PRIDE OF GEORGIA – WAKHTANG KIKABIDZE

Solar Georgia has become the birthplace of many talented people. It was here that world-famous poets, musicians, sculptors, filmmakers and other creative personalities were born. Vakhtang Kikabidze is among these lucky ones. He is one of the most popular singers and actors of Georgia, he is loved and respected by millions of people on the planet. Concerts of the performer took place on all continents and everywhere full halls greeted him with warmth, gratitude and delight. Kikabidze’s voice with the “firm” hoarseness can not be confused or forgotten at least once to hear any of his many songs.

Buba
On July 19, 1938, a boy was born in the Kikabidze family in Tbilisi and was named Vakhtang. Father Konstantin Nikolaevich was a journalist. He comes from an old Imeretian noble family, and mother Manana Konstantinovna (from the noble royal dynasty of Bagrationi) was a famous singer in the country, singer Vakhtang Kikabidze she sang for almost half a century in the choir of Zion Cathedral. From four years old, Vakhtang was raised by his mother and uncle, because his father (despite strong myopia) volunteered for the front and died near Kerch, where he was buried in a mass grave.

Since childhood, the boy was nicknamed Buba, which became his second name, in Georgia he is called none other than Buba Kikabidze. At school, he did not differ by diligence and good academic performance, even remained three times in the second year, because of which he studied for 14 years. As for most creative people, exact sciences were given the hardest to Vakhtang. At that time, he was passionately passionate about drawing, but the paper was sorely lacking, so the child had to draw on newspapers, magazines and even books.

Over time, he experienced singing. Contributed to this is one of his friends, who invited Vakhtang to the rehearsal of his ensemble. Buba was so fascinated by the new occupation that he independently mastered playing the drums and began to sing songs.

Soloist and drummer
After graduating from the University of Tbilisi in 1959, Kikabidze got a job at the Moscow Philharmonic and began touring extensively. He was great able to parody foreign pop stars, masterfully singing songs in English and Italian. To improve the pronunciation, Vakhtang Kikabidzeon even entered the Institute of Foreign Languages.

The young singer wanted to move forward. To do this, he creates his own ensemble “Dielo”. And let it last not too long, but it was an important experience. In 1966, Kikabidze became the soloist and drummer of the popular VIA “Orera”. He recorded 8 albums with this band, and such hits as “Song of Tbilisi”, “Love is Beautiful” and “Native Land”. Soon and in this ensemble of creative personality Vakhtang became closely, so he decided to start a solo career.

Georgian hawk Vakhtang Kikabidze
1966 became significant in the life of Vakhtang Kikabidze – he made his debut in the cinema. A colorful Georgian was noticed during one of the performances and the singer Vakhtang Kikabidzerol was invited to perform in the musical film “Meetings in the Mountains”. It was a very successful beginning of film career, and all the following tapes with the participation of Buba fell in love with millions of viewers of the USSR. His collaboration with his countryman George Danelia was fruitful. In 1969, Vakhtang starred in his film “Do not Cry!”, Then there was the film “Melodies of the Verei Quarter”, but without a doubt, the most prominent in Vakhtang Kikabidze’s career was the cult film Danelia “Mimino”. Since 1977, Kikabidze has firmly established the nickname Mimino, which means “hawk” in Georgian.

In the cinema, Vakhtang Konstantinovich showed not only his acting talent. In the tapes “Be healthy, dear” and “Men and all the rest,” he was the author of the script and director. These paintings are permeated with vitality and amazing Georgian humor, they became closely film awards. In total, Vakhtang Kikabidze starred two dozen films and continues to periodically voice the tape.

While the heart is singing
No matter how successful the path of Buba to the cinema was, music for him always remained in the first place. In 1979, he released his first solo album, While My Heart Sings, two years later his second compilation, Wishes, was released. Then one of his most popular songs was the lyrical composition of the singer Vakhtang Kikabidze “That’s the whole conversation” (“Two loneliness”). Vakhtang’s records were sold out in considerable quantities, and his songs were known and performed not only at home, but throughout the Soviet Union. Listeners from the first chords recognized his rhythmic melodies and texts filled with deep meaning, and Kikabidze’s hoarse voice made an indelible impression on them.

On account of the artist about 20 solo records. It is difficult to determine the most popular composition of Kikabidze, but the song “My years is my wealth” was probably Buba’s business card. The poet Robert Rozhdestvensky wrote poems to her in 1981, and the music was by composer Georgy Movsesyan. Until now, not a single concert of Vakhtang Konstantinovich and not a single telecast about him can not do without this song.