Irma Sokhadze is a Georgian singer who gained fame in the Soviet years. Many know her as the first performer of the "Orange Song", popular in the Union. However, there are many jazz compositions on Irma’s account.
Biography: early years
Irma Agulievna Sokhadze was born on November 28, 1958 in Tbilisi. There were no professional musicians in the family: my father worked as an engineer, and my mother worked as a linguist. According to the parents, the love of singing in Irma appeared already in two years. All thanks to his uncle, who was an ardent admirer of Italian pop music. He could listen to Italian songs for hours. Little Irma loved to sing along. After hearing her singing, the relatives decided that Irma had the ability to vocals, and they began to develop them in every way. In an interview, Sokhadze recalled that her parents often sang melodies to her, and she repeated.
Soon she began to sing in a family ensemble, which included her parents and brother. In Georgia, they are taken seriously. And Irma was taken to the ensemble not just to respect a small child. She sang on equal terms with adults.
Sokhadze soon noticed Soso Tugushi. At that time, he directed a jazz orchestra at a local polytechnic institute. Irma was then only four years old. Thanks to the efforts of Tugushi, the song in her performance hit the Georgian radio, and then Irma was shown on television. For the republican program, she sang two songs: one in Georgian and the other in Italian. Soon, Sokhadze began to solo in the Tugushi orchestra. Despite the fact that the group was considered amateur, many fairly well-known Georgian musicians and singers came out of it.
Career
After the Tugushi Orchestra, Irma began performing at VIA Rero. At that time, his artistic director was Konstantin Pevzner. It was he who specifically for Sokhadze invented the melody and arrangement of the song, which thundered throughout the Union and remains recognizable to this day. Poems were written by Arkady Arkanov and Grigory Gorin. The composition is called "Orange Song". Sokhadze is her first performer.
For the first time, Irma sang her in 1965 in the Moscow Hermitage Garden. She was then eight years old. The song immediately became a hit. The very next day after the broadcast on television, she was sung everywhere. Moreover, not only children, but also adults. More than half a century has passed. But this song has not lost relevance. Her children still love her, and the audience at Sokhadze’s concerts sing her in unison. Irma herself believes that the "Orange Song" is more than just a song, it is a symbol of another, vast country and a common past.
In the same year, the company "Melody" released a record with the debut mini-album of young Sokhadze. It included such compositions as:
- "Orange Song";
- "It was in January";
- "Top-top";
- "What kind of student is this?"
In 1967, Polish television made the musical film Recital. Its duration was only 15 minutes. The director was Konstantin Chichishvili. In this film, 9-year-old Sokhadze performed jazz standards. In 1969, Irma got a role in the musical television movie Larisa Shepitko "At the thirteenth hour of the night."
Sokhadze combined tours with studies at a Tbilisi music school for gifted children. She graduated with a gold medal. After school, she became a student at the conservatory. Sokhadze chose the piano class, but at the same time she also studied at the musicology department. Irma graduated from the conservatory with honors.
The famous Georgian opera diva Vera Davydova advised Irma to seriously engage in classical vocals, promising great successes. However, Sokhadze pondered too long, and then it was too late. However, Irma does not regret this omission. In an interview, she noted that singing in an opera means being attached to her, and she loves independence.
Irma left television as a deputy general director of the First Georgian Channel. Only she didn’t leave of her own free will. She was asked to quit. After Mikhail Saakashvili came to power, new people began to "make" politics in Georgia. And on television too. It was said bluntly that everyone who worked on state television was not needed. And those over forty, too. Having left, Irma longed for work on television.
Sokhadze continues to tour, not only in Georgia, but also in other countries. So, she gives concerts in Russia. Recently, not so often due to the aggravation of Russian-Georgian relations.
