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The Georgian pianist, Irakly Avaliani, was born in into an old Georgian family. He began studying music with Mrs Tchernyavskaya at the Tbilisi Music College and gave his first concert at the age of 9. He continued his studies in Maestro Vlassenko’s class at the Moscow Tchaikovsky Conservatoire where he graduated with distinction in 1974.
Irakly Avaliani began his career at a time when, because of the political situation, it was very difficult for Soviet artists to perform and even to gain permission to leave the country. He decided to return to Georgia where he perfected his technique with Ethéry Djakeli, who won the first prize at the CNSM in Paris and the Conservatoire Royal in Brussels and was a pupil of both Lazare Levy and Eduardo Del Pueyo. It was Ethéry Djakeli who first introduced Irakly Avaliani to the teachings of Marie Jaëll, and consequently completely revolutionised his piano technique over five years. He is now among a privileged handful of artists, Albert Schweitzer, Dinu Lipatti and Eduardo Del Pueyo who have pursued this way of playing. He has also translated two books by Marie Jaëll into both Russian and Georgian.
Irakly Avaliani then played as a soloist for «Filarmonia», the National Concert Agency in Moscow. Irakly Avaliani performed in all the Republics in the former USSR from Riga to Vladivostok, the Caucasus to Central Asia and from Moscow to Saint-Petersburg. He gave over 200 orchestral and chamber music recitals and concerts a year. His broad-ranging repertoire allows him to explore all piano styles, from Scarlatti to Scriabin, from the Romantic to the contemporary. His arrangements - in particular of Franz Liszt and Fritz Kreisler, which are extremely technically challenging, confi rm his reputation as an exceptional musician.
In 1989, Perestroika allowed Irakly Avaliani to settle in Paris. He gained French nationality in 1992. His first recital at the Théâtre des Champs Elysées in 1995 was a resounding success. His recording of Johannes Brahms' Trios was selected by Reader’s Digest - alongside artists such as Carlo Maria Giulini, Aafje Heynis, Janos Starker, Wolfgang Sawallisch, and the Wiener Symphoniker - in a box set released for the Johannes Brahms Centenary.
Irakly Avaliani’s recording contract, the fruits of which have been lauded by the music press, has been managed by the Balas Group over the last ten years. |
