The 167th Season of the Tbilisi Opera & Ballet State Theater Opens

On October 2, the 167th opera season will be opened with Abeselom and Eteri, a performance dedicated to the memory of Zurab Sotkilava, a Georgian Operatic tenor and soloist of the Zakaria Paliashvili Tbilsi Opera and Ballet State Theater, People’s Artist of the USSR, tutor, honored academician of the Bologna Music Academy and a man boasting numerous roles and the awards at the theater.

Abeselom and Eteri is a famous three-act opera written by Zakaria Paliashvili and librettist Petre Mirianashvili based on a medieval Georgian folk poem Eteriani.

The first premiere was performed in February 1919 at the Georgian National Opera and Ballet State Theater, quickly becoming popular amongst the Georgian audience. The main theme of the opera represents “love that is a great, an invincible force that overcomes not only social inequality, but also death itself.” It is a fusion of Georgian folk songs and 19th century romantic classical themes.

The cast has already been announced, and is to include Gocha Datusani, Teimurad Gugushvili, and Khatuna Tchokhonelidze. Alongside them will be the soloists, choir and orchestra of the Opera and Ballet State Theater, ballet troupe and Georgian National Ballet Sukhishvilebi.

Within the new season, one of the first premieres will be Keto and Kote by Victor Dolidze in November, which will also be memorable for the Georgian audience.

By Mariam Merabishvili