The legacy

"Giya Kancheli was one of the group of composers who grew up under the Soviet Union, which also included the Estonian Arvo Pârt and the Ukrainian Valentin Silvestrov. They each discovered European modernism and thereafter went their own way ... His compositions fall into two groups: in Georgia his chief achievements were his cycle of seven symphonies, the two other concertante works included here and also an opera ... The performances, under Kancheli's long-time collaborator the conductor Djansug Kakhidze, are authoritative ... Cugate kindly informed me that they were all remastered from digital recordings made in the 1990s ... Certainly they all sound splendid ... The soloists are not credited, but I was informed that they were all members of the orchestra, apart from Yuri Bashmet ... Many people have been wanting a complete set of Kancheli's symphonies. Now here they are".

Læs anmeldelse

"Editor's choice: The symphonies of Giya Kancheli (1935-2019) constitue a truly remarkable body of work. They come out of the context of Soviet Georgia and all the social and cultural elements that implies ... While they are pervaded by a sense of sorrow ... they also possess simultaneously an extraordinary power and a disarmingly delicate intimacy ... They span the years 1967 to 1986, and are complemented in this five-disc set by a disc containing 'Svetlaya pechal' (Light sorrow, 1985) and 'Mourned by the wind' for viola and orchestra (1986). Kakhidze was a lifelong collaborator of Kancheli, and understood his work as few others ... His deep understanding of it shines through in this performances ... They are quite simply outstanding throughout ... Let no one with the slightest interest in this giant among composers be dissuaded from buying these five discs, which constitute such a magnificent monument to his life and work".