00:04A German classic made in Georgia.
00:09They play more energetically, wilder almost.
00:13It was really intense, but it was absolutely great.
00:23Beethoven's music is very close to me. It's always against the stream.
00:30A Georgian classic made in Germany.
00:35It's like individual, my understanding of Georgian folk music.
00:41Two countries, one project.
00:44These young musicians from Germany and Georgia are rehearsing together for a major concert.
00:50Now we meet two different cultures, German traditional polyphonic harmonies and singings,
00:57with this great and long tradition of Georgian polyphonic singing.
01:05Two soundscapes united by a single spirit.
01:08The European ideal of freedom, the leitmotif of Ludwig van Beethoven's life's work.
01:14Beethoven would be shocked, but it would inspire him.
01:21Inspiration is also key to the cross-cultural campus project run by the Beethoven Fest.
01:27It all begins at the foot of the greater Caucasus mountains in the Georgian capital, Tbilisi.
01:34It's here that the young musicians from Germany's National Youth Orchestra and Youth Choir
01:39will engage both the country and their Georgian colleagues.
01:43Personally, culturally, and musically.
01:54They get their first taste at a concert by the Tbilisi Youth Orchestra in the city's Opera House.
02:06The young German and Georgian musicians will rehearse together for the first time after the concert.
02:14I didn't know what to expect or what we'd be dealing with.
02:18I'm pleasantly surprised.
02:22Really refreshing.
02:27The first campus project rehearsal of 2026.
02:31For the past 25 years, this initiative by the Beethoven Fest has brought together young musicians from a guest country
02:38and members of the German National Youth Orchestra.
02:43This year's guest country, Georgia, some 3,000 kilometers away from Germany.
02:59The musicians are rehearsing a challenging and varied program.
03:03It ranges from 17th-century polyphonic chorales to 18th- and 19th-century classical music
03:10and 20th-century contemporary music.
03:14I think the pronunciation of the German language is the hardest part, especially in singing.
03:21Very different. It's like two opposite things.
03:24I think it will be the biggest challenge.
03:27We worked really hard on the pronunciation.
03:31It's been a lot of work so far.
03:33We're trying to harmonize the voices and intonation.
03:35It was good fun.
03:37I think it's going to be an exciting project.
03:39More intense than what we usually do in Germany.
03:42In Germany, I think it's not so extreme.
03:48The project's artistic director, Mirian Chuchunaischvili,
03:52is fascinated by the differences between German and Georgian singing techniques.
04:01The conductor is director of music at the Opera House in Wroclaw, Poland.
04:09Georgians, we are called like hot-blooded Southerns, like with a lot of raw emotions.
04:18Sometimes like far, I would say that the filter of our emotions is really higher than the Germans, I would
04:26say.
04:26But once you listen to German music, you will understand that people are full of emotions.
04:33But the different approach, how to show these emotions.
04:40But with music, I could not hear any difference.
04:51But before a composition can rouse genuine emotion, it must be thoroughly prepared.
04:56The young musicians from Georgia and Germany have just under two weeks to rehearse for their big performance at Beethovenfest.
05:06Week one is here in Tbilisi.
05:08In a few months' time, they'll have one more week together before the concerts in Bonn and Berlin.
05:13It could always be better.
05:17The first rehearsal went very well.
05:19We're happy to have the Germans here with us, and I hope the concert is a success.
05:26Still room for improvement, but a good foundation.
05:31Along with compositions from both countries, the programme features the world premiere of a work by Georgian composer Cotney Zedginice.
05:40The exceptional 17-year-old musician from Tbilisi, whose first symphony was performed in Berlin last year, sees himself as
05:48a European musician with Georgian roots.
05:55The best part about Georgian music is it's like two directions.
06:00One is dance, more dance-like music.
06:04Very epic and very active and really live music and dance.
06:09The second part of Georgian music is the second part of Georgian music.
06:12It's choral, choral music, vocal.
06:15Very polyphonic music.
06:22Beethovenfest commissioned Cotney Zedginice to write a piece for the campus concert.
06:26The work is called Chmeibi, Georgian Fantasy, for piano and chamber orchestra.
06:33It draws on Georgian folk melodies and incorporates distinctive harmonies and lively elements found in Georgian traditional dance.
06:43About my Georgian fantasy, I tried not to be artificial, but kind of resembles as much as possible Georgian music
06:52styles of all genres and styles.
06:56So, but at the same time, it's like individual understanding of Georgian, my understanding of Georgian folk music.
07:09Zedginice's masterful polyphonic mix could almost serve as a soundtrack to the current state of Georgian society.
07:17Its population of just under four million is torn between age-old conservative and Christian traditions
07:24and the desire to be a modern cosmopolitan European country.
07:3271% of Georgians still confirmed that we want to be a part of European Union.
07:38But as you know, to become a part of European Union, you need to follow a lot of rules,
07:44and not only rules like laws you should have, and the most importantly about democratic standards,
07:53which we are, we've been trying to build, but we are also struggling with it.
08:00The campus concert aims to highlight Georgia's diversity through music.
08:05Although the country is geographically located in a region often associated with the Middle East,
08:11its identity is deeply intertwined with Europe, and with that, Germany.
08:19Europe, to support Georgia, because Europe is stronger, but we are not less strong in Seoul and in traditions.
08:29Not less. Maybe even richer than Europe, because we are older.
08:34Three months later, the Georgian musicians are in Germany.
08:37Their big performance at the Beethoven Fest is finally just around the corner.
08:41They've gone through an intense rehearsal process.
08:44First, a brief tour of the area the festival's namesake called home.
08:48Ludwig van Beethoven was born here in Bonn, on the banks of the Rhine, in 1770.
08:54And then at last, the moment has arrived.
08:57One final breathing exercise before taking the stage.
09:07More excited than nervous here. I'm just really good, with good mood.
09:13It was exhausting a bit, but, yeah, we made what we wanted to do.
09:19We're so well rehearsed and prepared, now it's about the music and enjoying the moment.
09:25The concert's going to be great.
09:48The collaboration between these young musicians from Germany and Georgia is received enthusiastically by the audience at Beethoven Fest.
09:59A concert evening celebrating both musical diversity and Georgia's close ties with Germany and Europe.
10:06The evening concludes with one final emotional highlight, as choir and orchestra say goodbye to their audience on the Rhine
10:14with a traditional Georgian song.
10:16The music to be great.
10:23The theater says goodbye to their youth.
10:33The theater says goodbye to their youth.
10:46Jean-Yen
