Nino Machaidze


Nino Machaidze is a Georgian operatic soprano. She gained international attention after being cast as Juliette in Gounod's Roméo et Juliette at the 2008 Salzburg Festival. She performs primarily in 19th-century Italian and French operas.

Early life

Nino Machaidze was born to a Georgian language teacher mother and an economist father and raised in Tbilisi. At the age of six she began piano and vocal lessons at a school affiliated with the Tbilisi State Conservatoire, which she later also attended. At 17, she also attended flute lessons, hoping to strengthen the diaphragm. Between 2000 and 2005, she had role engagements as Zerlina in Don Giovanni, Gilda in Rigoletto, Rosina in The Barber of Seville, and Norina in Don Pasquale at the Georgian National Opera Theater.
In 2005, she was among the 9 applicants accepted into the Accademia del Teatro alla Scala after an intense competition. At the academy, she studied with Luciana Serra, Leyla Gencer, and Luigi Alva and also attended masterclasses of Renato Bruson and Mirella Freni. In 2006 she debuted at the theater as Najade in Ariadne auf Naxos and won first prize in the Leyla Gencer Voice Competition in Istanbul.

Career

Machaidze proceeded to perform several roles at La Scala: Silvia in Ascanio in Alba, Marie in La fille du régiment, Despina in Così fan tutte, Lauretta in Gianni Schicchi, and Musetta in La bohème. She also performed Marie at the Teatro dell'Opera di Roma, and Amina in La sonnambula at the Teatro Carlo Felice.
Being spotted by artistic director Jürgen Flimm as Lauretta led to her opportunity to play Juliette in the new production of Gounod's Roméo et Juliette opposite Rolando Villazón at the Salzburg Festival in 2008 when Anna Netrebko dropped out due to pregnancy. After one month's preparation, the performance turned out to be successful, therefore propelled her to international fame. She was nicknamed "The Angelina Jolie of Opera" by the press. She went on to reprise Juliette at the Concertgebouw and La Fenice. In October 2008, she debuted at the Teatro Regio di Parma as Gilda in Rigoletto.
In January 2009, Machaidze portrayed Elvira in I puritani opposite Juan Diego Flórez at the Teatro Comunale di Bologna. In April at La Monnaie, she debuted as Lucia in Lucia di Lammermoor, a role she later reprised at the Teatro Municipale Giuseppe Verdi in Salerno and the Palau de les Arts Reina Sofia in Valencia. In July, she joined the cast as Donna Fiorilla in a new production of Il turco in Italia at the Theater an der Wien. In September she debuted at the Los Angeles Opera as Adina in L'elisir d'amore, and in December premiered David Bösch's production of the same opera at the Bavarian State Opera, to which she frequently returned in the following seasons. She continued to deliver performances as Adina at the Berlin State Opera and La Scala. In 2010, she debuted at the Liceu in Pelly's production of La fille du régiment, returned to the Salzburg Festival, sharing Juliette with Netrebko, and debuted at the London Royal Opera House in the same role. She proceeded performances as Juliette at the Los Angeles Opera, La Scala, the Verona Arena, and the BOZAR.
The year 2011 saw her debut at the Metropolitan Opera as Gilda in January. She returned in May to replace Diana Damrau in the same role, and in December to perform Marie again in Pelly's production of La fille. After Fiorilla in Los Angeles, she debuted as Leïla in Les pêcheurs de perles at the Teatro Filarmonico in Verona, a role she later performed at the Salle Pleyel in Paris, the Teatro Regio di Parma and Teatro Comunale Modena. In September, she made house debut at the Hamburg State Opera singing Gilda and Lucia. She resumed the role of Gilda at the Paris Opera, Teatro Pérez Galdós in Las Palmas, and the Teatro Carlo Felice. In 2012, she returned to the Salzburg Festival, performing Musetta in La bohème. She debuted as the title role in Thaïs, alongside Plácido Domingo, at the Teatro de la Maestranza. They united in concert performances of the same opera at the Liceu in 2017. In 2013, she returned to Spain, performing in Il turco in Italia at the Liceu and L'elisir d'amore at the Teatro Real in Madrid.
In 2014, Machaidze debuted at the Vienna State Opera in Otto Schenk's production of L'elisir d'amore. She returned to the Los Angeles Opera for Thaïs and her first Violetta in La traviata, a role which she later reprised at the Hamburg State Opera and the Verona Arena. In November, she debuted as Luisa in Luisa Miller at the Hamburg State Opera, a production to which she would return in 2016 and 2018. In 2015, besides performing Fiorilla and Gilda, she debuted as Folleville in Il viaggio a Reims at the Dutch National Opera, Micaëla in Carmen at La Scala, Ninetta in La gazza ladra at the Rossini Opera Festival, and Inès in L'Africaine at the Deutsche Oper Berlin. In 2016, she debuted as Desdemona in Rossini's Otello at the Theater an der Wien and as Mimì in La bohème at the Los Angeles Opera, conducted by Gustavo Dudamel. In September, she performed Juliette with the Opéra de Monte-Carlo at the Royal Opera House Muscat. In December, she reprised Desdemona and Mimì respectively at the Teatro di San Carlo and the Grand Théâtre de Genève, with the former marking 200 years since the opera's world premiere in the city.
In 2017, she debuted at the Bergen National Opera, Royal Danish Theatre, and San Francisco Opera to sing the role of Gilda for the last time. She returned to the Rossini Opera Festival debuting as Pamira in Le siège de Corinthe, and then performed Leïla at the Los Angeles Opera. In December, she made her first appearance in Korea in La traviata. In 2018, she debuted as Mathilde in William Tell at the Teatro Massimo in Palermo and Nedda in Pagliacci at the Grand Théâtre de Genève. She portrayed Luisa Miller at the Zürich Opera House, Violetta at the Teatro di San Carlo, and Mimì at the Seoul Arts Center. She performed the Georgian national anthem "Tavisupleba" on the parade for the centenary of the Democratic Republic of Georgia. In addition to a reprise of Juliette at the Badisches Staatstheater Karlsruhe, she performed Rosina in The Barber of Seville at the Verona Arena and the Dutch National Opera.
In 2019, Machaidze was a guest performer at the Semperopernball and was featured in Audi Sommerkonzerte. She debuted as Antonia in The Tales of Hoffmann, and as the title role in Manon. She performed in Luisa Miller at the Salzburg Festival alongside Domingo, stepped into Theater an der Wien's production of Otello at the Oper Frankfurt, and opened La bohème at the Teatru tal-Opera Aurora in Malta. In 2020, she performed Mimì at the New National Theatre Tokyo.

Personal life

Machaidze has been residing in Milan, Italy since 2005. She married baritone Guido Loconsolo on 26 September 2011. Their son, Alessandro, was born on 9 August 2013. She enjoys swimming but not jogging. She is active on social media and has over 100,000 followers on Facebook.

Opera roles

Machaidze has been a Sony artist since January 2011.

CDs