Tamara Gverdtsiteli - 58: What destroyed the singer's personal happiness

2024 Author: Richard Flannagan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-15 23:55

On January 18, the famous Georgian singer, People's Artist of Georgia, the Russian Federation and Ingushetia Tamara Gverdtsiteli will be 58 years old. Her professionalism has developed very successfully - for more than 40 years she has been performing on stage, music has become her vocation, service, the meaning of life and salvation from all troubles. But she also deprived her of what brought happiness …

Glory and recognition came to her very early. At the age of 9, Tamriko (as she was called in childhood) became a member of the children's pop ensemble "Mziuri", with which she toured a lot throughout the Union. While studying at the Tbilisi Conservatory, at the age of 19 she became the winner of the international song competition in Sochi "Red Carnation", later won the first prize at the international competition "Golden Orpheus" in Sofia, performed as a special guest at pop song festivals in Sopot and San Remo. After that, they started talking about her in Europe as one of the most talented Soviet singers.

Once the French composer and singer Michel Legrand heard Tamara Gverdtsiteli perform his song from the Umbrellas of Cherbourg, and was so amazed that he invited her to Paris. It would seem, well, what is there to doubt - such chances fall once in a lifetime. But then the singer really had reasons for doubts. At that time, she was already married to the director of the Tbilisi theater, Georgy Kakhabrishvili, in 1986 the couple had a son, Sandro. The husband was himself a representative of the creative profession and at first did not interfere with his wife's musical career.

Tamara always dreamed of a strong family. After all, the first shock of her childhood was the divorce of her parents, which she was going through very hard. Since then, she has always looked for protection, support and support in men. Perhaps that is why Kakhabrishvili, who was 15 years older than her, became her chosen one. The wedding was very magnificent, 300 people were invited to it, including even … Margaret Thatcher! True, it was not the newlyweds who initiated this, but Eduard Shevardnadze, who invited Thatcher, who had come to Georgia on a visit, to the opening of the Tbilisi registry office. The delegation arrived there at the time of the registration of the marriage between Gverdtsiteli and Kakhabrishvili.

At first, their marriage was happy - like all Georgian women, Tamara tried to devote a lot of time to home and family. "" - said the singer. But in the late 1980s. in the relationship of the couple there was a cooling. When armed conflicts broke out in Georgia, it turned out that the spouses had different political views, and they literally found themselves "on opposite sides of the barricades." About that time, the artist said: "". In such conditions, it was absolutely impossible to continue making music in Tbilisi.

And the singer accepted Michel Legrand's offer. This meeting convinced her that she made the right choice and should stay in music. After the concert at Olympia, the singer was offered a two-year contract to work in France. She successfully performed in front of French listeners with Michel Legrand, and after that she returned - not to Tbilisi, but to Moscow, taking her mother and son from Tbilisi. Tamara Gverdtsiteli still hoped that her husband would come to them, she lived for several years in anticipation, but he did not dare to move: at first he explained this by the fact that he could not quit his job, then - that he could not leave the country. But then the artist understood the main thing: he is no longer afraid of losing her herself. So in 1995, their marriage broke up.

In the same year, the artist left for America. There, in her life, love happened, which she today calls the strongest and deepest. Dmitry was originally from Baku, then emigrated to the United States, made a career as a lawyer there. Gverdtsiteli met him during a tour in America. Their feelings were mutual and all-consuming. He did not require her to quit her musical career, he was ready to fly after her all over the world.

The singer said: "". But even then, the artist did not think about giving up her career and staying in America.

They stayed together for two years, but this story ended abruptly and tragically. When Tamara was in Moscow, in the middle of the night she received a call and was told that Dmitry had died of cardiac arrest. The artist recalled: "". As it always was, music became a consolation and salvation for her, only on stage could she give free rein to her feelings. "", - the singer admits.

Later, trying to drown out the pain, Gverdtsiteli tried again to build a family and married a cardiac surgeon Sergei Ambatelo. But this marriage did not last long and broke up in 2005. The artist never commented on the reasons, admitting only that she considered it a mistake: "".

Since then, the artist calls her son the only man in her life. She devoted herself to the stage, but paid too dear a price for it - personal happiness.

She performed with success in different countries, but did not dare to leave forever: Why Tamara Gverdtsiteli didn't stay in Paris.