Georgian Philharmonic Orchestra / Mazmanishvili / Rachveli

Kancheli was already writing pop songs and chansons as a student. He later progressed to film soundtracks and music for the theatre, and all his seven symphonies were composed in his native Georgia before he relocated to Western Europe. He dedicated his Fifth Symphony, which is a work of extremes, to his parents: childhood memories, nostalgia and the pain of parting are cast here as quotations from Georgian folk music, with radical alternation between choleric and melancholy passages.

Peace and quiet remain Kancheli’s musical forte – as shown in the no less extreme composition »Warzone«. The original title was »Vorzon«, which is the Ossetian word for love. But while working on the score, Kancheli spontaneously decided to rename it, choosing the very similar English word »Warzone«. The new title was much better suited to the political situation in Caucasia, and for Kancheli it’s »only a small step« from love to war.

The experts in the music of this region are the Georgian Philharmonic Orchestra under the baton of their conductor Nikoloz Rachveli. Rachveli was just recently appointed UNICEF ambassador, and has also brought along a work from his own pen to perform this evening. Georgian pianist Dudana Mazmanishvili, one of today’s most interesting young pianists – rounds off the concert with a piece by a kindred soul of Kancheli’s: Sergei Rachmaninov dedicated his extremely popular Piano Concerto No. 2 to his physician Nikolai Dahl, who helped him find his way out of a deep creative crisis by treating him with hypnosis.