Ananiashvili

I did not realise that Nina Ananiashvili, the inspired director of the Tbilisi State Ballet Company at the Opera House there is still dancing at the American Ballet Theater (sic) - she is well into her 40s.   That explains all the kind reviews her company received when they toured the US earlier this year.  But here it says that next year she will give her farewell performance with the main role in Swan Lake.

Given her history both with the Bolshoi and the ABT (a wonderful company who I saw at the Met some years ago doing a modern 'Cinderella') she has a huge amount of credit abroad. If she now manages to bring her young dancers up to standard (and the signs are good) life for her dancers could become very exciting indeed!

Brilliant, brilliant, brilliant!

If you are in Tbilisi, go, rush, run to the Opera and Ballet theatre to see Jiri Kilian's ballets. And make sure you stay right to the end! You will not regret it!

Last night the premiere took place of 'Jiri Kilian's Ballets'. Jiri Kilian was of course the inspired leader of the Nederlands Dans Teater - his productions were always wonderful. Last night's performance combined two of his choreographies, 'Stepping Stones' and 'Sechs Taenze' with two other choreographies performed earlier this year and reviewed here (the piece with the pianist and the violinist, and 'Georges Bizet'). Otherwise the evening would have been quite short, but there was a bit of a difference between the quality of these two and those by Kilian. Still it's worth going.

'Stepping Stones' interested me not least because it is set to John Cage's music for prepared piano (and a bit of Webern). Both of which I studied recently, though I don't think I heard any of the prepared piano pieces. The piano was prepared by inserting things between the strings here and there, to get a different sound. Actually, it was the reaction to being unable to get a percussionist when Cage wrote it. But it's very effective - and here it was played on tape. The choreography was awesome - Kilian puts so much detail into it, tiny sideways movements which one almost does not notice, incredible composite movements and positions by two or more dancers - and the dancing was great. There were still problems with synchronicity; but in modern dance it is not always clear whether they should move at the same time or whether they should be a beat apart; this could perhaps have been clearer in this performance.

The final piece, six (short) dances to music by Mozart, was brilliant. A total comedy! Women in white dresses, the guys in white knickerbockers with white, very powdered wigs, did a series of exuberant boy/girl love trouble comedy routines à la 'Amadeus' (the film), very much making fun of themselves - absolutely no 'beautiful dancing', but hilarious! Don't miss it!

Flipping heck!

My friend here in Tbilisi was muttering something about 'some Czech Ballet company' coming to Vilnius this weekend. Just had a look at the programme.

She got it slightly wrong. In fact it's choreography by the wonderful Jiri Kilian with music by John Cage (prepared piano stuff) and Webern, both of whose music I have studied recently plus some Mozart.  The dancers are Georgian, and there are some great dancers about.

I'm going! Will I be able to get a ticket???

Cats and dogs....

These days I've been getting up early in the morning, what with heavy work in Georgia, and exam revision. And I still have my breakfast on the balcony, while everyone is asleep, including the two dogs in the kennel.

This morning spotted a nice tabby strolling through the garden. Dogs kept sleeping. The tabby wandered along to the stairs to my flat. I started talking to him, and he took a seat and listened. Dogs still asleep. Suddenly I was aware of a dog's head pointing in the cat's direction, for quite a while.... 'surely, I must be seeing things, is that a CAT in MY garden?'

It took interminable seconds for the dogs to explode out of their kennels, to which they are chained. The cat strolled off, grinning....

We lift 'em higher, we chuck 'em further ....and we catch 'em

Wow! But I mean, really, WOW! What athleticism!

After being a bit depressed about the future of Tbilisi ballet a couple of weeks ago, tonight's offering of Minkus' 'Don Quixote' completely persuaded me otherwise! A packed, doubly packed opera house was in total rapture over this energetic, lively, stunning performance. My Greek companion had seen Nina Ananiashvili, the ballet company director and the star of the performance (and you thought it was about Don Quixote, didn't you?) dance the same part at the Bolshoi in Moscow. He could not wait to see it again.

The synchronicity was better than I had ever seen it; ok, there was the moment when one toreador flicked his cape to the left while the other 7 flicked theirs to the right; and sometimes the minor jumps were a bit like organ pipes, but this was all overcome by Ananiashvili and particularly her male soloists (the ladies were very good, too, but a bit too distant for me to identify). But the guys! It's a long time since I've seen dancers jump so high, and for so long, David Khozuashvili (? or was it Vasil Akhmeteli?) lifting Ms Ananiashvili up on one hand, as high as she will go, catching her as she threw herself at him through the air from quite some distance, and Lasha Khozuashvili doing things with his back that you did not think were humanly possible, apart from doing the most complicated spins and jumps (a lyrical ballet it is not, though he does that wonderfully, too). By the time Irakli Bakhtadze joined them and we had 3 male soloists spinning all over the stage, joined by Ms Ananiashvili, the place erupted.

If you are in Tbilisi, go and see it - it's a lovely classical ballet in a fairytale set, and watch out for these dancers. And if you are abroad, go and get the show to come to you!

Glad I stayed!

The air in the Tbilisi Zakharia Paliashvili Opera and Ballet Theatre was heavy with the scent of a thousand blooms today. The seats were crowded with children of all sizes, adults, former and current dancers (with males that's really difficult to tell, females you identify by the pulled-back hair and by the age of 60 high hairline). But I know the males were there; one was sitting beside me, the other in the row behind a few seats away, and conversations were carried on regardless. ('Do you see - three boys!' 'Three boys - do you see them? Right at the back' 'Look at those three boys - wow, only three boys'). My Georgian is getting quite good, really!

It was the annual end of ballet school performance - the Tbilisi V Chakubiani State School of Ballet, since you are asking. (For those in the new EU it's worth mentioning that a couple of years ago the university terms were shifted by about 6 weeks, and not start in mid-October. At the moment the conservatoire is just finishing its exams - whereas Vilnius students are ready to lie on the beach).

We'd been there before, last year with my mum. I have to admit that in the first half of the first half I felt sorry for Ms Ananiashvili, the director of the Tbilisi ballet, who recently took it on tour to the US, where she got a lot of sympathetic reviews (how's that for damning with faint praise). What an uphill struggle she'd have working with this lot, I thought. They were all ok dancers, some better than others, but oy vey, the synchronicity! Every mass move was more a Mexican wave than a human machine. Positioning on stage, equal distances? You know how you arrange naturalised daffodils? You throw them on the ground and plant them where they fall. This, at times, was the arrangement of the dancers on the stage.

With some of the male dancers I thought that yes, once again, there is a dearth of male dancers, isn't there? The little children were cute, of course. Aaaaaah. Some of the choreographies were a little far-fetched, but ah well, they won't all become dancers, will they. With some of the more adult young ladies the same structural problem arose that had been visible in the previous day's concert.

Then we got a bit of Swan Lake, complete with the full set, in that dark wood glen scene with the swans, and of course, the four little swans. It was the first time that it occurred to me how difficult that little thing must be, with legs going all over the place, heads nodding - if someone gets her legs in a fankle, they'll all fall down. That did not happen. The dancing of the soloists was good, if uninspired, and the other swans did their bit, keeping more or less together.

The second half was 'Cinderella's Dream', an excerpt from Prokofiev's 'Cinderella'. It was wonderful! What a transformation! Again there was the full opera house set, and the delightful Lasha Khozashvili was 'a fellow' as it says in the programme - ie the prince (he got very good reviews in that US tour). It was great! Cinderella was good, but the two ugly sisters, and especially their mother, were wonderful (not exactly at the level of the guys dancing the ugly sisters at the Berlin Staatsoper, but never mind), as was the good fairy. Khozashvili just had a ball jumping and athleticising all over the place. It was worth going for that alone! And it will still be on tomorrow.

Full marks for trying

Wow, I'm really out of practice with writing concert reviews - haven't done one for so long. Though for my current music essay I'm having to compare performances by Kreisler and L Mordkovitch (plus pianists) of a Grieg violin sonata - my main impression is that his interpretation is male, with plenty of balls, and hers is feminine and simpering - but that probably will not give me full marks!

Anyway. In Tbilisi Opera House last night the String Quartet of the Tbilisi Zakharia Paliashvili Opera and Ballet Theatre played, together with soloists, Schubert, Weber and Schumann. I think that the names of string quartets should not contain more words than players in the quartet.

I have to say that even though I sat in the second row, I could only see half the band, what with the rather large head of a Tbilisi music worthy in front of me, blocking my sight. But I did see this chap emote for the whole band...

The Schubert was the Quartettsatz (not that the programme specified that, I only realised that when people applauded at the end - though I know the piece well, but putting numbers to pieces....). Oooh, the start was rough! Serious nerves in the first fiddle, I think. It settled down, was better at the repeat, but just a bit wobbly. The cellist for the whole evening lacked darkness in his tone (and probably while he plays with that instrument, which may be part of a set of new instruments given to the theatre some time ago), in addition to lacking power - so the cello did not ground the pieces as well as it should have done. It was ok, not brilliant.

This was followed by Weber's clarinet quintet, with Shota Gogodze as the soloist. He really lifted the game and drove the music on, with the quartet just about following him. There were hair-raising tempi, but he was having a lot of fun and let us all enjoy it (and I could see him, too!). Some of his pianos were a bit iffy, as if he had technical difficulties with his instrument, maybe? But he made a huge difference.

The opera house is on the main street in Tbilisi, with a bus stop right outside it, so noise levels are not high. At the beginning of the second half I could not stand it when the balcony door of the concert room was left open! So I shot over, while the first fiddler had his bow held high, and shut the door. I mean, really!

Finally Schumann's piano quintet, which I had only heard in Vilnius a few weeks ago. I am sorry, here I need to divert into operachic country and give some health/fashion advice. Tamar Licheli, the soloist, came on stage in a bright red dress, which only afterwards I realised was cut at the back down to her behind. Tamar appears to be a very slim lady, but rather curvaceous. The line of her supporting underwear went right across the back and showed clearly that it was not adequate for the job. Two pieces of advice - get yourself measured for said garment, and don't wear dresses that are quite so low-cut at the back. Consider the front instead.

Could not see her posture what with the emoting chap in front of me, but my friend said it looked unusual. However, she fitted well into the ensemble and did not drown out the string players. Also communicated with them well. The quartet played their hearts out - it did not always fit together that well, but mostly it did, and the violist (who I am sure I've met on a flight once) did his bit quite nicely in the second movement (though perhaps a little too roughly), and so it was quite a pleasant evening.

I mean, we are in Tbilisi, there's not that much scope for very high quality, but it's great that opera orchestra members come out of their pit, like moles, and expose themselves playing chamber music. That can only improve the quality of the orchestra.

Meantime I'm missing the Vilnius festival.

Gap in concert blogs

Now back to Tbilisi for almost four weeks, there'll be few concert reviews, unless I happen to stumble across one accidentally.

Something for everyone...

....or a mixed bag, at the Tbilisi Opera and Ballet Theatre today. World Premieres, they tell us.

Bit confusing, since the 'playbill' (don't you love those Americanisms?) shows two pieces, but four took place. No wonder I was ready to rush home at the second interval....

The first was standard ballet school stuff set to classical minuets, many from Gluck, some more stately than others. Pretty costumes, standard classical ballet stuff, pleasant music, but not that much inspiration. In the only movement with 4 beats the final few steps suddenly fired up, but otherwise it was just pretty all over. Not too much athleticism either, but if you like pretty this is your show. Did not quite understand the tutu that looked like a cabbage.

Then followed a piece of unkown origin with a violinist and a pianist on the stage, and very simple costumes - as if they were in a ballet studio. The delightful Lasha Khozashvili (who, it would appear I have always in my reviews so far mistaken for (his brother?) David and a young lady dancing various pas de deux, very modern and quite interesting, though it was a bit intense, with a rather bare stage, for the Sunday afternoon audience.

The next one was a pas de six called 'George Bizet' with the men dressed as sailors; Nina Ananiashvili, the ballerina who 'returned from Moscow' and who is rather high class, outdanced her colleagues. This was very nice and very modern. Not sure about the music, played on a piano, sounded like Chopin (variations on a theme of Bizet?). Very powerful dancing, with the cream of the crop of fine, proud Georgian manhood. (Not sure this sounds entirely correct....).

Finally the folk ensemble 'Changi' joined a group of 14 dancers in a melee of Georgian folk music and classical ballet meets Georgian folk dancing. Very popular with the audience. Spectacular leaps, severe Georgian steps (that Georgian men's dancing comes across as quite agressive at times, all pointed elbows and heels). Great fun. I wonder how it would transfer to a non-Georgian ensemble?

All a bit of a long session, though - and they know to keep the best bit to the end!

Near miss!

Yesterday morning looked out of the window, it was all foggy in Tbilisi. Had heard of another Austrian airlines flight being diverted last Sunday to somewhere in Turkey. Heard the full story today - they were dumped in Trabzon, then had to wait for a bus for 5 hours, then had a 13 hour treck across Turkey and Georgia to Tbilisi, including 3 hours at the border....

Yesterday morning gloomy, piano lesson was p*sh because my mind was clawing at the airport doors to let me out, instead of in my fingers, in the afternoon it was even foggier! Oh no!

Went to the theatre to see, only for the third time in a month, that Moliere play - and if it had not been night, the sun would have been shining coming out of the theatre. Not a trace of fog!

Tracked the Austrian flight from Vienna and all was well. Apart from the very very bumpy take-off in what seemed like howling gales. That's when I heard that another Austrian flight, last Thursday, had been cancelled. Having been stuck in Armenia once for the same reason, I can only say that we were very, very lucky indeed!

It's brill, being at home! Off to a concert tonight...

Another President Play

It's Tbilisi, it's the Rustaveli Theatre, it's a premiere - it's a president play ('Birdie died in the glen' - go figure - it may be part of a Georgian poem not very well translated). Remember that democracy is a bit fragile in Georgia - exactly a month ago today the teargas and the soldeiers were streaming down the main street. Today the soldiers were streaming down the street again, to the Rustaveli Theatre where they watched the performance - three rows of them in uniform. It must have given the creeps to folk on the street seeing the soldiers wandering along.

Anyway, theatre here (and the Rustaveli under Robert Sturua in particular) seems to see it as its role to propose democracy and expose the weaknesses of those against democracy, ie currently the President. Someone thought that this was a very dangerous play at this time. I don't know. The same theatre has another play on the same theme, 'The Soldier, Love, Bodyguard and ...the President'. Frankly, they are both much of a muchness, portraying the President of Georgia, played by Beso Zanguri in both shows - it's the likeness - as a womaniser, who likes to wear his wife's clothes (an impossibility in real life given the different sizes of both), married to a foreign wife (yes), a rather paranoid person surrounded by security guards who he can or cannot trust, by friends who he can or cannot trust and so on. This play, in one very long act (about 100 minutes), does not have much of a plot, other than the signing, or refusal to sign, of some document. He has conversations with different people, but never more than one other person at the time (they hardly ever talk to each other or are on the stage with each other). There's a live pond on stage which both women have to jump into at some stage, but otherwise it's not very interesting.

I would be inclined to go and see 'The Soldier' etc; it is a bit more interesting. Or maybe it was because it was the first president play I had seen.

Don't think I would be rushing back to see this again. Thankfully it was being translated by the same deadpan person who has translated earlier, otherwise it would be quite unbearable.

In the foyer before the show I saw David Papuashvili, father (I think) of Zaza Papuashvili, both of whom I have on the DVD with that soft-porn film 'Georgian grapes' [and that dreadful German film]. I congratulated him on the film I had seen but tried to mumble its title - other people were present.

Electioneering

Saakashvili, former president and presidential candidate, drops into a kindergarten where the children sing the national anthem.

A totally spontaneous event, no doubt. The children go to the kindergarten dressed like this every day. Notice that the little boy's heart seems to be in the wrong place.

(Picture from AFP)

Kitsch as kitsch can

....as my dear Mama would say. Sweet ...ing Jaayyyyzus, as my friend Noel would say. Overpriced and over here, as someone else might say.

What am I talking about? The concert of a series of two of the group 'Georgian voices' at the Tbilisi conservatoire. It's ok, they are over.

Georgian voices, or Kartuli Chmebi, is a group of 9 male singers who sing Georgian poliphonic music. Which is of course difficult, and they, like Basiani, sing very complicated songs, including those with yodelling. The yodelling, which obviously is very high, was done by the only guy with a beard - probably like another baby-faced friend of mine, his wife would not let him shave it off.

Their singing was great; the usual, more complex Georgian songs which my singing group would not be capable of, the dynamics which my group does not do - it brays instead, the yodelling - oh, forget the yodelling. They were wonderful! Great group to have around.

Though Basiani is better, what with being multitalented; see this review of their concert in Vilnius. Basiani can not only sing, they can also play instruments and dance, even if the dances were a little symbolical. Real Georgian dancing - oh vey, it's seriously fierce, especially that of the men. But go to any theatre in Tbilisi and you get hints of it.

Anyway, four things really really got on my wick:
1. There was an old man acting as compere, introducing the singers and giving thanks to the sponsors and so on, as is the case in many Eastern European concert halls. But, as is also the case with old men in Eastern Europe, give them a microphone and they are off - verbal diarrhoea - if it were physical, he'd be in a hospital on a drip. So endless talks between the songs. (And let's not forget that there was no break in the 1.5 hour concert - people might not have expected that).

2. There was a choir of about 60 boys between 6 and 16 who suddenly popped up in the middle. Must be another Eastern tradition - in Vilnius we have the choir Azuoliukas ('acorn') with a similar number of boys which gets wheeled out now and again in serious concerts - with usually far too many boys for the piece in question. Anyway, these boys, dressed like the men in the black dress coats with rows of 'bullets' along their chests and a dagger at their waist, and a white neckkerchief so big that it tied around their waist at the back, then burst into Mravalzhamier (a good luck or congratulation song) - it was only the second time that evening that it was sung (but not the last!!!). It comes in a zillion different versions - this was an excruciating westernised - bastardised - version which should not have seen the light of day. Cringe-making it was.

Of course, it's the old orchestra management trick - and I've used it myself - bring in a large children's choir, and all the grannies, aunts and uncles, mums and dads will buy tickets. Not sure about the 'buying' part in Georgia, what with general cash flows. But guess why 'The Snowman' is so popular with amateur orchestras in the UK - rehabilitates the cash flow every time!

3. Then a piano accompanist appeared. In a concert of Georgian music? This is where sweet ****ing Jaaaayzus appeared. Joannas do not belong into Georgian music unless they are female, human, and they sing it. Anyway, a boy with an ok sort of voice sang a solo, accompanied by the choir. The joanna was rather overpowering, but we got through it.

Then another group appeared, an instrumental group with folk instruments, including various kinds of plucked/bowed string instruments (whose bowing, even though they were playing the same harmonies, was somewhat random, as at times was their intonation - eeek), some flutes of the up-and-down variety, and a 20-stringed portable harp which looked like a window box ready for the sweet peas - its contribution to the sound was not great. They played quite nicely, generally.

But then came cringe-making moment No 4.

4. A female appeared and sang a song with two males, accompanied by the band. The band played an introduction that was pure Austrian folk music; then they burst into song, properly in 3 voices as is the Georgian polyphonic wont. But ye gads, what was this? It was 'Suliko', the popular alternative Georgian anthem, just different words, and the notes took different turns. Rhythmically and harmonically it was absolutely the same thing. If you know Georgian polyphonic music and you know 'Suliko', you know that if ever you are looking for an example of musical 'cliche', you have just found it. Suliko is a poor man's version of Georgian music (I know, because I've harmonised it in different ways and then realised why musicians don't like it). It's like Bruch writing the Scottish fantasy - someone else's idea of what a country's folk music should be like. Add to this the slushy accompanyment and it was seriously apple strudel with walnuts (for the Georgian flavour) and lashings and lashings of custard, cream and icecream, all at the same time. Yuk, yuk, yuk.

And we paid 20 laris for this when for half the price we could have got a very nice (not necessarily tasteful, but nevertheless nice) theatre performance for half the price. Now I know and I don't need to go again. If the guys just did their own singing, it would be fine...maybe you need to hear them abroad where they cannot afford to bring all their hangers on.

Absence of light

Like many Northern Europeans I easily get depressed on dark winter days. Make that on dark days. This was one of the reasons why I went to Istanbul a couple of weeks ago, because my flat in Tbilisi is seriously dark, hanging, as it does, off the side of a mountain. It does have a wonderful view across the town, but when it's cold you'd only look at that from inside, across the large roofed balcony - which also does not allow much light in. It's also one of the reasons why I left Scotland which can be cloudy from November to April. And it's the reason why I can't wait to get back to Lithuania, to my flat with the large windows and the bright lights.

The lighting in my flat in Tbilisi is a bit of a catastrophe. There are plenty of chandeliers all over the flat; shame that a) some of the light sockets don't work, and b) the bulbs pop about every five minutes. Yesterday I bought a dozen lightbulbs, a couple of weeks ago I had bought another six. It's down to dodgy wiring rather than power surges, I suspect, since my laptop has never been affected.

So why don't you buy long-life lightbulbs, I hear you ask? a) doesn't work - even they croak after a month or two., and b) those you get in Tbilisi give the most appalling light, roughly resembling that which you might expect in a morgue. Cosy light it is not. But carrying lightbulbs from Vilnius to Tbilisi is just a step too far.

The most catastrophic area is probably my bathroom. It has kind of brown/beige patterned tiles, floor to ceiling. The ceiling has a suspended thing hanging off it with a diamond pattern of green, brown, mirrored and white glass squares. The 3 lightbulbs are behind this. There is also a light above the wash hand basin which had never worked until I recently popped in a bulb, only to discover that it does not switch off. Ho hum. Did not matter so much since the bulb died after about 2 weeks of constant light, and the following one lasted just for my bath. In the meantime the ones in the ceiling had died, one after the other. I replaced two with the long-life bulbs - the only ones I had; when the last normal bulb went and that above the basin, having a bath was like being at the bottom of a very dark river. This is what headtorches are for, reading in the bath. Let's not think about safety. Imagine my excitement today when I borrowed the neighbour's ladder (which has its own issues - its legs splay out) and with great difficulty and knocking knees replaced two of them with normal bulbs. (The third one is above the toilet which has no place for someone, potentially collapsing with a ladder, to hang on to.) I should have got the 100 watt ones, though.....

I can't believe I keep going into the bathroom to look at the amount of light I have there!

Incidentally, visiting a friend's flat yesterday we spotted the British 3-pin sockets. Unusual in Tbilisi. It would appear that this was the residence of the first British ambassador to Tbilisi after independence, so everything was done British. Like no sockets in the bathroom, one of those funny pull-string switches in the toilet....The arrogance of it all! Or was there really nothing in Tbilisi at the time? All new tenants have to buy zillions of adapters to use their European plugs in these sockets!

At death's door...

that's democracy and press freedom in Georgia. The president has now resigned, in accordance with the election process, and now another TV station, Maestro, has been closed. Apparently it's an entertainment channel (cable), but it was closed just before its one politics/investigative journalism show.

Oh dear, the credit in the world community. It's going down and down.

The credit of the Lithuanian president, at the end of his presidential career, is only going up. He is now European Statesman of the Year, for brokering a deal with Poland which was ready to go for a battle with the EU. Apparently the Polish president tells anyone who wants to get a deal with him, to speak to the Lithuanian President first. Adamkus was in Tbilisi a week ago, telling them to behave themselves and be open and fair in their elections so the president can have a proper mandate ...no-one seems to have listened.

Moliere via Rossini

Went to the Marjanishvili Theatre (Tbilisi) tonight for a play advertised as Moliere's 'Vain Doctor'. My colleagues told me the title would have been better translated as the 'Fake Doctor'. Whatever.

Had not been able to find any reference in the internet to a play of either title, so I tried to memorize the names of the characters - and now I've found it; it was 'Le medecin malgre lui' (imagine the accents in the right places). Did you know that this site apparait a avoir les textes complets de tout ce qui Moliere a ecrit? Merveilleux! So I could just quickly read what I have just watched.

It was a generally traditional performance, as far as you can get 'traditional' in Georgia. Certainly the frocks were traditional - the stage was rather bare, with bits and pieces hinting at this corner of countryside and that bourgeois living-room. I think the play is about a chap from the country who is paid to pretend to be a doctor, to cure someone's potential wife (or perhaps his daughter) of her stutter; she is in love with someone else (as she should be if she is his daughter), and when the right couple finally gets together ....and so on. It's a short play - with the interval we were out in just under 2 hours. I suspect the big red pencil may have gone through some scenes.

Like all plays in Georgia, it turned into a musical - but a Rossini musical! When the curtain opened, I thought - does this theatre use the same music for everything? But then I remembered that last time I had heard that tune played on a piano it was at the Russian Drama Theatre in Vilnius, when they put on Beaumarchais' play 'The Barber of Seville' to the same music, in the style of the Swingle Singers. I must see if it will be on when I will be in Vilnius next month.

Here they went further, sometimes with orchestral interludes, sometimes with the piano, often singing the arias, sometimes as they are, sometimes adapted to one word, and sometimes in Georgian. Naturally it was not the quality of singing you'd expect in the opera house, but it was a pretty good effort. Probably Moliere had also not written into his play the group of belly-dancing girls which were extremely effectively accompanied by one of the actors playing an Arabic string instrument and singing. (The Marjanishvili theatre seems to be blessed with multi-talented actors, though the young flautist is not the best actress...).

Even though I had not a word of Georgian, and no idea what the play might be about, other than that I know a bit about Moliere's plays and had some idea from the title, I could follow it more or less. Probably if you know the plot it would go even better - but it was a lovely show, and a lovely evening out! Worth doing again.

Autumn runs

Tbilisi is back to normal, with the usual percentage of policemen about (though up a back street I spotted a bus full of soldiers and riot gear). Buf of course we still have a state of emergency. (In Lithuania we were near it once, due to a drought, but the government could not afford it because it would have had to pay back the pensioners their rouble reserves. Don't ask, I don't understand it either. Anyway, no such worries in Tbilisi). I had worried about going for a run, but actually, it's ok.

In terms of lurking soldiers, at least. There are other challenges, however. It seems that it has rained a lot. This has lead to mudslides. Not big ones, just the mud around the cobbles has been washed all around them. So you are running on muddy cobbles, which are wet, and with the sun relatively low, you can't actually see the ground very well. In Tbilisi you definitely want to see the ground if you don't want to break your legs!

Add to that the fact that I have run on relatively flat ground for the last few weeks and you can see why today's outing was a bit of a struggle - quite amazing, really; I thought I had not done too badly in recent weeks, but there we are...

Quietening down...

At 6.30 pm tonight the vast majority of soldiers had gone, leaving behind maybe 20% of their colleagues and four little Portaloos at the end of Rustaveli Avenue (clearly a sign of good planning). Probably because the opposition has called an end to their protests - amazing how they can mobilize and de-mobilize their people. Mr Sakaashvili blames the Russians and has thrown out some Russian envoys; bit of a cracked-record technique, this, and not contributing to local peace. The Russians are calling on the UN to tell Sakaashvili to sort things out.

State of Emergency

Finally got back to Georgia this morning; flight was delayed, driver not available, but taxi was promised. No taxi, just some guy with a sheet of paper with my name on it, who then called a taxi. Me not happy. Taxi driver appears, says 'can't lift your case, have a bad back'. Then I tell him my address, he says 'can't go there, place is closed by soldiers'. I tell him let's go and see. While we are moving towards the town I am building up a head of steam over the idea of having to drag my suitcase for two kilometres, steeply uphill, from where I assume the 'front line' is. We get to the actual front line, the taxi driver tries another way round, and we progress smoothly towards my front door. No problem!

This morning I go to work, and have to talk my way around the soldiers blocking the main road that I need to cross. They are not armed. Beside the opera house there is a huge pile of cobblestones from the renovations which are still not finished - if I were them I would have removed them yonks ago. But no-one in power is old enough to remember 1968. My colleague staying in a hotel in the main road tells me that last night there was a strong smell of tear gas in the air, and that the US embassy moved all their citizens from that hotel, and it's busy emailing all its registered citizens. No word from the UK embassy. Yesterday there were (fist) fights in the streets between soldiers and people, and someone has mentioned rubber bullets. The box office of the theatre on the same street is closed; lots of soldiers are lounging under its canopy, as they are protecting the opera house a few steps along. All events are cancelled, I hear. Meetings of more than 4 people or so are illegal, all independent TV channels are shut down. People complain that they cannot get news. People are also very nervous, and find that both the government and the opposition are behaving very badly. Apparently the state of emergency has been applied for the 15 days from earlier this week. Let's see what happens.

Since Otar Left

It's a wonderful film! The story is about three women, grandmother, daughter and granddaughter, who live in Tbilisi, trying to get by on next to nothing, but with a deeply abiding love of France. The daughter's brother, Otar, has left for Paris to get some work to support the family; every now and again he writes and sends some money. The grandmother lives for these letters.

Then Otar has an accident and dies. How to break it to the grandmother? They can't - her heart is weak. So a process of deception starts, not unlike that in 'Goodbye, Lenin'. Which works, after a fashion (though it is not possible to replace the money no longer being sent), until granny decides to go and visit Otar in Paris.

The film is largely set in Tbilisi and surrounding countryside - I recognized the post office, the street beside Macdonalds, the Iveria hotel which at the time still housed the refugees (and now is an empty shell in the process of becoming a Radisson hotel), the steep cobbled streets not that far from me, the power cuts, thankfully not the water cuts, some of the other places, more or less derelict....

Esther Gorintin, who plays the granny, is the absolute absolute star of the film; she does not do very much, but the way she looks at people, at things, when contemplating - it melts your heart.
Worth rushing out to see it, if it ever comes to your neighbourhood!