Lauded by the New York Times for his “expressive, resonant baritone”, “insightful phrasing” and “confident, imposing presence”, George Gagnidze ranks among the leading singers of his genre.
In 2009, the dramatic baritone made his sensational debut at the Metropolitan Opera as Rigoletto and has since then returned in more than 100 performances, singing roles such as Macbeth, Amonasro (Aida), Scarpia (Tosca), Michele (Il tabarro), Tonio (Pagliacci), Alfio (Cavalleria rusticana) and Shaklovity (Hovanščina).
Regularly invited by the most prestigious international opera companies, engagements of the 2022/23 season include his debut with the Dallas Opera in the title role of Rigoletto, a part he also performs at the Staatsoper Hamburg; Amonasro at the Metropolitan Opera, Scarpia at the Gran Teatre del Liceu of Barcelona and his role debut as Grand-Prêtre de Dagon (Samson et Dalila) at the Staatsoper Unter den Linden in Berlin.
Among his recent performances are the title part of Rigoletto, Michele (Il tabarro) and Scarpia at the Metropolitan Opera, the title role of Nabucco at the Teatro Real of Madrid and in Tbilisi, the title part of Macbeth at the Palau de les Arts Reina Sofia in Valencia and at the Ópera de Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Nabucco, Germont (La traviata) and Barnaba (La Gioconda) at the Deutsche Oper Berlin, Iago (Otello) for his debut at the Washington National Opera, Scarpia at the Teatro San Carlo of Naples, Amonasro at the Los Angeles Opera, Michele at the BBC Proms in London and Germont at the Gran Teatre del Liceu, the Royal Opera House Covent Garden and the Teatro San Carlo.
Other past highlights include Rigoletto, La traviata, Tosca and Aida at the Teatro alla Scala, Nabucco and Tosca at the Vienna State Opera, Otello, La traviata, Tosca, Francesca da Rimini and Aida at Opéra National of Paris, Simon Boccanegra, Tosca and Aida at the Teatro Real Madrid, Andrea Chénier and Aida at the San Francisco Opera, Rigoletto at the Festival of Aix-en-Provence, Cavalleria rusticana and Pagliacci at the Gran Teatre del Liceu, Rigoletto and Pagliacci at the Los Angeles Opera, Rigoletto, Aida and Tosca at the Staatsoper Unter den Linden, Andrea Chénier and Tosca at the Deutsche Oper Berlin, Luisa Miller at the Palau de les Arts, Nabucco and La traviata at the Arena of Verona, Hovanščina at the BBC Proms and Otello at the Deutsche Oper Berlin and the Staatsoper Hamburg, where he has also sung in Cavalleria rusticana and Pagliacci.
Born in Tbilisi and trained at the State Conservatory of his home town, George Gagnidze debuted as Renato in Un ballo in maschera in 1996 at the Paliashvili State Opera. He entered the “Concorso Voci Verdiane” in 2005 as an award-winner of the “Leyla Gencer Voice Competition” and the “Elena Obraztsova Competition”. The jury, chaired by José Carreras and Katia Ricciarelli, awarded him first prize for his outstanding vocal interpretation. After launching his international career from Germany, he was soon engaged by many of the world’s important opera houses.
In the course of his career, George Gagnidze has worked with many renowned conductors and directors, including Daniel Barenboim, Semyon Bychkov, James Conlon, Plácido Domingo, Gustavo Dudamel, Sir Mark Elder, Mikko Franck, James Levine, Jesús López Cobos, Fabio Luisi, Nicola Luisotti, Lorin Maazel, Michele Mariotti, Zubin Mehta, Yannick Nézet-Séguin, Gianandrea Noseda, Daniel Oren, Kirill Petrenko and Yuri Temirkanov; Luc Bondy, Henning Brockhaus, Liliana Cavani, Robert Carsen, Edoardo De Angelis, Giancarlo Del Monaco, Andreas Homoki, Michael Mayer, David McVicar, Peter Stein, Robert Sturua and Francesca Zambello.
In September 2021, the star baritone presented his first solo album on the Orfeo label. His DVD/Blu-Ray recordings include Tosca from the Metropolitan Opera, Aida from La Scala and Nabucco from the Arena of Verona.