010. Gerzmava sang on the stages of the Vienna State Opera, London's Covent Garden, the Sofia National Opera in Bulgaria, the Grand Teatro de Liceu and many other venues. In Paris, Khibla performed Vitelia's aria on the stage of the Paris State Opera, and was named one of the best who has ever performed this role. She went on tour with the theater in South Korea and the USA, and performed concert programs in many countries. The singer recorded several CDs and spoke more than once before delegations at the personal invitation of the president in the Kremlin.

The singer's constant passion has always been jazz. She is partial to the synthesis of classical and jazz. In the world of jazz, one of her favorite partners and friends was Georgy Garanyan, who suddenly passed away in 2010. Together with Ivanov and Sevostyanov, Khibla holds an annual jazz festival in Pitsunda. She always loved to take risks and was a versatile person who loved experiments. Therefore, one of the brightest events of Moscow cultural life is the “Opera” concert. Jazz. Blues”, where Khibla performs together with the jazz trio of Daniil Kramer, is quite understandable and logical.

And although the parents called the girl “golden-eyed” (that’s how Khibla is translated from Abkhazian), the singer can rightfully be called “golden-voiced”. After all, the voice with which Khibla enchants her listeners is a golden, precious gift that she happily gives to people.