Arakishvili, Dmitri (Ignatievich)

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Arakishvili, Dmitri (Ignatievich)

Arakishvili, Dmitri (Ignatievich), Russian composer, teacher, and conductor; b. Vladikavkaz, Feb. 23, 1873; d. Tbilisi, Aug. 13, 1953. He studied composition in Moscow with Ilyinsky at the Phil. Inst. and privately with Gretchaninov. In 1918 he settled in Tiflis. He composed one of the earliest national Georgian operas, The Legend of Shota Rustaveli (Tiflis, Feb. 5, 1919). He also wrote a comic opera, Dinara (1926), film music, 3 syms. (1934, 1942, 1951), and some 80 songs. In 1929 he was made a People’s Artist of the Georgian SSR, and in 1950 he was awarded the USSR State Prize.

—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire