Vakhtang Machavariani (19 February 1951 – 6 May 2025) was a Georgian, Soviet and Russian conductor and composer. The

chief conductor A music director, musical director or director of music is a person responsible for the musical aspects of a performance, production, or organization. This would include the artistic director and usually chief conductor of an orchestra or concert ...

of the Georgian Philharmonic Orchestra from 1996, he worked with about 80

orchestra An orchestra (; ) is a large instrumental ensemble typical of classical music, which combines instruments from different families. There are typically four main sections of instruments: * String instruments, such as the violin, viola, cello, ...

s, among them prominent symphony orchestras of the world. His compositions include a symphony in memory of his father,

Aleksi Machavariani Aleksi Davitis dze Machavariani (23 September 1913 – 31 December 1995) was a Soviet and Georgian composer, conductor and pedagogue. He was granted the title of People's Artist of the USSR in 1958. Biography Aleksi Machavariani was born in G ...

, vocal works based on Shakespeare and Merab Kostava, and a symphonic poem ''Mariupol''.

Life and career

Machavariani was born in

Tbilisi Tbilisi ( ; ka, თბილისი, ), in some languages still known by its pre-1936 name Tiflis ( ), ( ka, ტფილისი, tr ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Georgia (country), largest city of Georgia ( ...

on 19 February 1951, the son of composer

and a grandson of the choral conductor Kirile Pachkoria. He studied piano at the

Tbilisi State Conservatoire Tbilisi State Conservatoire ( ka, თბილისის სახელმწიფო კონსერვატორია, ''Tbilisis Saxelmc̣ipo Ḳonservaṭoria'') is the State Conservatoire of Georgia, located in the capital Tbilisi. ...

with Emil Gurevich, graduating in 1973. He studied conducting there with Odisey Dimitiriadi, graduating in 1977. From 1991 he took a course with

Gennady Rozhdestvensky Gennady Nikolayevich Rozhdestvensky, CBE (; 4 May 1931 – 16 June 2018) was a Soviet and Russian conductor, pianist, composer, and pedagogue. Biography Gennady Rozhdestvensky was born in Moscow. His parents were the noted conductor and pedagog ...

at the

Moscow Conservatory The Moscow Conservatory, also officially Tchaikovsky Moscow State Conservatory () is a higher musical educational institution located in Moscow, Russia. It grants undergraduate and graduate degrees in musical performance and musical research. Th ...

, and further at the

Vienna Music Academy The University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna (, abbreviated MDW) is an Austrian university established in 1817 located in Vienna. With a student body of over three thousand, it is the largest institution of its kind in Austria, and one of t ...

with

Karl Österreicher Karl Österreicher (3 January 1923 – 11 March 1995) was an Austrian conductor and music teacher. Life Born in Rohrbach an der Gölsen, Lower Austria, Austrian studied clarinet as well as conducting with Hans Swarowsky, later also with Alfre ...

Conductor

In 1983 Machavariani conducted the world premiere of his father's Third and Fourth Symphonies in Tbilisi with the

Georgian State Symphony Orchestra The Georgian Philharmonic Orchestra (, ''sakartvelos erovnuli simponiuri ork'est'ri'') is the national orchestra of Georgia based in the capital Tbilisi. It was founded in 1925 as Georgian Symphony Orchestra, was named Georgian State Symphony Orc ...

., From 1984 to 1990, Machavariani conducted productions

Kirov Theatre The Mariinsky Theatre (, also transcribed as Maryinsky or Mariyinsky) is a historic opera house in Saint Petersburg, Russia. Opened in 1860, it became the preeminent music theatre of late 19th-century Russia, where many of the stage masterpieces ...

Leningrad Saint Petersburg, formerly known as Petrograd and later Leningrad, is the List of cities and towns in Russia by population, second-largest city in Russia after Moscow. It is situated on the Neva, River Neva, at the head of the Gulf of Finland ...

. He conducted the premiere of his father's ballet ''The Knight in the Tiger's Skin'' there in 1985. He was chief conductor of the Tbilisi State Academic Theater of Opera and Ballet from 1987 to 1990 and artistic director of the Chamber Orchestra of the Georgian Music Society from 1987 to 1991. In 1990, Machavariani created the Soviet Festival Orchestra (later the Moscow Festival Orchestra), which toured Europe and Asia. He was an assistant to

Lorin Maazel Lorin Varencove Maazel (; March 6, 1930 – July 13, 2014) was an American conductor, violinist and composer. He began conducting at the age of eight and by 1953 had decided to pursue a career in music. He had established a reputation in t ...

at the

Vienna State Opera The Vienna State Opera (, ) is a historic opera house and opera company based in Vienna, Austria. The 1,709-seat Renaissance Revival venue was the first major building on the Vienna Ring Road. It was built from 1861 to 1869 following plans by ...

. Machavariani was

of the Georgian Philharmonic Orchestra in Tbilisi from 1996. He conducted the world premiere of his father's Fifth and Sixths Symphonies with them in 1989. He also conducted the world premiere of his father's 1990 Cello Concerto with the orchestra and soloist T. Gabarashvili. He conducted the orchestra in 2008 in a memorial concert for his father presenting his music, a suite from his ballet ''Otello'', three romances for mezzo-soprano and orchestra to texts by Georgian authors, and the premiere of a symphonic suite, ''The Taming of the Shrew''. In 2010 he conducted the world premiere of his father's opera ''Medea'' in a concert performance. He conducted the Georgian Philharmonic in a concert of the Toradze Festival at the Tbilisi opera house in 2023, including Mozart's Piano Concerto No. 27 with soloist

Vladimir Feltsman Vladimir Oskarovich Feltsman (, ''Vladimir Oskarovič Feltsman'' (born 8 January 1952) is a Russian-American classical pianist descent particularly noted for his devotion to the music of Johann Sebastian Bach and Frédéric Chopin. Backgr ...

, Rachmaninoff's '' Isle of the Dead'' and Stravinsky's '' Firebird Suite''. Machavariani became artistic director of ''Bravo'', an opera festival founded by

Paata Burchuladze Paata Burchuladze ( ka, პაატა ბურჭულაძე; born 12 February 1955) is a Georgian operatic bass and civil activist. After his debut in his native Tbilisi in 1976, he embarked on a 35-year-long musical career during which ...

, in 1998, and was music director of Millenium, a large symphony orchestra of the Russian Federation from 2000 to 2008. He was a conductor of the Russian Bolshoi Symphony Orchestra from 2003 and performed regularly with the

Presidential Symphony Orchestra The Presidential Symphony Orchestra (; CSO), with headquarters in Ankara, is the presidential symphony orchestra of the Republic of Turkey. Its history dates back as far as 1826, making it one of the first symphony orchestras in the world. Afte ...

of Turkey from 2011. Machavariani was a principal guest conductor of the Georgian National Opera. In 2011 he conducted the world premiere of his father's ballet ''Pirosmani'' (Pictures of Old Tbilisi) in a concert performance at the opera house. Machavariani collaborated with 80 symphony orchestras including the

Saint Petersburg Philharmonic Orchestra The Saint Petersburg Philharmonic Orchestra (, ''Symphonic Orchestra of the Saint Petersburg Philharmonia'') is a symphony orchestra based in Saint Petersburg, Russia. Their home venue is the Saint Petersburg Philharmonia. History The roots of th ...

, the

Moscow Philharmonic Orchestra The Moscow Philharmonic Orchestra is an orchestra based in Moscow, Russia. It was founded in 1951 by Samuil Samosud, as the Moscow Youth Orchestra for young and inexperienced musicians, acquiring its current name in 1953. It is most associated wit ...

, the

State Academic Symphony Orchestra of the Russian Federation The State Academic Symphony Orchestra "Evgeny Svetlanov" (Государственный академический симфонический оркестр России имени Е. Ф. Светланова) is a Russian orchestra based in Mo ...

, the USSR Ministry of Culture Symphony Orchestra, the

Royal Philharmonic Orchestra The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra (RPO) is a British symphony orchestra based in London, England. The RPO was established by Thomas Beecham in 1946. In its early days, the orchestra secured profitable recording contracts and important engagemen ...

, German and French radio orchestras, and the Israel Symphony Orchestra. He directed the Night Serenades festival, founded by

Liana Isakadze Liana Alexandres asuli Isakadze (2 August 19465 July 2024) was a Georgian violinist and conductor. A child prodigy, she was supported and trained by David Oistrakh. She won the 1970 International Jean Sibelius Violin Competition, which brought h ...

, from 2018.

Composer

Machavariani composed his First Symphony "Harmonia Mundi", dedicated to the memory of his father, and premiered it with the orchestra of the National Opera at the

in 2014. He set ten of

Shakespeare's sonnets William Shakespeare (1565 –1616) wrote sonnets on a variety of themes. When discussing or referring to Shakespeare's sonnets, it is almost always a reference to the 154 sonnets that were first published all together in a quarto in 1609. Howe ...

for mezzo-soprano and orchestra. He wrote the libretto for his father's opera ''Medea'' and collaborated with him for the finale of its first act. He composed a tribute for Beethoven's anniversary in 2020, ''Dedication to Ludwig van B'' for strings, piano and timpani. The same year he wrote ''Impressions 2020'' for viola, mezzo-soprano, piano, celesta, harp and 7 percussionists, expressing the feelings during the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

. He composed a song, "Wait, O my soul" on a poem by Merab Kostava. In 2022, Machavariani composed a

symphonic poem A symphonic poem or tone poem is a piece of orchestral music, usually in a single continuous movement, which illustrates or evokes the content of a poem, short story, novel, painting, landscape, or other (non-musical) source. The German term ( ...

entitled "Mariupol," named after the Ukrainian city

Mariupol Mariupol is a city in Donetsk Oblast, Ukraine. It is situated on the northern coast (Pryazovia) of the Sea of Azov, at the mouth of the Kalmius, Kalmius River. Prior to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, it was the tenth-largest city in the coun ...

, dedicating it to its defenders and heroes in the

Siege of Mariupol The siege of Mariupol began on 24 February 2022 and lasted until 20 May, as part of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. It saw fighting between the Russian Armed Forces (alongside the Donetsk People's Republic People's Militia) and the Ukrainian ...

, as part of the Georgian Philharmonic Orchestra's solidarity rally in support of Ukraine.

Personal life and death

Machavariani and his wife, Alexandra, had a son, Aleksi. Machavariani died on 6 May 2025, at the age of 74, as announced on Facebook by Georgian soprano Tamar Iveri.

Awards

Machavariani was awarded the Presidential Order of Excellence in 2011.

Discography

As conductor

Machavariani conducted recordings of several of his fathers works, including his ballet ''The Man in the Panther's Skin'' in 1983 with the Cinema Orchestra of the SSSR, his ballet ''Otello'' in 1986, his First Symphony in 1987, his Third Symphony in 1988 and his Fifth Symphony Symphony in 1990, all of these with the Orchestra of the Kirov Theatre.

Notes

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Machavariani, Vakhtang 1951 births 2025 deaths Conductors (music) from Georgia (country) Composers from Georgia (country) Recipients of the Presidential Order of Excellence