Anjaparidze Zurab

Anjaparidze Zurab (1928-1997), Opera singer (dramatic tenor), Peo ple’s Artiste of Georgia (1961) andPeople’s Artiste of the USSR (1966). He was born in Kutaisi, Georgia. Z. Anjaparidze graduated from Tbilisi State Conservatory (class of Professor Davit Andguladze) in 1959 and ever since he was a leading vocal soloist of Tbilisi Zakaria Paliashvili State Opera and Ballet Theater. He was famous for his beautiful voice and dramatic presence on stage. In 1979-82 he combined the carrier of a singer with the position of the Director of Tbilisi Opera and Ballet Theater.

For years Z. Anjaparidze was a leading tenor of the Bolshoi Theater in Moscow where he sang in many opera productions. Some of his well-known parts are: Radames in Aida, Don Carlos in Don Carlos (Verdi), Mario Cavaradossi in Tosca (Puccini), Duke in Rigoletto (Verdi), Eugene Onegin in Eugene Onegin (Tchaikovski), etc.

In 1964, during the tour of the Bolshoi Theater in Italy, Z. Anjaparidze sang the part of German in Tchaikovski’s The Queen of Spades at La Scala Theater in Milano. His vocal performance was used to dub the parts of German (The Queen of Spades) and Count Vaudemont (Iolanta) in film-operas produced by Mosfilm Studio. In 1964 he staged Z. Paliashvili’s opera Daisi at the Yerevan Opera Theater.

Z. Anjaparidze died in Tbilisi and was buried in the public garden of Tbilisi Opera and Ballet Theater.