The triumph of Anita Rachvelishvili in Opera Bastille

Princess Eboli of Anita Rachvelishvili which fascinated the public of Bastille.

In 2019, it is the Princess Eboli of Anita Rachvelishvili (her debut in this role) which fascinated the public of Bastille. We have already praised the Georgian mezzo soprano, her breathtaking power, her vocal beauty and expressiveness in the music of Verdi as of Saint-Saens, Bizet or Rimsky-Korsakov. Eboli is an intimidating, scary role, but Rachvelishvili is dealing with it without any difficulties, she even eclipses Elīna Garanča, who was a splendid Eboli in the fall of 2017.

How? By engaging body, soul and voice in the character reinvented by Warlikowski, and by imprinting something wild and untamed that did not offer Garanča - a “femme fatale” more in line with the Hollywood model. Anita Rachvelishvili's first "tour de force" comes in the second act: In a splendidly sung “Canzone del Velo” (“Song of the Veil”) she seems to model each note live, with an astounding ease, precision of a lace maker and a perfect vocal art!

The ferocity comes out later during the confrontation with Carlo and then Posa. Rachvelishvili's impressive vocal range and the palette of nuances is a true marvel. The second "tour de force" arrives, much anticipated, in the fourth act with "O, don fatale" ("O, gift fatal and hated") - between rage and despair, worn out of breath but without any deficit of it. Rachvelishvili demonstrates a phenomenal ability of register change, from the head voice down to the chest voice, without losing the beauty of the sound.

Demanding a spectacular low register and projecting a very tangible anger, the most famous aria of Eboli opens abysses to our ears, before the singer deploys a soft and silky legato in order to express her profound atonement. Towards the end she unleashes her furious high notes when she remembers that it is up to her to save Carlo. This great moment of singing as well as theater earned her a well-deserved ovation, which will be renewed by the audience at the end of the opera.

Anita Rachvelishvili, 35 years old this year, was discovered ten years ago in the role of Carmen at La Scala in Milan. She definitely belongs to those exceptional singers of whom we will say in thirty years, that we saw and heard them with the same sparkles in our eyes as those, who have known "in real life" singers like Rita Gorr or Jessye Norman. I'll bet you! Meanwhile, from the end of November, also at Opera Bastille she will be performing Kontchakovna in Borodin's "Prince Igor". This time, there will be some reunions.