Georgian Folk Music

Since it was founded, the Borusan Istanbul Philharmonic Orchestra has worked to develop not only as a symphony orchestra but as a showcase for music from different traditions – a multicultural mosaic where each little stone is carefully placed with the utmost respect for its neighbour, making a unique contribution to its surroundings. Our first two CDs have reflected this, combining music of composers from different backgrounds with a similar musical language. We now embark on another exploration of the eastern musical roots of Europe in the late 19th and first half of the 20th century, identifying elements of the eastern side of the Bosphorus which have influenced the Western cultural background of most of these composers.

Following the success of his solo release of the Complete Late Piano Music of Scriabin, James Kreiling returns to Odradek with cellist Liubov Ulybysheva in RISE, a recording of Russian music for cello and piano that represents revolutionary Russian voices whose music rose from the ruins of conflict to create powerful testimonies of hope and peace.

George Oakley is a Georgian-born American composer and a prize-winning concert pianist. The solo piano pieces on this recording, Toccata and Sonata-Fantasia, are technically demanding works which exhibit a range of styles from jazz to classical and Georgian folk music. Oakley’s Sonata for Cello and Piano takes us from an initial state of struggle and doubt to a cheerful and victorious conclusion. For his Four Songs on Shakespeare Sonnets, Oakley “drew inspiration… from the musical language of Shakespeare’s era, so that each song would somehow become a bridge connecting the Renaissance with modernity.” His mentor and friend Richard Danielpour has written that “George Oakley’s music is always highly expressive, inevitable without ever being predictable, and speaks to the heart as well as the mind.”