Lamara Chkonia

Lamara Chkonia (27 December 1930 – 14 March 2024) was a Georgian soprano. As one of a number of opera singers who made contributions to the vocal culture of Georgia and the former Soviet Union, Lamara was one of the few women to break through the Iron Curtain.

Early years
Chkonia was born in Georgia (then part of the Soviet Union as the Georgian SSR), to a theatrical and musical family. Her uncle Akaki Chkonia, a writer and a director of the Tbilisi Opera and Ballet Theatre, was executed in 1937 during the Great Purge. At Tbilisi State Conservatoire, she studied with Valerian Cashelli, who had performed at Milan's La Scala and other opera houses in Italy for several years. Under his tutelage, her art was influenced by the Italian school of opera. After her tenure at home in Georgia's Tbilisi Opera, she was accepted as a leading soloist of the Kiev National Opera and Ballet Theatre. During that time, she debuted in productions of other famous theaters including the Kirov Mariinsky Theatre in Saint Petersburg.



Chkonia's repertoire consisted of about 40 opera roles, including the title roles of Verdi's La traviata, Puccini's Madama Butterfly, Gilda in Verdi's Rigoletto, Marguerite in Gounod's Faust, Rosina in Rossini's Il barbiere di Siviglia, and the title role of Daisi by Zakaria Paliashvili.

Chkonia made many recordings, including 15 CDs (over 250 works) for the "Golden Fund of the USSR" with the National Radio of Moscow, Tbilisi, and Kiev with the participation of the Soviet Union best symphony orchestras. She made several concert tours outside of the Soviet Union, where she received praise from critics.

Success and international recognition
Chkonia won competitions, including the Glinka Competition held in Moscow, the Sofia Competition held in Bulgaria, and the Prague Spring held in Czechoslovakia. She also won the Best Actress award at the Madame Butterfly Competition held in Japan. She was the first female singer from the former Soviet state of Georgia to become a vocal competition laureate. She appeared on stages of Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia, Romania and Japan.

Chkonia was invited to official state and private solo concerts, where her audiences included Nikita Khrushchev, Leonid Brezhnev, Josip Broz Tito, Indira Gandhi, François Mitterrand, John F. Kennedy, Fidel Castro, Gustáv Husák, Yuri Gagarin, Todor Zhivkov, Erich Honecker, Nicolae Ceaușescu, János Kádár, Mikhail Gorbachev, and Eduard Shevardnadze. She was also a frequent guest on state television shows such as Blue Light, Morning Post, Music Mail, and others.

Chkonia became a deputy of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR (1979-1984).

Chkonia's name is included in the Great Soviet Encyclopedia.

Later life and death
In 1996, Chkonia moved permanently to Madrid to live with her youngest daughter, soprano Eteri Lamoris. There she engaged in teaching. She took up teaching and occasionally conducted master classes in France and Portugal. With 40 years of experience in teaching, Chkonia nurtured many singers, including her daughters, Eteri Lamoris and Natela Nicoli).

In September 2011, Chkonia’s 80th birthday was celebrated at Batumi Music and Art Center.

Chkonia died on 14 March 2024, at the age of 93. The prime minister of Georgia, Irakli Kobakhidze, sent condolences, speaking of her "particularly individual and characteristic performances".

Awards
In 1976, Chkonia was awarded People's Artist of the USSR, the highest artistic honor of the time.

In 1984, the Higher Education Commission of the USSR awarded her the title of professor of the Higher Academy of Music.

Ckronia's State Awards include:


 * "Znak Pochteca" (Order of the Badge of Honor), USSR 1974
 * «Кредо» (Credo), and "Орден Великомученицы Варвары" (Order of St. Barbara) Ukraine 2011;
 * "Order of King Tamar” and The Presidential Order of Excellence", Republic of Georgia 2011
 * Premio "Cigno D'Oro," Italy 2011