Search - The Georgian Voices :: Memory

Indispensable Georgian choral collection

postupano | Arlington VA | 02/04/2009

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Buy this, right now. If you love Georgian male chorus singing, this is one of the best combinations of repertoire and performance out there. It's a recording of a live concert given in Australia in 1992;as explained in the excellent notes, this ensemble feels more comfortable performing with an audience, and it shows. If you have heard other collections of this repertoire, many of the "greatest hits" like "Shen har venahi" and "Khasanbegura" are here, but this group is the only one known to me that performs the sublime song "Gahsovs turpav." There's a great ebb and flow to the program, with contemplative melisma-over-drone songs contrasted by dance songs accompanied by the evocative lute-like "chonguri". Track 10, Orira, gets the blood pumping when the choir punctuates the growing excitement with that rhythmic clapping that gets you right out of your seat and ready to chase down some Caucasian bandits; for good measure they throw in some licks that remind me of the Balinese monkey chant. "Chiche tura," a comic song, is instantly infectious, punctuated by barnyard sound effects. The audience's enthusiastic applause is not obtrusive, and the whole program makes me wish I had had the chance to hear this excellent group in performance. The notes inform us that with the exception of the artistic director Robert Gogolashvili these are not professional singers, but you could have fooled me. If you like this, try to find "Lifesongs:Powerful Songs of Simplicity" (see my review), a studio recording by the Tblisi Folk Ensemble; I can't say for sure but I'm almost certain it's the same group under an earlier name. The Georgian Voices have another album called "The Years," but "Memory" is the one to start with if you can find it.

Urgently recommended.

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