Incredible concert of a great virtuoso and one of the few musicians that can truly touch the human soul were just some of the comments after the recent concert dedicated to the anniversary of accordionist Petar Ralchev. He is a unique Bulgarian musician, included in the Histoy of the Accordion Encyclopedia, published in France in 1991. Fans of folklore music will surely remember the concert that took place in Studio 1 of the Bulgarian National Radio. Soloist of the orchestra was Petar Ralchev, while Dimitar Hristov was the conductor.
It was an honor for me to be on this stage together with the orchestra of the BNR. I hope that the concert was an exciting experience for the listeners, Petar Ralchev told Radio Bulgaria. My anniversary was last year but I had many concerts abroad. Time was also needed for the organisation of this event. I used the opportunity to make three new recordings with the orchestra of the radio, a day after the concert. I truly enjoyed working with these musicians and conductor Dimitar Hristov, he added.
In the past few months Petar Ralchev had concerts in Norway, Germany, Belgium, and France. In July he is to perform in Spain and Switzerland together with musicians Peyo Peev, Nedyalko Nedyalkov and Angel Dimitrov. They will also perform at a festival in Germany in the autumn, while in August Petar Ralchev will have concerts in Spain and Canada.
It is exciting every time when I am on stage, Mr. Ralchev says. Recently he opened a competition for young accordionists in the town of Novi Pazar. I am glad that young musicians like my music and want to learn from me, Petar Ralchev says and adds that musicians learn throughout their whole life.
You have just heard a piece from the album of Peyo Peev with the participation of Petar Ralchev. It is one of the 10 albums in the discography of Petar Ralchev. His latest album entitled “Live from Bulgaria” was released in 2011 during a tour to the US. The pieces in it are performed by the Petar Ralchev quartet. It includes musicians Nikolay Georgiev, Iliana Georgieva and Petar Iliev. Petar Ralchev also has three jazz albums and says it was always enjoyable when one was creating good music.
English: Alexander Markov
