He was born in Kutaisi, Georgia, on 12/4/1928. He graduated from the Tbilisi State Conservatory where he was taught by David Andguladze. In the beginning of his career, he interpreted, with great success, a series of lead tenor roles for seven seasons at the Tbilisi Opera Theater. As a result, he joined the Bolshoi Theatre in Moscow with which he collaborated from 1959 until 1970 as principal tenor. His exceptionally beautiful voice, striking stage presence and fiery temperament distinguished him as one of the top singers of the Soviet era. He sang Carmen, Aida, Rigoletto, La traviata, Boris Godunov and Iolanthe. He also sang the lead roles in operas like Faust, Don Carlo and The Queen of Spades. His role as Hermann in the Queen of Spades (Pikovaya dama) was the most important and famous of his performances. He collaborated with important Russian opera singers. When he returned to Tbilisi, he sang in many Georgian operas (Abesalom and Eteri, Daisi and Latavra by Paliashvili, Taktakishvili's Mindia, Lagidze's Lela, etc.) and gave memorable interpretations of Othello (Otello) and Canio (Pagliacci). He taught at the Tbilisi Conservatory and served as Head of the Musical Theater Department at the Tbilisi Theater Institute. There are partial recordings of his performances in Russian, Italian and Georgian operas. For the GNO he sang the role of Hermann in The Queen of Spades during the season 1965/66, under Odysseas Dimitriadis. He died on 12/4/1997. // Last update of the biography: December 2015 - The list of productions is updated.