BBC Music Magazine: “5 Reasons Why This New Georgian Festival is a Must-Visit”

The upcoming inaugural Tsinandali Festival in Georgia’s eastern province of Kakheti has been dubbed “one of September’s biggest highlights” by BBC Music Magazine.

The launch occasion for the Festival — which will bring live classical music to listeners in a setting of a historical Tsinandali Estate — will precede more than two weeks of performances by major artists like cellist Misha Maisky, violinist Lisa Batiashvili, pianist Nicholas Angelich and soprano Ying Fang.

A preview for the event, published by BBC Music Magazine to introduce the musical celebration in the sunlit winemaking province to readers, says it will “draw together some of the greatest musicians from the east and west for a series of unforgettable performances”.

While the chateau and the well-known quality of wine made in Kakheti are reasons to be part of the Festival, authors of the piece have drawn up a formal top five of its attractions.

A brand-new orchestra of performers from across the wider region, involving artists from Georgia, Turkey, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Ukraine and Kazakhstan and led by conductor Gianandrea Noseda, is one of the things to be entertained by, the feature says.

[Comprising the orchestra,] the region’s most exciting young musicians [were] trained for six weeks at the Tsinandali Estate by world-leading musicians.

More points of interest brought by the Festival include the Verbier Festival Chamber Orchestra, one of the artists and groups featured in the wide programme.

[The VFCO is] composed of alumni from the Verbier Festival’s artist training programmes, most of whom now grace some of the finest orchestras in the world.

[They] will be holding several unforgettable concerts throughout the Tsinandali Festival, as well as sharing experiences and rehearsing with the festival’s young musicians.

Another element to be excited about is the vision of the Festival, under the leadership of Noseda — an acclaimed conductor who has held positions of musical director and principal conductor at major orchestras like the National Symphony Orchestra in Washington DC and the London Symphony Orchestra.

The BBC Music Magazine article picks the location of the event, a 17th century chateau that served as a residence of the noble Chavchavadze family in Kakheti, as a further highlight.

The estate is being transformed into a global destination with a newly opened luxury Radisson Collection hotel and spectacular 1,200-seat and 600-seat concert halls, combined with a state-of-the-art winery continuing Georgia’s winemaking heritage.

Finally, the top five list is rounded off by what it represents at its core — a “showcase of a generation of talent in the region” in celebration of classical music.

The first edition of the Tsinandali Festival opens on September 8.

Read the full story here.