Makvala Kasrashvili – a brilliant singer, prima donna of the Bolshoi Theater of Russia, who has performed a huge number of parts from the soprano repertoire and who has conquered all the major world opera venues, is also a talented teacher who has trained a whole galaxy of opera singers. She has been teaching at the Galina Vishnevskaya Opera Centre for 8 years.
Her graduates who are now soloists of the Bolshoi Theater, the Novaya Opera Theater, the Operetta Theater as well as present students studying vocal art took the stage that night. There were arias and duets from operas by Gounod, Verdi, Bizet, Donizetti, Puccini, Tchaikovsky, Gershwin, Bernstein. The anniversary evening at the Opera Centre was cordial and cozy: no speeches or ceremonies –music was preferred to anything else.
The conductor’s stand of the Opera Centre’s Orchestra was assumed by Andrey Lebedev. The soulful violin and cello solos in the works of Cilea and Kalman were memorable. Concert numbers were accompanied by the pictures on screen, in which the hero of the day appeared in her many roles. The grateful audience did not let go of their prima donna for a long time at the end of the concert.
The holiday was a true success!