Shalva Mukeria

Biography

Shalva Mukeria was born in Georgia and first studied the clarinet at Tbilisi State Conservatoire before moving to Odessa, where he completed his singing studies at the local conservatoire in 1998. As a member of the Odessa Opera Theatre, he performed roles such as Nemorino (L’elisir d’amore), Alfredo (La Traviata), Duca di Mantova (Rigoletto), Edgardo (Lucia di Lammermoor), Rodolfo (La Bohème) and Werther.

After a gala concert at the Teatro Regio in Parma in January 2000, Zubin Mehta selected him sing the part of Elvino in La Sonnambula alongside Mariella Devia in Florence. Other early engagements include Alfredo and Rodolfo at Copenhagen Royal Opera, Rodolfo in Helsinki, and Elvino in Pavia, Como, Cremona and Leipzig.

In 2004 he made his US debut in a new production of La Sonnambula at Santa Fe Opera with Natalie Dessay as Amina.

As an ensemble member of the Vienna State Opera (2005-2007), he could be heard in parts such as Italienischer Sänger in Der Rosenkavalier and Arturo (I Puritani) with Edita Gruberova. In 2007 his La Scala debut in the role of Tonio (La fille du régiment) was followed by engagements as Duca di Mantova in Bilbao, Jesi, at the Santander Festival and in Tokyo.

During the last seasons, he could also be heard as Edgardo in Lucia di Lammermoor in Tours, Jesi and Treviso, Arturo (I Puritani) at La Monnaie Brussels, in Palermo, Amsterdam and Toulon, in Rigoletto and La Sonnambula in Salerno conducted by Daniel Oren as well as in various concerts at the Concertgebouw Amsterdam, at La Monnaie and in La Coruna.

Recent engagements include Rigoletto in Tokyo and Florence, I Puritani at the Vienna State Opera, in Cagliari, Pamplona, Savonlinna and Essen, Leicester in Maria Stuarda at the Teatro Massimo di Palermo and at the Maggio Musicale Fiorentino with Mariella Devia, La Traviata in Salerno, Corismano in Bellini’s Zaira at the Montpellier Festival, Rigoletto, Lucia di Lammermoor, La Traviata and La Sonnambula at the Gran Teatro La Fenice in Venice, Anna Bolena (Percy) at the Maggio Musicale in Florence, at the Washington National Opera and in Japan with the Vienna State Opera alongside Edita Gruberova and under the baton of Evelino Pidò, Ernesto (Don Pasquale) at La Scala, Alfredo (La Traviata) at the Teatro Bellini in Catania and in Shanghai, Duca in Rigoletto in Genoa under the baton of Fabio Luisi, Tebaldo in I Capuleti e i Montecchi in Verona, two Verdi concerts with the Teatro La Fenice in Japan and conducted by Maestro Chung, Les Troyens (Iopas) under the baton of A. Pappano and in a production by D. McVicar at La Scala, I Puritani (Arturo) in Santiago del Chile, Maria Stuarda at the Teatr Wielki in Warsaw, as well as I Capuleti e i Montecchi (Tebaldo) and Don Pasquale (Ernesto) at La Fenice.

In 2015 he made his Bolshoi Theatre debut as Elvino (La Sonnambula).