Marking one century since the birth of Alexi Matchavariani. Highlights

Alexi Matchavariani was born in Gori in the east of Georgia to an aristocratic family. Having graduated from the Tbilisi Conservatoire in composition and completed his postgraduate studies there he launched his career as a composer. In 1963 he became a professor at the Tbilisi State Conservatoire (class of composition).
As the son and brother of emigrants Alexi Matchavariani was persecuted on numerous occasions. In the early 1920s Matchavariani was sentenced to death by firing squad, though fate was to intervene.
The composer’s first work – Chorumi for piano – won widespread acclaim. His 1944 Piano Concerto was also a great success, being performed in Tbilisi, Moscow, various cities in the USSR and in Germany.
In 1944 Matchavariani wrote his first opera Mother and Son after the eponymous work by Ilya Chavchavadze which was commissioned by the Tbilisi Opera House.
The composer’s First Symphony (1947) was a major success. The symphony was conducted in Moscow by Alexander Gauk in addition to being performed in Leningrad and entering the repertoires of numerous orchestras. This symphony was later subjected to criticism for “formalism”. In the early 1950s Alexi Matchavariani himself was labelled a “formalist” and he was included in a list of people to be exiled with their families. Fate once again, however, saved the composer and following Stalin’s death the persecution ceased.
It was then that the composer began to win public renown. His Violin Concerto (1949) was a phenomenal success, first performed by Michael Vaiman and later by David Oistrakh. The concerto was recorded by Melodiya and Columbia (USA) as well as in West Germany.
In 1957 Matchavariani composed the ballet Othello, which was staged in Tbilisi and at the Bolshoi and Kirov (Mariinsky) Theatres. The ballet proved an absolute triumph in Tokyo, Paris, Helsinki and Bucharest as well as throughout the USA, Germany, Czechoslovakia and Hungary. It was for this ballet that the composer was awarded the Gold Medal of the Centro Culturale Braidense in Milan. The ballet was used for a film production that was shown in countries throughout the world.
Other acclaimed works by the composer include Five Monologues to lyrics by Vazha-Pshavela (1964, Rustaveli Prize), the operas Hamlet (1967) and Medea (1991) and the ballets The Knight in the Tiger Skin (1973, staged at the Bolshoi and Kirov Theatres) and Pirosmani (1992). The composer also wrote seven symphonies including the immense Symphony No 5, Ushba (1986). This symphony was conducted by Vakhtang Matchavariani in Tbilisi and Leningrad.
In 1984 Matchavariani composed the two-act ballet The Taming of the Shrew for the Stanislavsky and Nemirovich-Danchenko Moscow Music Theatre.
Matchavariani wrote the music for numerous films including The Secret of Two Oceans (directed by Konstantin Pipinashvili), which was awarded a prize at the Venice International Film Festival.
Alexi Matchavariani was also involved in public works. As the Chairman of the Board of the Georgian Union of Composers and a member of the Board of the Union of Composers of the USSR he was able to assist a great many people. One of the composer’s greatest achievements may be considered the opening of a philharmonic concert venue with two halls in the heart of Tbilisi, an event that occurred thanks to his active involvement.
Alexi Matchavariani was a People’s Artist of the USSR, a recipient of the State Prize of the USSR and a recipient of the Shota Rustaveli State Prize.