CD REVIEW
– LISA
BATIASHVILI
CITY LIGHTS
Deutshe Grammophon
483 8586 (65.54)
This is a winner
in the 'crossover' album stakes,
taking its name from the 1931
Charlie Chaplin film.
Georgian-born German Lisa
Batiashvili is considered special
even among the very many fine
violinists of her generation,
praised by both audiences and
fellow musicians for her
virtuosity and sensitivity. On
this new release she has chosen
11 works with memories of places
that have been important in her
life and career so far.
The introductory
track 'City Memories' is a
7-minute tribute to Chaplin
including his Smile and The
Terry Theme from 'Limelight'.
Next, for memories of Munich, is
J S Bach's Ich ruf zu dir,
Herr Jesu Christ (I call to you,
Jesus Christ); followed by
Michel Legrand's Paris Violon;
and Ralph Maria Siegel's Ich
hab'noch einen Koffer in Berlin
(I’ve left a suitcase in
Berlin) – a hit for
Marlene Dietrich – featuring
the trumpet of Till Brönner and
piano of Nicoloz Rachveli, who
conducts the orchestras and has
also arranged a number of the
tracks. The playing by the
Rudfunk-Sinfonieorchester Berlin
is first-rate throughout, as is
the Georgian Philharmonic
Orchestra on the Piazzolla and
last three tracks recorded in
their home city.
The next piece,
for Helsinki, is the traditional Evening
Song; for Vienna, the Furioso
Galopp from Johann Strauss
I; for Rome, Morricone's Love
Theme from 'Cinema Paradiso';
for Buenos Aires, the tango
master Piazzolla’s Adiós
Nonino - Vuelvo al sur - Buenos
Aires hora cero with the
popular guitarist Miloš
Karadaglic; and for New York, the
Largo from Dvorak's
New World Symphony, arranged
by Lisa's father.
Lisa is also
joined by fellow Georgians Katie
Melua (the song’s
singer/composer) and her brother
Zurab (guitar) on No Better
Magic in praise of London;
Stephan Koncz's The Lark,
after a Romanian folk-song, is
for Bucharest; and for Tbilisi,
his birthplace, a medley of four
pieces from the pen of Nicoloz
Rachveli on themes by Giya
Kancheli, who until his death in
2019 was Georgia's leading
composer and had become part of
the two-year project to record
this disc. Rachvali himself was
the prime mover in Ms
Batiashvili's imaginative
venture.
Being an admirer
of her classical recordings, I am
pleased to discover Lisa's
lighter side. Recommended as one
of those albums that gets even
better the more you play it.
© Peter
Burt 2020
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