Born in Tbilisi, the capital of then-Soviet Georgia, he graduated from the Tbilisi State Conservatoire and continued his studies at the Bolshoi school. He made a student debut in Tbilisi in 1976 and then took part in several singing competitions, including at the Bolshoi in Moscow, where he sang in "Boris Godunov". Early in his career, Burchuladze sang Leporello ("Don Giovanni"), Prince Gremin ("Eugene Onegin"), and King Rene ("Iolanta") for the Tbilisi Opera House. Burchuladze was further trained in Milan from 1978 to 1981 and sang Banquo, Pagano ("I Lombardi"), Walter ("Luisa Miller") and Zaccaria ("Nabucco") at La Scala.