Podcast in English
Text size
Bulgarian National Radio © 2024 All Rights Reserved

Pianist Ivo Varbanov – an interview

Photo: personal archive

Living, working and playing together at two pianos – Bulgarian pianist Ivo Varbanov and  his wife Fiametta Tarli talk to RB

The second edition of the London Festival of Bulgarian Culture that took place across the whole of November included musical offerings in the playbill, featuring Bulgarian musicians.

One of these was Bulgarian pianist Ivo Varbanov who has been living and working in the British capital for years now. Ivo Varbanov and his wife who is also a pianist, Italian Fiammetta Tarli, had a concert on November 12 including the world premiere of “Silent Light” – a two piano work of young Bulgarian composer Martin Georgiev, a work written especially for this piano duo.

Being a couple in life and a duo on the stage – an easy task or a daily challenge?

Assia Chaneva, a leading journalist in the Hristo Botev Channel of the BNR and host of the radio show ALARMA targeted at younger audiences, met with these two musicians in London after their concert in an interview for Radio Bulgaria where they talk about the pros and cons of being a pianist, about how classical musicians manage to survive in the commercialized musical industry of the 21st century, about the loneliness of the performer on the stage, about touring stages across the UK and Bulgaria, while at the same time bringing up their 3-year-old son Jacomo. Also, Fiammetta shares her first experiences of Bulgaria, getting to know an Eastern European country, and also some culinary inspiration she got from Bulgarian cuisine. 

Born in a family of musicians (his mother is a cellist, his aunt is a pianist and his grandfather was an excellent amateur pianist), Ivo Varbanov moved with his mother to Italy at an early age and studied in Milan. After his graduation he decided to move to England. He has released several CDs with various classical repertoire, including works of Mussorgsky, Ildebrando Pizzetti, Béla Bartók, Aleksandr Arutiunian, Gheorghi Arnaoudov, Ari Ben-Shabetai, Christo Yotzov, Jerzy Bauer and Johannes Brahms (the recordings on this show).



Последвайте ни и в Google News Showcase, за да научите най-важното от деня!
Listen to the daily news from Bulgaria presented in "Bulgaria Today" podcast, available in Spotify.

More from category

Traveler Izabela Shopova makes yogurt in conditions similar to those in space

There is hardly a boy who has not wished to become an astronaut. Some girls also have such aspirations. Among them is traveler Izabela Shopova, whose biggest childhood hero was Yuri Gagarin. She describes her travels in books, recounting life in..

published on 3/18/24 1:40 PM

Protest in Varna against wind farms in the Black Sea

Representatives of the fishing and tourism industries are protesting in Varna against the draft law on renewable energy in marine areas . Traffic in the area of the Palace of Culture and Sports was disrupted for 3 hours before noon on Monday 18 March...

published on 3/17/24 1:17 PM

Lisbon is hosting a forum on Bulgarian education abroad

Over 60 participants from 15 countries are gathering in the capital of Portugal to discuss innovative methods and materials for teaching the history and geography of Bulgaria in Bulgarian schools abroad. The patron of the forum is Vice President Iliana..

published on 3/14/24 12:03 PM