Irakli Kakhidze

Georgian tenor Irakli Kakhidze received his musical training at the conservatory in his hometown of Batumi, Georgia, graduating in 2005 and becoming a member of the opera studio at the State Music Center of Batumi. As a soloist at the Tbilisi Opera, he later appeared in roles such as Ismaele in Verdi's “Nabucco” and Cavaradossi in Puccini's “Tosca”. Irakli Kakhidze has performed the role of Ismaele at the Dortmund Theater, the Bergen National Opera, the Latvian National Opera, and the Festival Chorégies d'Orange, among others. Irakli Kakhidze is a prize winner of the Georgian Theatre Society and the Lado Atanéli Competition. In 2014, he was a finalist in the Paris Opera Awards and subsequently performed at the opera houses in Marseille, Avignon, and Toulouse. From 2011 to 2013, he was a member of the Centre National d'Artistes Lyriques (CNIPAL) in Marseille and Avignon. Since the 2017/18 season, Irakli Kakhidze has been a permanent member of the ensemble at the Nationaltheater Mannheim, where he has already appeared in productions such as Ernani (Verdi), Norma (Bellini), Il trovatore (Verdi), and Werther (Massenet). In recent years, the tenor has also performed internationally in Hong Kong, Seoul, and Taiwan, as well as in Leipzig, Riga, and Tbilisi. His planned roles for the 2025/26 season include Radamès (Verdi's “Aida”) at the Opera Riga, Don José (Bizet's “Carmen”) in Leipzig, and Canio (Leoncavallo's “Pagliacci”) and F. B. Pinkerton (“Madama Butterfly”) at the National Theater Mannheim. Irakli Kakhidze has been awarded the Georgian President's Medal of Honor and is an honorary citizen of his hometown Batumi. At the Deutsche Oper am Rhein, he has performed roles such as Turiddu (Mascagni's “Cavalleria rusticana”), Don José (Bizet's ‘Carmen’) and Cavaradossi (Puccini's “Tosca”). He returns to the Rhein Opera in the new production of “Il trovatore” (Verdi) in the role of Manrico.