Disgraced Georgian soprano Tamar Iveri performed at an anti-violence charity concert last night in the Georgian capital of Tbilisi. The performance marks the first stage in the singer's attempt to rebuild her international career, after gaining worldwide criticism for homophobic comments made on her Facebook page last year.
Iveri posted a letter on her Facebook page and addressed it to then-Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili May 18, 2013, the day after Orthodox Christian groups violently assaulted participants in a gay pride march in Tbilisi.
The letter reportedly included the following statements: "I was quite proud of the fact how Georgian society spat at the parade" and "Please, stop vigorous attempts to bring the West's 'faecal masses' in the mentality of the people by means of propaganda."
In a series of conflicting statements, Iveri subsequently claimed that either her husband wrote the offending post or that the couple had worked on it in tandem. Either way, following Limelight’s breaking of the story in June and the notoriety Iveri gained from the comments, the Georgian soprano was forced to exit her contracts with Brussels’s La Monnaie and other opera companies.
Last night's concert at Tbilisi’s historic Rustaveli Theatre saw Iveri joined by Georgian tenor Irakli Kakhidze, baritone George Gagnidze and the German violinist Sophie Moser.
Irakli Vacharadze, executive director of Identoba, the Georgian LGBTI advocacy organization, whose actions helped expose the offending remarks in the first place, said that, “Mrs. Iveri has made numerous attempts to restore [the] LGBT community's trust towards her. She has made [a] public apology to the community, has established a charity fund to fight all forms of violence. Mrs. Iveri now has come to fully understand that solidarity to LGBT human rights is important and valuable. Please note that we are deeply sorry that the past incidents have taken such a toll on her career. and we consider that everyone is entitled to forgiveness and acceptance.”
But many members of the LGBTI community believe Iveri is insincere. The reaction from LGBTI rights advocates has yet to be seen.
