“If You Do Not Live, You Will Not Die” Tariverdiev Tribute Concert

On October 25, a gala concert was held to commemorate Mikael Tariverdiev, famous Tbilisi-born composer of Armenian descent, at the Georgian Opera and Ballet Theater.

Tariverdiev lived in Tbilisi until the age of 19. His debut as a composer took place on the Opera theatrical stage in 1949, where his choreographic etudes were performed. His multicolored creative works comprise music for opera, ballet, organ, as well as still-popular soundtracks.

The list of the participants of the 3-hour anniversary concert to mark the 85th year of the deceased maestro was almost as impressive as the music itself. The invited musicians from Russia – Alexander Polianichko (conductor), and Alexei Goribol (pianist) were the main and nearly constant personages of the evening. The 16-year old Georgian young composer and pianist Sandro Nebieridze and actors of the Tbilisi Alexander Griboedov Russian Drama Theater, Orchestra of Georgian State Opera and its soloists, also took part in the grandiose musical event.

The first act opened with Nebieridze’s performance of prelude from the film “I will go, as I have promised” followed by Russian trio Meridian who offered the vocal cycle of verses by Andrei Voznesenski. The first act was capped by the mono-opera “Anticipation,” performed by young soprano Termine Zaryan.

The second part of the event was packed with film-music. Tariverdiev was fond of cinemaand never took part in anything he did not love. “Goodbye, guys” was the first motion picture from which the prelude was performed by Alexei Goribol. The overture and final was played from the movie “Golden River” by the Orchestra. Young Georgian female singer Lela Telia performed a suite from the film “King-Deer”, namely, “Angela’s Ballade.” Maia Baratashvili, singer, soloist of the Tbilisi Big Band, Best Jazz Vocalist of Monte Carlo International Jazz Awards 2007, performed “Don’t Vanish” from the film “Olga Sergeevna.” And more…

The greatest ovation went to Tariverdiev’s songs and shots on screen from the immortal Russian film “Irony of Fate”, which is still watched in Georgia every New Year’s. The lyric of the most popular one goes like this: “If you have no wife, she will not go to another man… If you have no home, you will not fear fire… If you have no dog, no neighbor will poison him…If you do not live, then you will not die…”

The gala concert was staged by director Andro Enukidze and organized by the Mikael Tariverdiev Charity Fund and International Cultural-Educational Union Russian Club.

Maka Lomadze