Tribute to Hamlet Gonashvili by Jaba Shavishvili [08.11.2022] by Mutant Radio

Hamlet Gonashvili by Jaba Shavishvili.
To this date, Hamlet Gonashvili is still considered the “voice of Georgia”. He was an outstanding soloist, influential teacher and brilliant performer of traditional Georgian music. Born in the Eastern part of the country, Hamlet was known to be the best interpreter of songs from the regions of Kartli and Kakheti although he did not have any formal music education. He played an important role in the world-famous Rustavi choir, the first choir in Georgia to include into its program songs from all regions of the country. When Sergei Prokofiev heard the songs of the Georgian choir for the first time, he could not believe the fact that this was folk rather than original music work. On the on hand, Gonashvili's work is closely related to folklore, and on the other hand, it is a kind of synthesis of the aesthetic ideals of classical music of Georgian and Western European music. His songs are becoming more and more popular abroad - foreigners use Hamlet Gonashvili's "Urmuli" and "Orovela" for films and mass scenes as a mystical event, in other words as a unique expression of the ability of human voice. Hamlet Gonashvili’s huge diapason and impeccable singing ability in combination with his marvelous timbre was usually “leaving the audience hypnotized”. At the height of his creative powers, Hamlet died in a tragic accident in 1985 falling off a tree while picking apples. He had been awarded his country’s most important honors and prizes.