Berliner Philharmoniker concert to commemorate composer Giya Kancheli

The legacy of late Georgian composer Giya Kancheli will be honoured in a Berlin concert next month when the Berliner Cappella choir joins fellow artists of the Pomeranian Philharmonic, soloist Tahlia Petrosian and conductor Sergi Gili Solé in performance.

At the Berliner Philharmoniker venue, dubbed "the musical heart of Berlin", the group will be on stage for a rendition of Styx, a major work of Kancheli, a renowned composer who died last fall and has been commemorated in musical homages in Georgia and Europe.

Kancheli's work, "a kind of Georgian requiem", will be performed along with Schicksalslied and Nänie by Johannes Brahms. The sounds of the classical creations will be heard within the walls of the venue's Chamber Music Hall.

Under the programme entitled "Even the beautiful must die", Styx, a "gem of contemporary choral symphonic music" will come to the audience as one of the significant creations of the lasting body of work Kancheli has left behind.

Kancheli died last year at the age of 84. Artists paid homage to his legacy in musical events held in Georgia and Europe since.

In Greek mythology, Styx is the river of the underworld that separates the realm of the living from that of the dead [...] The composer himself knew what it means to cross borders. In 1991 he left his homeland of Georgia in the turmoil of the collapse of the Soviet Union and [...] lived in Western Europe ever since" - Georgisches Kulturzentrum Berlin

The choir will be on stage along with the Polish philharmonic orchestra and Petrosian, a recipient of the Artist Development Award from the Australian Council and the Australian Music Foundation Prize, among other honours. 

They will be led by Gili Solé, a Catalan-born artist who studied choral conducting at the Berlin University of the Arts and has since led choirs in concerts in the capital city.

The Berliner Philharmoniker concert will be held on February 23 at the venue located at 1, Herbert Von Karajan Street.