6
JULY
It is difficult to evaluate
the merit of the
Sofia Soloists
Chamber Ensemble
for the development of Bulgarian music culture:
gramophone records /over 80/, tours all around the
world, which have continued for 45 years now, numerous
first performances of Bulgarian and foreign works from
different periods. The ensemble has worked with all
outstanding Bulgarian musicians – composers, conductors,
soloists. With some of them /M. Goleminov, K. Iliev, D.
Petkov, F. Kutev, M. Mintchev, etc./ the relationship
goes beyond the usual artistic colaboration. A number of
Bulgarian pieces were composed especially for the
ensemble. Among the conductors and soloists worked with
the Soloists are the names of H. Schering, H. Holliger,
D. Chafran, N. Zabaleta, P. Gallois, V. Katsarova, N.
Kennedy, etc. Since 1988 Principal conductor of the
ensemble has been Plamen Dzurov, who has adapted the
ensemble’s traditions with the new situation in the
music life. Occasionally the chamber string formation,
consisting of 14 musicians, is joined by wind, brass and
percussion instruments and under the name Sofia Soloists
Music Association extends their repertoire from
symphonies and concertos by Haydn and Mozart to works by
Bartok, Shostakovich and others. Their recordings /for
BMG-Germany, Denon, Balkanton, Gega and others/ sell on
three continents. As addition to its repertoire variety,
this season the Sofia Soloists Association is preparing
the premiere of Chr. W. Gluck’s opera Orpheus.
Plamen
Dzhurov graduated at the Music Academy
of Sofia in three subjects: piano, conducting and
composition. For six years he was conductor of the
Pleven Philharmonic Orchestra. Later he toured with
Bulgarian and foreign orchestras, among them – the
Philharmonic Orchestra of Mexico, symphony orchestras of
Havana, Flensburg, Saraevo, Skopje and Leningrad
Philharmonic Orchestra. In 1984 he specialized with Karl
Oesterreicher at the Vienna Music Academy. Since 1988 he
has worked with the Sofia Soloists. Among his numerous
radio and TV recordings /over 300/ are series of first
performances by Bulgarian and foreign composers,
integrals of Bach’s piano concertos, integral panorama
of literature for guitar and orchestra and more than 15
CDs. He has conducted hundreds of concerts with the
Soloists in Europe, North America, Japan and Republic of
Korea. At present he is a Professor in conducting at
Pancho Vladigerov State Music Academy. As a composer he
has devoted himself mostly to the instrumental genres:
Elegy for Orchestra (1980); Toccata for Orchestra
(1982); Fantasia for Orchestra (1985);Four Ballads,
Cadenza for saxophone and Violine (1994).
Pavel Minev (born in Pleven)
graduated from the Moscow State Conservatory. He has
taken a honour diploma as a Master and Doctor in Music
in the violin class of the famous Professor and People’s
Artist Irina Bochkova. He won the First Prizes at the
Svetoslav Obretenov National Competition, Jan Kotsian
International Competition, Czech Republic, Citta di
Streza International Competition, Italy and Golden Medal
at the Wieniavsky International Festival in Poland. It
was as early as his first appearances at the big stages
he started winning not only the enthusiasm of the
audiences and the press but also was highly appraised by
the elite of the world music art. Only 23-year old he
was accepted as a permanently appointed soloist at the
Moscow Philharmonics, where he plays till now. P. Minev
has taken part in the most prestigious forums and
festivals such as Wieniavsky in Poland, The March Music
Days in Rousse. The violinist’s concert in the Big Hall
of the Moscow Conservatory and Carnegie Hall have been
highly praised by the press. He has been many times a
guest artist in Austria, Italy, Czech Republic, Poland,
CIS, Cyprus and the USA as a soloist of the most famous
orchestras. He has been given the extraordinary
opportunity to give concerts before state and government
leaders at the National Assembly of Bulgaria, the
Russian Parliament and the State Department in
Washington. In 2002, he was awarded with the State Grant
of the Russian Federation and in 2003 he was given the
prize of the Ministry of Culture of Bulgaria. P. Minev
has performed for more than 40 world premieres. His
albums have been released in New York, Russia and
Bulgaria. |
