Andria Balanchivadze

Andria Balanchivadze (Georgian: ანდრია მელიტონის ძე ბალანჩივაძე, Andria Melit'onis dze Balanchivadze, Russian: Андре́й Мелито́нович Баланчива́дзе, Andrei Melitonovich Balanchivadze) (1 June 1906 [O.S. 19 May] – 28 April 1992) was a Georgian composer. He was the son of Meliton Balanchivadze, the composer, and brother of George Balanchine, the famous Georgian-American ballet choreographer.

Born in St. Petersburg, Russia, he graduated from the Tbilisi State Conservatory in 1927 and Leningrad Conservatory in 1931, where he studied with Pyotr Ryazanov. Upon his return to Georgia, he became the musical director of several theatres from 1931-1934. Having barely survived Joseph Stalin's purges, he became a professor at the Tbilisi Conservatory in 1942 and served as an artistic director of the Georgian State Symphony from 1941-48. He became a major influence in musical politics as chair (1953), and first secretary (1955–61, 1968–72) of the Union of Georgian Composers. Balanchivadze’s numerous symphonies, pianoforte concerts, and compositions for the stage heavily contributed to modern Georgian classical music. He also authored the first Georgian ballet, The Heart of the Mountains (1936).

Andria

Andria [ˈandrja]  listen  is a city and comune in Apulia (southern Italy). It is an agricultural and service center, producing wine, olives and almonds. It is the fourth-largest municipality in the Apulia region (behind Bari, Taranto, and Foggia) and the largest municipality of the new Province of Barletta-Andria-Trani, effective as of June 2009.

History

Different theories exist about the origins of Andria. In 915 it is mentioned as a "casale" ("hamlet") depending from Trani; it acquired the status of city around 1046, when the Norman count Peter enlarged and fortified the settlements in the area (including also Barletta, Corato and Bisceglie).

In the 14th century, under the Angevins, Andria became seat of a Duchy. In 1350 it was besieged by German and Lombard mercenaries of the Hungarian army, and in 1370 by the troops of Queen Joan I of Naples. In 1431 the ruler of Andria Francesco II Del Balzo found the mortal remains of Saint Richard of Andria, the current patron saint, and instituted the Fair of Andria (23–30 April). In 1487 the city was acquired by the Aragonese, the Duchy passing to the future King Frederick IV of Naples. Later (1552), it was sold by the Spanish to Fabrizio Carafa, for the sum of 100,000 ducats.

George Balanchine

George Balanchine (born Giorgi Melitonovitch Balanchivadze January 22 [O.S. January 9] 1904 – April 30, 1983) was an American ballet choreographer. Styled as the father of American ballet, he took the standards and technique from his education at the Imperial Ballet School and fused it with other schools of movement that he had adopted during his tenure as a guest choreographer on Broadway and in Hollywood, creating his signature "neoclassical style". He was a choreographer known for his musicality; he expressed music with dance and worked extensively with leading composers of his time like Igor Stravinsky.

He was invited to America in 1933, by a young arts patron named Lincoln Kirstein who shared Balanchine's attitude regarding the importance of high quality dance training in America and together they founded the School of American Ballet. Along with Kirstein he co-founded the New York City Ballet (NYCB) and remained its Artistic Director until his death.

Biography

Georgia and Russia

Piano concerto

A piano concerto is a concerto written for a piano accompanied by an orchestra or other large ensemble.

Keyboard concerti were common in the time of Johann Sebastian Bach. Occasionally, Bach's harpsichord concerti are played on piano.

History

In the 17th and 18th centuries, typical concertos for keyboard were organ concertos and harpsichord concertos, such as those written by George Friedrich Handel and Johann Sebastian Bach.

Classical and romantic

As the piano developed and became accepted, composers naturally started writing concerti for it. This happened in the late 18th century, during the Classical music era. Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart was the most important composer in the early development of the form. Mozart's body of masterly piano concerti put his stamp firmly on the genre well into the Romantic era.

Mozart wrote many piano concertos for himself to perform (his 27 piano concertos also include concerti for two and three pianos). With the rise of the piano virtuoso, many composer-pianists did likewise, notably Ludwig van Beethoven, Frédéric Chopin, and Robert Schumann—and also lesser-known musicians like Johann Nepomuk Hummel, Joseph Wölfl, Carl Maria von Weber, John Field, Ferdinand Ries, and F. X. Mozart.