With the sun smiling down on the new festival, Dudana Mazmanishvili gave an open-air concert together with Kristjan Järvi and the Georgian Sinfonietta. The artists thrilled the audience with works by Kancheli, Bach and, most especially, with the premiere performance of Järvi’s New York Songs, a work for piano and string orchestra. The other recitals were staged at the concert hall of the renowned Georgian National Youth Palace in Tbilisi. They included an exciting evening with works by Wagner performed by soprano Nina Adlon and pianist Jeffrey Swann, and six top-class piano concerts given by Massimiliano Ferrati, Alexei Volodin, Martina Filjak, Gabrielle Leporatii, Edisher Savitski and Gesa Lücker. All of the instrumentalists also held master classes for young, gifted Georgian pianists, who gave a concert on the last day of the festival. The best of the students received special awards.
Torben Garlin, head of Concert Services at C. Bechstein, held another master class for young Georgian piano technicians. Bechstein shipped a total of six grand pianos from Germany for the festival, including two C. Bechstein D 282 concert grands. These will remain in Georgia for use in future concerts. Anyone wishing to rent one of these instruments can simply send a request – in German, English or Georgian – to: georgia@bechstein.de.
