21/10/2017
Let me introduce an absolute highlight for this coming Christmas season - something different and enjoyable. As the American Music Guide - July 2017 issue put's it:
VAKHATANG KAKHIDZE:
Christmas Trilogy; Moon Dances
Alexander Kniazev, vc; Rustavi Choir; Mdzlevari
Boys Choir; Tbilisi Symphony/ Vakhtang
Klakhidze—Cugate Classics : 27—63 minutes
Georgian composer Vakhtang Kakhidze (b.
1959) studied composition in Tbilisi and in
Moscow (orchestration with Edison Denisov)
and has become prominent as a conductor
(currently of the Tbilisi Symphony).
His wonderful Christmas Trilogy (2003) is
a collection of three pieces for the holiday in
various styles (Baroque and folk styles from
Georgia, Russia, and Germany) for chorus, boy
choir, and orchestra. It’s a joyful work with
hints of Tchaikovsky, Bach, and Rachmaninoff;
but it is unmistakably of its time and place.
The opening Gloria is tuneful and utterly irresistible:
I couldn’t stop smiling and wanted to
sing along. The Elegy is filled with characteristic
chant and drones, uncomplicated but moving.
The big finale is alternately celebratory,
prayerful, and Christmasy, often gentle and
beautiful, sometimes a little corny. There is a
wild peasant dance played with virtuosity by
this enthusiastic orchestra; there is some
rough singing by the kids. It is hard not to love.
The audience loved it also, as can be heard
from the applause.
Moon Dances (1994) is a four-movement
suite for cello and orchestra, lovely but inconsequential
concert pieces (played without
pause). The opening ‘Blues’ is more of a prayer
than anything remotely American. The following
‘Waltz’ could be a Tchaikovsky outtake, the
limping ‘Scherzo’ easy and cheery. The closing
‘Rondo’ is joyous.
Although this will certainly not explode the
new music scene, you would need to be made
of steel not to enjoy it. Unfortunately there are
no texts or translations; that might prevent this
release from getting much attention over here,
but that would be a shame, particularly when
the holidays roll around in December and listeners
need something new to give to their
music-loving friends as a stocking stuffer. But
don’t wait, unless you are too much of a pretentious
modernist to enjoy it.
GIMBEL
https://itunes.apple.com/de/playlist/christmas-highlight/idpl.u-jV890vjT7v4Pr
Auf Apple Music anhören