The XXVII International Festival of Arts “Slavianski Bazaar in Vitebsk” has hosted five concertsin the framework of the project “Festival without Borders”. The last concert in the project presented the Georgian folk ensemble “Alilo”.

The ensemble took part in the festival for the second time and attracted a capacity audience in the hall of the Regional Philharmonic Society. “Alilo” was created in 2001 by the famous Georgian singer Guram Tamazashvili. Over the years of its creativity it has successfully performed not only in different cities of Georgia, but also in the USA, Europe and Asia. The diversity of its repertoire, the national color and remarkable singing skills of its performers create a festive presentation of the rich culture of Georgia.

The ensemble has been headed by Zurab Datikashvili over the last years, but the artists carefully preserve the traditions laid down by its founder. They dedicated one of the songs to the first director of “Alilo” at the concert.

It is no coincidence that UNESCO recognized the Georgian polyphony as a masterpiece of cultural heritage of mankind. The amazing melody, depth and power of male voices fascinate the audience and prove that the art of human voice is akin to the music of great composers.

Georgia is a singing country with traditions of many-voiced performance. When one Georgian starts singing tenor, the other one picks up singing bass. Songs always help people. The high performing culture requires no translation. One can easily understand whether the artists sing about love or friendship or their beautiful native land.

Nevertheless, when a melody turned to be familiar, the concertgoers greeted it with enthusiastic applause from the very first sounds. The popular “Suliko” and “The Song about Tbilisi” were encored. The ensemble “Alilo” was given rounds of applause at the end of the concert, as the audience wished to go on enjoying the magical singing art. The girls thanked the artists from the sunny Georgia with bouquets of flowers, presented a big round loaf on an embroidered Belarusian towel and the Belarusian doll-amulet. The handsome Georgians in the national costumes radiated boundless energy, credibility and good strength, so a girl from the audience exclaimed: “I Want to Georgia!” Well, just like an episode from the movie “Love with Accent” by Gigineishvili.