Anyone who says tradition is stuffy has never been to a Trio Mandili performance. The Georgian trio (consisting of Tatuli Mgeladze, Ana Chichinadze, and Shorena Tsiklauri) gave a concert at Luxor Arnhem that was at once old, new, intimate, and explosive. It was a performance, but also an experience that made you forget time: three voices rooted in ancient polyphony, but sounding as if they were directly connected to modern forms of music.

A centuries-old tradition: Georgian polyphony

Trio Mandili sings in the tradition of Georgian polyphonic folk music. That is not just anything. This music has been declared intangible cultural heritage by UNESCO. Georgian polyphony is different from what Western Europeans are used to. The voices move like horizontal lines that intersect. The harmonies sometimes clash slightly and then resolve. Meanwhile, the voices seem to intertwine.

These centuries-old song forms originate from mountain villages where singing was not seen as performing, but as living together. The melodies have been passed down from family to family, from region to region: Kartli, Racha, Samegrelo, Guria. Mandili draws from that reservoir, but does so effortlessly, as if they themselves were one of those sources.

Why it feels modern: simplicity, rhythm, and honesty

What makes Mandili so surprisingly contemporary is not that they use modern instruments — on the contrary, their only instrument is often the panduri, a three-stringed string instrument from the Caucasus. The modernity lies in their rhythmic energy, the almost pop-like tightness with which they perform their polyphony, and above all in their authenticity.

Polyphony is not entirely new in Western pop music, although we have to go back quite a way in time to find it. In the 1980s, there were The Roches, who also managed to create such beautiful female vocal polyphony. And what about Crosby Stills Nash and Young, for example in the song ‘Carry on’.

Back to the present day. Today's global musical taste, whether indie or folk-pop, is increasingly looking for authentic voices, simplicity, and authenticity. This is exactly where Trio Mandili fits in seamlessly. Their polyphony feels more honest than many layered studio choirs; their presentation is minimalist but intense; their humor and lightness make it traditional without ever feeling like something from the past.

The division of roles: three women, three functions, one flow

During the performance in Arnhem, the power of their division of roles became clear once again. Tatuli is the narrator, the one who explains what the songs are about in between songs. With disarming simplicity, she explains that Georgian songs are almost always about love, mountains, and Georgia. And nothing needs to be changed about that. Ana is often the rhythmic engine: her voice carries the middle layer that binds the polyphony together. Shorena regularly lays the low foundations or, conversely, the high ornaments, depending on the song. The effect is striking: you see three individual artists, but hear one organism.

Tonight, Luxor Arnhem fell under the spell of the three benevolent sirens. Polyphony has a strange power; it penetrates in a different way than pop music. Not through build-up and climax, but through resonance.

After a few songs, you see it happening. Things start to move. The applause after the songs is a little louder than usual. There is soft laughter at the stories, people look at each other in surprise. The trio pulls the audience out of their seats without a single push, purely with energy and their refreshing presence. The power of their performance lies in the fact that they don't play for the audience, but with the audience. It's as if the hall becomes a fourth voice. Which is what literally happens when Tatuli invites the audience to sing along. We even get a lesson.

The themes: love, mountains, and the homeland

Although they mentioned it several times during the evening, a few words about their themes. The simplicity with which they describe their themes is disarming. Georgian songs are about love (often tragic, sometimes playful), mountains (the Caucasus as a symbol of strength and identity) and Georgia itself (the country that is sung about in almost every song as if it were a lover).

It is folk music in the purest sense: stories of a place, nourished by landscape and history. And at the same time, it connects with universal human emotions. That is why it works so well for modern ears. It is music in which no one feels like a stranger.

Trio Mandili leaves behind what the best performances leave behind: a feeling of connection, something that lingers in the air. They show that authenticity is not the same as nostalgia. And that three voices, one string, and a thousand-year-old tradition can sometimes be more powerful than any light show or elaborate production. Luxor Arnhem didn't get a performance. It got a memory. Tomorrow, Eindhoven will experience the same thing... because that's when they'll be there.

bertoverbeek@icloud.com