We present folk singer Verka Siderova with the cream of cream of her repertoire.
“When I am asked about my native region, I answer, ‘I was born where the land smells like hot bread’, folk singer Verka Siderova wrote in her book that has been released on the occasion of her 85th birthday. There are extensive excerpts in it dedicated to the region of Northeastern Bulgaria, better known as Dobrudja, Bulgaria’s granary.
Verka Siderova’s life began in hard times, the 1920s, when the fertile Dobrudja was part of Romania. As a child she went to a Romanian school, and the first song she sang on stage was in Romanian. However, the language of the family was strictly Bulgarian. Her parents taught their children that Bulgarian traditions, songs and rituals should be preserved. When Verka Siderova was in high school, she already studied her native Bulgarian, because Dobrudja had been regained by Bulgaria. She also learned to speak some Turkish, from the kids in the neighborhood. With her father, a machine mechanic, she spoke in Russian.
“My father only returned home when the first snow fell”, the singer goes back in time. “For the rest of the time we saw very little of him. His job was to maintain the farming machinery in a few villages, and he worked very hard to keep the family. Mother and granny took care of us. We were four children. We were brought up to become hard working, fond of knowledge and able to cope with life’s hardships. My father was a man of high moral values. He had had no chance of completing his education. He was orphaned at 10 and started to work to support his sisters.”
Verka Siderova learned a great many folk songs in her family that strictly observed all traditions. Though they lived in a town, Dobrich, her mother wove and made the clothes of her children on her own. A folk singer with an international career, Verka Siderova has performed many of those songs as soloist of the Filip Kutev Folk Song and Dance Ensemble. She was discovered by the founder of the ensemble, Filip Kutev, after she won the first prize in a 1952 competition. Her command of a few foreign languages gave her another role in the ensemble. During long international tours, the singer was an indispensable assistant of maestro Filip Kutev as an interpreter. As the ensemble’s soloist she has sung on stage Royal Albert Hall in London, Tchaikovsky Hall in Moscow, and on many prestigious stages in 30 countries of the world. “We took abroad small bits of the incredible Bulgarian treasury of music”, Verka Siderova wrote in her new book. Listen next to another of her songs.
Verka Siderova stands out among Bulgarian folk singers with her active work in public life. She retired close to three decades ago, but her fellow residents in Dobrich and her colleagues from Filip Kutev Ensemble have demonstrated their love and respect for her on various occasions. Young musicians have referred to her for professional advice. Verka Sideorva has been awarded with the Nestinarka Grand Prix given to her for lifetime achievement in folklore by the International Folklore Festival in Burgas. Since 2004 she has been honorary citizen of Dobrich and in 2011 she received the Stara Planina Order, the highest distinction in this country given by the president of Bulgaria. “I go on singing every day, when I am happy, or sad, or when I recall a story or two”, Siderova admits. She is very fond of proverbs and sayings.
“I have a soft spot for old aphorisms. They represent ready-to-use wisdom that comes in handy, when one feels the need to change and develop. I have learned many of them during my Latin and Old Greek classes at the Dobrich High School. One example: ‘Always forgive others, never yourself’. Or here is another, ‘The face mirrors the soul”. Isn’t it true? Still another – ‘Times change and we change with them’.
Verka Siderova is a pleasure to talk with, and she is also a gifted narrator. Her book makes a compelling reading. The singer has chosen a title for it that goes like the opening verse of one of the most popular Bulgarian folks songs, Are you a tulip, or hyacinth. To wind up Timeout for Music on Radio Bulgaria, let us listen to that song.
Translated by Daniela Konstantinova
