An opera singer died. Golden-eyed hibla with a golden voice

Khibla Gerzmava is one of the leading opera singers on the planet. Her name, translated from her native Abkhazian, means “golden-eyed.” Her unique voice secured her the first Grand Prix in the history of the International Tchaikovsky Competition and many other victories. It combines many different things - a truly feminine love for beautiful outfits, which she easily gives away, charity, for which Khibla often gives more money than she keeps for herself, motherhood and friendship. She doesn't like listening to her CDs and is convinced that live sounds much better than recorded ones. “It is impossible to sing without love and without warmth,” says Khibla Gerzmava. “And the sound should be warm and golden.”

The star of the world opera stage visited Minsk to perform at the “Vladimir Spivakov Invites” festival and found time to talk with an SB correspondent.

You dedicated your December concerts in Germany to the victims of terrorism, and donated your fees to a fund that provides support to the relatives of the victims. Was it an impulse or a conscious decision?

The decision was impulsive, it came after the disaster over Sinai, when I saw a photograph of a small child at the window at the airport - I still cannot forget this girl. Many tried to see a political statement in my action, but there was no politics, just mental pain.

You lost your parents early. Was it difficult to make your way without feeling parental support, to cope with everything alone?

It's very difficult. I was 16 years old when my mother died, and 18 when my dad left. My parents died very young, beautiful, we had a luxurious family. And in Moscow, of course, it was not easy for me, an absolutely homely provincial Pitsunda girl. I won’t talk about my hardships or go into details now, because it’s still difficult for me without my mother. You know, along the way I always met people who helped me. And the Lord, apparently, rewarded me for once taking my parents, and always sends the right right people who love me. And my parents... They left early, and it hurt. To this day, I can sometimes cry like a little girl. Because, for example, I would really like my son Sandro to be raised by his grandmother when I’m on tour somewhere. And in general, when my mother is nearby, at home, drink delicious coffee together and just hug her, kiss her... I even remember the smell of her creams and I think it will never go away. And if it passes, it means I will understand that part of my life has gone. Because I still feel my mother. And dad, he was very strong. They still support me, I believe in it. Everyone needs parents. And if the Lord made it so that they are not there, then the child is very strong. A person who loses his parents early is probably given some other force that moves him forward so that he does not fall. And if you still fall, then you need to get up and move on. WITH with open eyes, with a bright face and sunshine inside. This is how I live.

- Once upon a time, before serious vocal studies, you wanted to play the organ, did this dream come true?

I grew up in Pitsunda, and the 9th century temple, which is located three minutes from our house and where a wonderful organ, probably played a role in my passion. I graduated from a music school with a degree in piano, I wanted to play since childhood and never thought that I would sing in opera. But every person must know his place in life, choose something global. For me, the only thing that was important was the vocals. And I studied the organ for three years as an elective at the Moscow Conservatory, but purely for myself. I was interested in the registers, I was curious what I could do behind the organ, whether I could... For me this is a very important step, because instrumentalists, in my opinion, sing differently. And they think, and learn the repertoire, and work on the clavier differently. The piano and organ are very good school for me as a singer. I sing differently, structure phrases and even breathe differently.

Now very often ballerinas, for example, act in films, stylists begin to sing. Have you ever been tempted to try yourself in a different capacity?

An opera singer is a good dramatic actress who sings. I hold on to this very much because I have been through and experienced a lot. Feeling like an actress with a voice is completely different than just singing. And that's exactly how I feel. Of course, I would love to play in some good movie. Recently, director Alexander Sokurov in Abkhazia filmed “Sofichka” based on Fazil Iskander - I would star in such a film, of course. Or in general in a picture that is interesting to me, perhaps historical. But so far no such proposals have been received.

- Is there work that has not yet been done, a part that you would like to sing, but have not yet sung?

Of course, the part and role of Desdemona in Othello. But soon I will sing it, in April - May at the Metropolitan Opera - the first theater in the world. I have a special, reverent attitude towards this role, I am preparing for it, because I am an absolute Desdemona in my voice and as a singer I now sound very good in this role.

- What do you miss in life?

Catastrophically - sleep and rest. I really want to rest, but I have absolutely no time. Now is a period in my life when I am torn. And while you are a sought-after person, you must work. As long as they love you and want to hear and see you, you need to move forward. In the next life we ​​will rest, sleep, and eat croissants with butter. (Laughs.) I really love croissants with vanilla, I dream of one day eating five of them at a time, while no one is looking. Just kidding, of course.

It’s very feminine to fight for a beautiful figure and wear chic outfits. It is known that you have a whole team of stylists and a huge stage wardrobe...

There are really a lot of dresses in my collection; they no longer fit at home; in the theater there is even a separate compartment for them. I think a singer should be very beautiful on stage. When I go out to the public, I need to be impeccable, stylish, elegantly dressed - I think that this makes me sing better.

- The theatrical environment is quite tough, have you encountered, let’s say, unfair competition?

We have a tough world, of course, there are envious people and people who don’t really like you. Nobody bothers me, because I have my own level in life, I didn’t take anyone’s place, I always did my own thing and never interfered with someone else’s. Although there is a lot of competition, and you need to monitor it every day. But if there are people who are annoyed by me or who think badly of me, I just pray for them. And then I go to sing.

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It is possible that Khibla inherited her artistry and energy from the blessed land on the Black Sea coast, where she was born and raised. She was born on January 6 in sun-drenched Pitsunda. In subtropical Gagra, Khibla went to music school and continued her musical education at the Sukhumi Music College. But not as a vocalist, but as... a pianist. Until the age of 18, the future star of the Moscow Academic Musical Theater. K.S. Stanislavsky and V.I. Nemirovich-Danchenko did not even think about becoming a singer. She composed songs and loved to sing, but no one around her took it seriously. But the piano teacher was able to discern an extraordinary singing gift in his student and took Khibla to Josephine Bumburidi in the vocal class. That’s how it all began, and already in 1989 her wonderful voice was heard at the entrance exams to the Moscow Conservatory, where Irina Ivanovna Maslennikova and Evgenia Mikhailovna Arefieva became her teachers. Perhaps it is the professional background of the pianist that now helps the singer to more thoroughly feel the score and perform each part more expressively - both accompanied by an orchestra and in a duet with the piano, sensitively capturing the intonation features of the instruments and skillfully using these features to enhance the effect produced on the listener by her colorful soprano .

Khibla Gerzmava is a laureate of international vocal competitions, the first of which was Voci Verdiani (“Verdi Voices”), held in Busseto, Italy, where in 1993 she won the 3rd prize. The year 1994 turned out to be unusually generous in terms of prizes for vocal excellence: two 2nd prizes went to the singer at the competitions named after. Francisco Viñas in Barcelona and them. N.A. Rimsky-Korsakov in St. Petersburg, and participation in the X International Competition named after. P.I. Tchaikovsky in Moscow brought Khibla Gerzmava the Grand Prix.

Having entered the service at MAMT in 1995, Khibla Gerzmava became the brightest star of the opera troupe thanks to an amazing understanding and fruitful creative union with the theater director Alexander Titel. The singer's strong and clear voice and dramatic talent created on the stage of the Musical Theater the unique images of Adele in Strauss's Die Fledermaus, Adina in Donizetti's L'elisir d'amore, Musetta and Mimi in Puccini's La Bohème, Louise in Prokofiev's Betrothal in a Monastery, Rosina in “The Barber of Seville” by Rossini, Lyudmila in “Ruslan and Lyudmila” by Glinka, the Swan Princess in “The Tale of Tsar Saltan” by Rimsky-Korsakov and, of course, Violetta in “La Traviata” by Verdi.

In 2001, Khibla Gerzmava received the Golden Orpheus theater award in the category “Best Singer”. In 2002–2004, the singer toured with the MAMT troupe in the USA and South Korea, and also took part in the German Ludwigsburg Festival, performing the roles of Eve (The Creation of the World by Haydn) and the Guardian Angel (Imagination of Soul and Body by Cavalieri). . In 2010, for her performance of the role of Lucia in the opera “Lucia di Lammermoor,” Khibla Gerzmava was awarded the Russian National Theater Prize, which amazed both critics, the public, and her colleagues. Golden mask"and the Casta Diva award in the category "Best Singer", as well as the Moscow Prize in the field of literature and art. In 2011, Khibla became the laureate of the first independent prize in the field of the highest achievements of literature and art “Triumph”.

Today Khibla Gerzmava is one of the most sought-after Russian singers in the largest opera houses in the world. She sang at the Châtelet and Chance-Elise in Paris, at the Teatro Commune in Florence, at the Sofia Opera, at the Teatro del Liceu in Barcelona and the Palau de les Arts Reina Sofia in Valencia, at the St. Petersburg Mariinsky Theater and at the Tokyo Bunka Kaikan, and in the spring of 2008 In 2008, she made her debut on the stage of the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden in London, where she performed the role of Tatiana in Tchaikovsky's opera Eugene Onegin. In October 2010, Khibla made her debut on the stage of the Metropolitan Opera, performing the role of Antonia in a production of Offenbach's The Tales of Hoffmann. In 2011, Khibla for the first time performed all three roles - Olympia, Juliet and Antonia - in “The Tales of Hoffmann” on the stage of her native theater. In the same year, she sang in productions of La Bohème on the stages of the Metropolitan Opera, the Bavarian State and Rome Opera Houses, and on the stage of the Palais Garnier (Paris State Opera) a new page was opened in her work as a “Mozartian” singer - Hibla was named one one of the best Vitellius (“Clemation of Titus”) ever performed this most complex vocal part. In July 2011, Hibla performed at the opening of the BBC Proms with the BBC Orchestra and Choir under the direction of Jiří Běloglavek, singing the soprano part in Janáček's Glagolitic Mass.

The singer entered 2012 with another new role: Donna Anna in Mozart’s “Don Giovanni” was performed on the stage of Covent Garden. In the fall, Khibla returned to the Metropolitan Opera to perform the role of Liu in Puccini's Turandot, with which she made her tour debut Mariinsky Theater at Tokyo NHK Hall in 2011, and first appeared on stage at the Vienna Staatsoper in Mozart's La Clemenza di Tito.

She performs with such outstanding Russian and foreign musicians and conductors such as Lorin Maazel, Antonio Pappano, Marco Armigliato, Adam Fischer, Vladimir Spivakov, Valery Gergiev, Alexander Rudin, Mikhail Pletnev, Vladimir Fedoseev, Vasily Sinaisky, Evgeniy Brazhnik, Wolf Gorelik, Felix Korobov, Alexander Sladkovsky and others. Despite busy work schedule and busy repertoire, she managed to become one of the organizers of the festival “Khibla Gerzmava invites...” in her native Abkhazia. In 2011, the festival celebrated its tenth anniversary.

Khibla is a versatile person who is not afraid to take risks and loves experiments. Concert program with the jazz trio of pianist Daniil Kramer “Opera. Jazz. Blues" became one of the brightest events in the cultural life of Moscow. In love with jazz, Khibla continues her creative search in this genre on the same stage with such interesting musicians, like Denis Matsuev, Deborah Brown (USA), “MosGorTrio” by Yakov Okun, Andrey Ivanov, Arkady Shilkloper, Dmitry Sevastyanov. The outstanding musician Georgy Garanyan, whose life ended so suddenly in January 2010, was one of Khibla’s favorite partners in the world of jazz.

In the Abkhaz language, Khibla means “golden-eyed”. This is probably why her eyes always sparkle. But that precious gift with which she captivates millions of listeners is, of course, her golden voice.

Khibla Gerzmava – Russian opera singer, People's Artist of Abkhazia and People's Artist of Russia. Khibla was born in 1970 on January 6 in the resort of Pitsunda. There, on the sun-drenched coast, she spent her childhood and youth. WITH early years Khibla sang and played the piano.

As a child, the singer studied at a music school in Gagra, and later at the Sukhumi Music College. However, the future star was going to become not a vocalist, but a pianist. Although Khibla always loved to sing, and even composed songs herself, neither Khibla herself nor her relatives seriously thought about a vocal career. The girl's cherished dream was to become an organist. However, the piano teacher recognized her extraordinary singing talent and took eighteen-year-old Khibla Gerzmava to a vocal class with teacher Josephine Bumburidi. This step was decisive for the birth of a future opera star.

The very next year, in 1989, Khibla entered the Moscow Conservatory in the vocal department, which she graduated in 1994. There, Professor Irina Ivanovna Maslennikova and Professor Evgenia Mikhailovna Arefyeva became her mentors.

But even before graduating from the conservatory in 1993, vocal student Khibla Gerzmava attracted the attention of vocal masters at the Verdi Voices competition, which was held in Busseto in Italy. At this competition, the young singer was awarded the third prize for her voice, artistry and energy.

The next year, 1994, was no less successful for the talented student: first, second places at the Villas competition in Spain and the Rimsky-Korsakov competition in St. Petersburg, and then the Grand Prix, which Gerzmava won in Moscow at the X International Competition. Tchaikovsky, captivating the jury in the finale with the arias of Rosina and the Snow Maiden.

Although Gerzmava was going to devote her life entirely to her vocal career, she still did not give up her childhood dream - to learn to play the organ. Khibla took an elective organ class for three years and still mastered the complex instrument. The piano and organ lessons were not in vain. Thanks to vocational education and training a pianist, Khibla Gerzmava feels the score more thoroughly and performs each part more expressively, capturing all the intonations of the instruments and using their intonation features. This helps the singer enhance the effect of her colorful soprano on the listener.

1995 was the beginning for Gerzmava creative career at MAMT. Khibla's dramatic talent, her clear and strong voice, as well as mutual understanding and creative union with stage director Alexander Titel helped the young soloist become a bright star on the stage of the Moscow Musical Theater. On its stage she created amazing images of Rosina (“The Barber of Seville” by Rossini), Adele (“Die Fledermaus” by Strauss), the Swan Princess (“The Tale of Tsar Saltan” by Rimsky-Korsakov), Lyudmila (“Ruslan and Lyudmila” by Glinka), the Queen of Shemakha (“The Golden Cockerel” by Rimsky-Korsakov), Violetta (“La Traviata” by Verdi), etc.

The singer's talent was awarded in 2001 with the Golden Orpheus theater award. She won the “Best Singer” nomination, and in 2010 Khibla Gerzmava received the Russian national theater award “Golden Mask” for the role of Lucia. Her awards also include the Casta Diva Award, the Moscow Art Prize and the first independent Triumph Award, received in 2011.

Khibla Gerzmava tours a lot around the world. She performed on the stage of the New York Metropolitan Opera. Her debut took place there in 2010. Gerzmava sang on the stages of the Vienna State Opera, London's Covent Garden, the Sofia National Opera in Bulgaria, the Grand Teatro de Liceu and many other venues. In Paris, Khibla performed Vitelia's aria on the stage of the Paris State Opera, and was named one of the best who has ever performed this role. She went on tour with the theater in South Korea and the USA, and performed concert programs in many countries. The singer recorded several CDs and spoke more than once before delegations at the personal invitation of the president in the Kremlin.

The singer's constant passion has always been jazz. She is partial to the synthesis of classical and jazz. In the world of jazz, one of her favorite partners and friends was Georgy Garanyan, who suddenly passed away in 2010. Together with Ivanov and Sevostyanov, Khibla holds an annual jazz festival. She always loved to take risks and was a versatile person who loved experiments. Therefore, one of the brightest events of Moscow cultural life is the “Opera” concert. Jazz. Blues”, where Khibla performs together with the jazz trio of Daniil Kramer, is quite understandable and logical.

And although the parents named the girl “golden-eyed” (that’s how Khibla is translated from Abkhazian), the singer can rightfully be called “golden-voiced”. After all, the voice with which Khibla enchants her listeners is a golden, precious gift that she happily gives to people.

Program "To the 100th anniversary of the Stanislavsky and Nemirovich-Danchenko Theater..." Khibla Gerzmava and Yakov Okun Quartet

Gerzmava Khibla is a famous Russian opera singer originally from Abkhazia. She sings soprano. Currently she is a soloist at the Nemirovich-Danchenko Musical Theater located in Moscow. She has the title of People's Artist of Abkhazia and People's Artist of Russia. Well known not only in our country, but throughout the world. She has performed on the stage of the Mariinsky Theatre, Metropolitan Opera, Rome Opera, Royal Opera Covent Garden in London, the largest and most popular stage venues in the world.

Biography of the singer

Gerzmava Khibla was born in 1970. She was born in the Abkhaz resort town of Pitsunda. Translated from the local language, her name means “golden-eyed”.

A caring father brought three-year-old Khibla Gerzmava a piano from Germany. Since childhood, she began to sing, and over time, play the piano. The childhood of the heroine of our article passed under the walls Orthodox church in Pitsunda, she constantly listened to the organ music coming from there. Even at school age she began performing in pop groups. She achieved her first success in the song and dance ensemble "Sharatyn" in Pitsunda.

Her youth was tragic. By the age of 18, her father and mother had died. This had a strong influence on her worldview.

She went to a music school in Gagra to receive a music education. In Sukhumi she graduated from a music school in piano. Since childhood, I dreamed of becoming an organist, impressed by what I heard as a child in the cathedral.

In 1989, Khibla Gerzmava, whose photo is in this article, set off to conquer Moscow. She entered the capital's conservatory, from which she successfully graduated in 1994.

Professional career

Gerzmava Khibla not only successfully graduated from the vocal department, but also attended elective classes for three years to learn how to play the organ.

She attracted the close attention of foreign experts when she took third place at a competition in Italian Busseto, and then second at the prestigious vocal festival in Spain in Viñasa and the Rimsky-Korsakov competition, which took place in St. Petersburg.

During her student years, the heroine of our article achieved a major victory at international competition named after Tchaikovsky, which took place in the Russian capital in 1994. She performed the arias of the Snow Maiden and Rosina, deservedly winning the Grand Prix.

In 1995, she began performing at the Nemirovich-Danchenko Musical Theater. She still remains his soloist. Even though in 1998 she received an invitation to perform in Bolshoi Theater, but was forced to refuse due to a busy tour schedule.

The singer's creativity

During her career, singer Khibla Gerzmava performed dozens of roles in famous productions of the capital's musical theater.

Among the most successful, experts note Lyudmila in the opera “Ruslan and Lyudmila” by Glinka, the Swan Princess in “The Tale of Tsar Saltan” by Rimsky-Korsakov, Rosina in “The Barber of Seville” by Rossini, Adele in “Die Fledermaus” by Strauss, Medea in the opera of the same name by Cherubini .

Participation in festivals and competitions

Gerzmava Khibla has won many victories at prestigious competitions. For example, in 2008 she triumphantly performed at the Crescendo music festival. In the same year, she performed the role of Tatiana in Tchaikovsky's opera Eugene Onegin on the stage of Covent Garden in London. During her career, she visited the most famous theater venues in the world.

In 2010 she made her debut at the Metropolitan Opera in New York. There she got the incredibly difficult role of Antonia in an opera written by Jacques Offenbach called “The Tales of Hoffmann”. Few of the world's opera stars dare to perform it, because this is the only performance on the world opera stage in which a soprano has to be performed by four different voices at once within the framework of one work. The heroine of our article succeeded brilliantly, after which she earned the title of one of the greatest opera singers in the world. Nowadays, only one other opera performer successfully implements such experiments - the German Diana Damrau.

Since 2011, Gerzmava has been performing at the Rome Opera. There she performs the role of Mimi in Puccini's La bohème, as well as the role of Liu in another Puccini opera called Turandot.

In 2012, Khibla returned to the Covent Garden stage as Donna Anna. Mozart's Don Giovanni was a great success in London that season. At the same time, the singer performed the role of Liu from Turandot at the Metropolitan Opera.

At the same time, her experiments with a unique voice continued. She appeared on the stage of the Vienna Opera in La Clemenza di Titus with the complex role of Vitelia, which today, in general, few people undertake to perform. In this Mozart work, she presented her signature recitatives as well as lengthy arias with a varied vocal range. She performed the same role that season at the French Grand Opera.

Participation in modern productions

It is noteworthy that the heroine of our article regularly takes part not only in classical, but also in modern experimental productions. But he always emphasizes that he agrees to sing only in operas with taste, in which the creators do not cross the line of theatrical convention.

During foreign performances he successfully popularizes Abkhaz culture. Her songs in this language are always asked to be repeated as an encore. According to her own estimates, the most demanding and experienced audiences flock to opera productions in New York and Moscow.

For many years, Gerzmava has been fruitfully collaborating with and implementing a project with director Alexander Titel. She has repeatedly performed on the same stage with Denis Matsuev, the National Philharmonic Orchestra of Russia.

Personal life

The singer does not like to talk about her personal life. This is understandable. Khibla Gerzmava’s husband has been living separately from his family for a long time. They are divorced. Journalists were unable to obtain detailed information about who this person was.

It is known that in 1999 they had a son, and soon after that their paths diverged. Now Sandro, as the boy was named, is being raised by Khibla herself. She actively attracts him to creativity. Her son performs in the children's choir of the capital's musical and Nemirovich-Danchenko.

Interestingly, after the birth of her son, the singer’s voice changed. As experts note, he has become much softer and more lyrical. Tremolation, which previously often prevented her from performing, has disappeared. The romantic notes intensified, something she had strived for from the very beginning of her career.

Many titles and awards, stylish dresses, shimmering diamonds around the neck, huge baskets of flowers, the adoration of the public of various nationalities, as well as immense hard work, endurance and perseverance. All this is an opera singer with Abkhaz roots Khibla Gerzmava. From the outside, her life seems like a fairy tale, but on the way to this fairy tale, the singer had to overcome more than one obstacle. And sometimes personal life of Khibla Gerzmava became the sacrifice that had to be sacrificed on the altar of art.

The biography of Khibla Gerzmava began 46 years ago in Pitsunda. In addition to her, the family of the senior boarding house administrator and translator also has a son. The entire family of the future opera star had musical abilities and hearing. True, for a long time Khibla Gerzmava was preparing precisely for the career of a musician, and not a vocalist. She has been attracted to the organ since childhood. By the way, she still managed to master the instrument. Because of her love for music, the singer’s childhood was filled not only with joy and celebration, but also with everyday work, since she had to travel to neighboring Gagra to go to music school. Having also graduated from a music school with a degree in piano after school, Khibla Gerzmava decided to enter the Moscow Conservatory. This educational institution- the dream of her mother who passed away early. By the way, in an interview, the singer admitted that she acquired a real deep and colorful voice just after this tragic event, and subsequently, almost all tragedies and troubles in her personal life somehow had a beneficial effect on her voice. Two years after her mother, her father also left, and therefore, from her early years at the conservatory, Khibla Gerzmava was forced to independently overcome the difficulties and hardships associated with life in the capital. But such a frantic rhythm, when she worked obscured everything else, very quickly put the singer on a pedestal. While still a student, she won prizes at festivals, and therefore it is not surprising that after receiving her diploma she became a singer at the Nemirovich-Danchenko Theater. It became a second home and an additional school for her, because it was here that the singer honed her acting skills, stage presence, and style. And even now, performing on the most famous stages around the world, Khibla Gerzmava does not forget about home.

As for her personal life, the singer in everyday life is a cheerful and open person with a great sense of humor. In her environment, by Khibla Gerzmava’s own admission, male friends predominate, and women can be counted on one hand, but all of them are time-tested and situation-tested people who can be relied on. The singer willingly spends her free time with friends. But above all, she is a mother to her only son, Alexander. Today he is already eighteen years old. Despite inherited musical abilities and experience on stage, acquired in the theater’s children’s choir, he did not follow in his mother’s footsteps. Almost nothing is known about Khibla Gerzmava’s husband. For a long time, judging by the singer’s interview, they had a strong and harmonious family, but the couple have not lived together for several years. Naturally, Khibla Gerzmava tries to pass over the reasons for this decision in silence.
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