*Classical titles for children and adults with popular and loved participants
*Zheni Zaharieva playing Brahms with the Varna Philharmonic Orchestra
*One Love Evening on 14 February with the eternal songs of Kamelia Todorova and the Varna Philharmonic Orchestra
*Talented performers from the Music School – soloists at a symphonic concert

Dear Readers,
Happy New Year! After the traditional January vacation at the beginning of 2007, the program of Opera and Philharmonic Society – Varna offers a wide variety of opportunities for audiences of different age groups and preferences – from symphonic music, opera, ballet, operetta and musical to pop and jazz.

PERFORMANCES

The first three performances for the year are with the participation of Varna Children’s Opera. On 26 January , 18:00 hrs and on 12 February, 16:00 hrs is the musical for children by Aleksandar Yosifov (1840) One American Weekend (The Story of Tom and Becky) based on the novel Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain (1835 – 1910).  It is staged by Nikolay Aprilov and conducted by Gancho Ganchev. The classic musical West Side Story by Leonard Bernstein (1918 – 1990) will be presented on February 5, 18:00 hrs.

After nearly a two-month interruption, on 7 and 21 February, 18:00 hrs, is the much expected performance of the biggest box-office success in the repertoire of Opera and Philharmonic Society, Varna, for the last two years – the operetta Bulgarians from Olden Times by Asen Karastoyanov (1893 – 1976) based on the novella of the same title by Lyuben Karavelov (1834 – 1879). Its success is namely due to the amazing comedians Ruslan Muinov (Hadzhi Gencho) and Stefan Ryadkov (Dyado Libev), director Nikolay Aprilov, conductor Stanislav Ushev and choreographer Petar Angelov.

After its successful premiere with two performances at the end of 2006, on 9 and 28 February, you will see the comic opera Le Nozze di Figaro by W. A. Mozart (1756 – 1791), also based on a classic literary work by the French playwright Pierre Beaumarchais (1732 – 1799). Under the baton of Hristo Ignatov, the performance features young talented artists for some of whom this is a debut on a big opera stage. The opera is staged by the famous opera singer and director Pavel Gerdzhikov. 

One of the most beloved and popular operas by Giuseppe Verdi (1813 – 1901), La Traviata, will be presented on 16 February, 18:00 hrs. The part of Violetta will be sung by the young soprano Yanitsa Nesheva. She graduated from State Music Academy Prof. Pancho Vladigerov in the class of Prof. Mila Dyulgerova in 2000. Since then she has been soloist with Stara Zagora State Opera. In 2004 and 2005 she specialized in the master-classes of Raina Kabaivanska. On the Varna stage Yanitsa Nesheva has sung Gilda, Adina, Luccia and Violetta. 

On 26 February, 18:00 hrs, the ballet troupe of Opera and Philharmonic Society, Varna, in cooperation with students from the ballet classes of the High School for Arts Dobri Hristov will present the ballet concert Triad, choreography by Konstantin Iliev and Olesya Pantikina. The program includes classic fragments from ballets (Minkus, Adam) and specially staged performances, inspired by modern dance techniques to music by G. Bizet, S. Barber, Wagner, Vanessa-Mae, Nicholas Lenz, Chopin.

ZHENI ZAHARIEVA AND THE MUSIC OF JOHANNES BRAHMS

On 2 February, 19:00 hrs, the Symphony Orchestra conducted by Stanislav Ushev will present an intriguing program of works of one of the most preferred composers, Johannes Brahms (1833 – 1897), playing Concerto for Piano and Orchestra No 2 and the Fourth Symphony.

The soloist, Zheni Zaharieva, is a well-known and renowned representative of the Bulgarian clavier tradition. She has been developing a varied concert activity in Europe, the Far East, Africa and America, working with a number of acknowledged orchestras and chamber ensembles among which: the Amsterdam Philharmonic Orchestra; Liege Philharmonic Orchestra, Belgium; the Russian Symphonic Orchestra of Moscow; the Sofia Philharmonic Orchestra; Deutschen Streichsolisten, Berlin; Per Musika and Cecilia Consort, the Netherlands; J. S. Bach, Russia and others. She has given concerts with conductors: Thomas Sanderling, Christian Badea, Lev Marquise, Loran Hisch and many others. One of the more significant projects with her participation is the European premiere of the concert The Americas by US composer Lalo Schifrin with the Symphony Orchestra of the Bulgarian National Radio under the author’s conductorship – part of the clavier project of the Steinway Foundation, dedicated to the 500th Anniversary of the discovery of America. Zheni Zaharieva is an initiator of the restoration of the legendary old pianoforte of Clara Schumann in Schloss Branitz, Germany. She was the first pianist to give a concert and record a CD on this instrument. In 1998, the Bulgarian pianist gave the first recital on the special blue concert grand piano of the Steinway Company, Rhapsody model, made to mark the 100th anniversary of the birth of composer and pianist George Gershwin. She has had recordings and CDs with EMS – Brussels, AVM Classics – London, Veton – Rotterdam, Gema – Berlin, Heritage Society – the USA, Balkanton – Sofia. Zheni Zaharieva was awarded the Ministry of Culture Prize for 2002 for her contribution to the development of Bulgarian music culture.  She is Professor of Piano and Chamber Music at the State Music Academy Prof. Pancho Vladigerov in Sofia. She has conducted masterclasses at the National Conservatory in Paris, the Moscow Conservatory Chaikovsky, as well as in Brussels, Venice, Rotterdam, New York, New Jersey, Yokohama and Athens. She is Artistic Director of the international festivals: Music and Earth, Albert Roussel, Summer Academy for Music Arts Mermaid, Arts for Earth Festival.  She is chairperson of the Union of Bulgarian Music and Dance Artists and of the National Association for Protection of Performers’ Rights.

Concerto for Piano and Orchestra No 2 in B-Flat Major, Op. 83 by Johannes Brahms is one of the most frequently performed works by Zheni Zaharieva. Created in the period 1878 – 1881, the work of the German composer is compact in idea and orderly in composition. Its ideas and range of musical conception make specialists define Brahms’s Second Clavier Concerto as a four-part symphony with a solo-piano. It is indicative that the first scores of the concerto came into being simultaneously with the finale of his Second Symphony. These two works have many common features – the celebration of the joy of life, the affirmation of the glorious image of the native country. It is this image that dominates the first part. The second part, scherzo, envisions a play of giants. In the third one, the author seems to be left alone with Nature, full of lofty prayer-like feelings. Lively and dynamic, spontaneous in its glee, the finale complements the monumental concerto-symphony. In the themes of the finale one hears intonations and rhythms of Hungarian folklore.

The superb development, rhythmic richness and emotional intensity make this work one of the most significant in the clavier literature.

The second part of the concert on 2 February includes the Fourth Symphony in E-Minor, Op. 98 (1885) – one of the superb, unique works of Brahms. With shaking drama and unflinching determination of spirit, it tells the story of the tragic ups and downs of one’s life.  The beginning of the first part is notable: in the mood of an elegy-romance we hear the heartfelt sound of the main theme. The musical storyline becomes more thrilling and is interrupted by a call to war – a call for action. Gradually the heroic motif acquires a crude and anxious nuance. Its appearance is always unexpected and stimulates the musical development. The first part ends in a large coda in which the initial elegy theme becomes tragic. The second part in Andante has the Romantic character of a meditative monologue (in French horns). The rush of the modified call theme cannot break the meditative mood. It is conveyed in a marvellous way in the coda, where the ‘eight-voice choir’ of the string instruments sings. This remarkable vivid effect refutes some statements about the lack of colourfulness of Brahms’s imagination. The third part depicts a noisy carnival procession; as if life with all its wonderful colours has invaded the development of the personal drama. The finale – the cruel judgment of fate is merciless. This is conveyed by the crude sound of the chorale of the string instruments, which unfold the 8-time theme, a basis for 32 variations.

ONE LOVE EVENING AT THE OPERA

The Roman Catholic calendar marks 14 February as the Day of the People in Love. As early as the 14th century the tradition of exchanging love messages, called Valentines was begun. On this date at 19:00 hrs, 500 people will celebrate, listening to love hits Midnight Taxis’re Flying, Don’t Look at Me, Boy, Whispered Dreams, as well as to American pop and jazz evergreens, performed by Kamelia Todorova with the accompaniment of the Varna Philharmonic Orchestra, under the conductorship of Slavil Dimitrov. Specially, for the people in love in the Sea Capital, Kamelia Todorova has prepared a limited number of CD-gifts – 50 of her albums for 50 couples. And a limited number of VIP guests to the great singer, who have bought two tickets of 20 leva, will receive an album with her autograph and one more amazing present after the concert. They will toast the holiday with Kamelia Todorova and her friends on the Night of Wine and Love.

We would like to remind the younger readers who she is. Kamelia Todorova graduated from the Pop Music Department of the State Music Academy in Singing with Irina Chmihova. Influenced by pianists Sasho Mirev and Mario Stanchev, she oriented to blues and jazz. Still a freshman, together with the professors in the Pop Music Department, she set up jazz formations to the Academy. She won the second prize at the competition for young jazz singers in Lublin, Poland, the special prize of the name of Duke Ellington. She gave concerts in India and Poland. She was a many-time participant in the most prestigious jazz event at the time – Sofia Jazz Meetings. In the early 1980s Kamelia Todorova turned to pop music, winning the First Prize and Special Prize at the Golden Orpheus (1980). At the time she also starred in films: The Turnovo Queen, A Surge of Tenderness, Bonne Chance, Inspector. In the last decade she took part in many jazz festivals in London, New York, Chicago, San Francisco and Los Angeles. Her exceptional vocal qualities allow Kamelia Todorova to include in her repertoire songs in soul, funk and rock styles. She recorded the single Bursting at the Seams with Queen, followed by Chain of Fools. She has also worked with Michael Bolton, George Michael, Boy George and others.

YOUNG MUSICAL TALENTS

from the National School for Arts Dobri Hristov, Varna, on 23 February, 19:00 hrs, accompanied by the Varna Philharmonic Orchestra, under the conductorship of Stanislav Ushev, will present their traditional symphonic concert. The preliminary audition will take place on 1 February. Immediately after that the program of the concert will be published on our site.