I am very happy to share this book with you: thirty-three miniatures by the great Georgian composer Giya Kancheli based on his music for theater and cinema. Originally, the miniatures were written for piano; I have transcribed them for solo vibraphone.

I discovered Giya?s music as a member of Kremerata Baltica, the chamber orchestra spearheaded by the world-renowned violinist Gidon Kremer, with whom I have been collaborating for more than twenty years. Not only did I have the opportunity to perform the music of the Maestro - I was lucky to get to him know him well. Our first artistic encounter took place at Gidon Kremer?s Lockenhaus Chamber Music Festival in Austria, where Giya Kancheli had been a frequent composer-in-residence. He was a man of rare human warmth, sincerity, charm, passion and positive aura, with a wonderful sense of humor. At the same time it would be difficult to find a person more meticulous and demanding regarding the performance of his compositions, where every little detail matters.

Giya said: "Whether my music is played matters less than the way it is played". When you open this book, you'll understand better what Maestro meant. His music is incrementally sensitive, every stroke, every change of harmony, even every rest carries its own expressive significance, its own mood, its own energy. A thoughtful approach to timing becomes the magic key to the interpretation of Kancheli?s works - in every period, in every measure and in every beat.

The unique timbres and color capacities of the vibraphone, I am absolutely convinced, allow the performer and listener to immerse themselves in the majestic microcosm of extremely subtle, tender, and sublimely inspiring imagery that is the musical world of Giya Kancheli.

I?m sure you will enjoy it!

Andrei Pushkarev

ISBN 9781609742539. This book contains many arias as well as traditional favorites that have never been arranged for accordion, utilizing all of its superb orchestral capabilities. Some of the world's greatest composers and singers have expressed themselves in this sublime musical language. The contents include arias such as Nessun Dorma, Quando men vo, and O mio babbino caro, to name a few.

ISBN 9781609743260. This collection is drawn from the Portefeuille Guitarre-Spieler series and is intended for intermediate to advanced guitarists.The works in this collection:Fantasy on themes from Don Giovanni, Op. 28Don Giovanni has long been famous among enthusiasts of fretted instruments for Mozart's sublime use of the mandolin in Don Juans' aria Deh, vieni alla finestra. Mertz himself took note of Mozart's 'mandolin serenade' for he employed as a catalyst a brief quote of the mandolin introduction in his Op. 28 for a modulatory transition based upon the theme. Mertz also included a simple arrangement of the aria as number 76 in his Kukuk, a 'musical panorama' of 136 short pieces.Martha, Op. 16Martha, oder Der Markt zu Richmond by German composer Friedrich Flotow (1812-1883) was first produced in Vienna in 1847. In the second act of Martha Flotow incorporates 'Tis the Last Rose of Summer (Qui sola, verginrosa), a traditional Irish melody to which the poet Thomas Moore wrote lyrics. It was one of the most popular songs of the nineteenth century. In addition to Beethoven, Mendelssohn, and Thalberg, guitar composers to produce works based upon the famous song include Giuliani, Ferranti, Holland, and Foden. Preceding Ah! che a voi perdoni Iddio in his Op. 16, Mertz quotes a brief passage from his Elegie.The Prophet, Op. 21Giacomo Meyerbeer was the leading composer of French grand opera during Mertz's professional career. Following studies in Italy, the German composer was chiefly active in Paris and Berlin, although he traveled Europe extensively producing his operas. Le prophete premiered in Paris in 1849 after a long delay due to casting problems. Mertz's Op. 21 was published shortly thereafter.Nabucco, Op. 62 and Rigoletto, Op. 63Giuseppe Verdi's first major triumph as an opera composer was with the biblical opera Nabucodonosor (more commonly known as Nabucco). The opera was premiered in Milan in 1842 and its subsequent revivals throughout Europe spread Verdi?s fame at an astounding rate. Consequently, Verdi was commissioned to compose 14 operas in the following decade. Among these operas was Rigoletto, first produced in Venice in 1851. Mertz frequently turned to the music of Verdi for his operatic fantasies, producing no fewer than four distinct works based on themes from Rigoletto alone.