From Georgia with Love

I am writing these notes from Tbilissi, the capital of Georgia. (Sorry, Professor Warner for stepping on your territory). I did not come here to work but to support a charity foundation launched by a friend, a great opera singer, Paata Burchuladze, who became famous winning the Tchaikovsky competition in Moscow in 1982. What I saw and felt here prompted me to turn to my computer.

Anyone vaguely interested in the post-Soviet politics knows about the growing tension between Russia and Georgia which reached its culmination when the import of Georgian wines was prohibited, flights between Moscow and Tbilisi cancelled and a group of Georgians was deported from Moscow. And on top of it the Georgian President called Vladimir Putin a dwarf. Russians were shocked by Georgia’s playing with NATO which they considered as openly hostile.

Full of memories of my previous delightful trips here, I could hardly imagine any hostility from the local people. However, upon advice from my cautious Moscow friends I travelled with my Swiss passport. There was no need for that.

Whatever one might hear on Russian TV, ordinary Georgians do not hate Russians. You feel it from the very first moment, at the airport.  When I presented it my red and white passport, the lady at the immigration desk offered a welcoming phrase in English. Then, seeing my Russian name, she shyly switched to Russian.

“How nice it is to hear you speak Russian”, I said.

“How nice it is that you have come to Georgia”, she replied, and stamped my passport.

This was at 3.05 am.

The 30th anniversary celebration for Paata Burchuladze’s singing career took place in the Opera House. Security was at its height – no wonder, the President of Georgia and half of cabinet ministers, the Patriarch, as well as many other dignitaries, were in attendance. The beautiful, old-fashioned room was full. 

Having performed on all best opera stages of the world, Paata could have brought any orchestra to join him in this celebration. (Thanks to him, many stars have already visited Georgia). However, for this very special occasion he chose to invite Maestro Yury Temirkanov with the Saint-Petersburg Philharmonic. Why? Because Paata thinks they are the best. And I am sure those who had the chance to hear this orchestra will agree with him. The concert programme consisted entirely of Russian music – Moussorgsky and Rimsky-Korsakov. Paata performed – brilliantly, of course – the famous final scene from Boris Godunov. Why that rather than Verdi, Mozart or anything else from his vast repertoire? Because this is where his heart lies.

One might speculate about Georgian President Saakishvili’s feelings when listening to Boris’s words “I’ve reached the highest power…”.  Or perhaps there was none.  But he did sit through the concert and later, at the reception, drank to the health of the St. Petersburg Philharmonic members.

After the concert, Paata and his friends and supporters offered keys to the new apartments to six big and fatherless families, whose kids his Foundation has been supporting. To say that this moment was moving is to say nothing…

Later – very late indeed! – that evening, as well as the following day, at a luncheon offered by Moscow-based Georgian businessmen, I had the chance to talk at length to both our hosts and the members of the orchestra, for whom this was the first trip to Georgia. Equal bewilderment on both sides: who might be interested in breaking the friendship between our people? Lenin’s famous question – who is interested, who might benefit? Georgian intelligentsia criticizes its President just as much as the Russian one criticizes hers. Perhaps even more. But both agree that what is happening in the “high spheres” between our countries is simply stupid and artificial. 

The point of this short note is not to go into political analysis but simply to share with you what I have felt so strongly during my stay in Tbilisi. Georgian and Russian people are not enemies. And if politicians do not get it, musicians certainly do. 

PS If for some reason you’ve never heard about Paata Burchuladze, you will find plenty in the Internet but the most straightforward and unexpected praise comes from Stephen Fry in his wonderful book, “Incomplete and utter history of classical music”. See the chapter entitled “My name is Classic. Neo-classic”. Enjoy!