The leader of the violin section of the Frankfurt Opera House

© Photo: www.classicfmsofia.com

A young Bulgarian musician fascinated the Bulgarian audiences this spring. Dimitar Ivanov had his debut on stage Bulgaria Hall in Sofia with the cycle The Music of America. He had chosen to appear with a major 20 c. work, Concerto for violin and orchestra by Samuel Barber. Though still young he is already leading the violin section of the Frankfurt Opera House. In 2002-2008 he had the same position at Teatro lirico di Gagliari in Italy.
More from Dimitar Ivanov about his schedule this season:
“In Frankfurt we staged the tetralogy Der Ring des Nibelungen by Wagner, with stage-director Vera Nemirova. Our joint work has turned very successful. We are very happy to have been singled out Orchestra of the Year in Germany once again. Every season we perform 28 operas and one symphony concert. Besides I teach in Berlin. This season I will have a chamber concert with Prof. Boettger, a cellist and veritable legend in Germany.”
Dimutar Ivanov admits that he has no specific preferences in serious music. He is open to various styles and genres. In American he has played contemporary works. He is in love with classical music and with a few 20 c. composers such as Prokofiev, Bartok and Berg.
Dimitar Ivanov has concertized as soloist of a few orchestras, among them the Radio Symphony Orchestra of Krakow, the Nuremberg Symphony Orchestra and the Wurzburg Philharmonics.
Listen next to a fragment from the first movement of Concerto for violin and orchestra by Samuel Barber in the rendition of Dimitar Ivanov. This is a recording from his appearance at Bulgaria Hall jointly with the Classic FM Orchestra under the baton of Luciano di Martino.
Dimitar Ivanov’s family emigrated to Germany while he was still a child, in 1981. For this reason his name is little known in Bulgaria. It was in Germany that he started studying the violin with Georgi Tilev. His schooling continued with Prof. Gregory Jislin in Wurzburg. Prof. Miriam Freed in Indiana, USA, and Prof. Ulf Valin in Berlin. Since 2011 Dimitar Ivanov has been leading his won violin class at the Hanns Eisler Higher School of Music in Berlin. Next, listen to a fragment from the second movement of Concerto for violin and orchestra by Samuel Barber with Dimitar Ivanov and the Classic FM Orchestra conducted by Luciano di Martino.
As professor Dimitar Ivanov seeks to reconcile the technical and musical development of his students. He works with an emotional approach and understanding combined with analytical thinking.
“Since the East opened to the West, a few very good professors from Russian moved to Germany. They have set very high technical standards. I recommend to my students the violinists from the old generation, Milstein, Oistrakh, Heifetz and Grumiaux (Грумьо). Music only makes sense when it has been felt with a depth of emotion. The audiences can easily detect whether the work has been performed with sincerity, or memorized automatically.”

According to Dimitar Ivanov in the aftermath of the two world wars, music was very important in Europe as a kind of psychotherapy. Today, it is a luxury to go and listen to a concert of classical music.
“The trend of presenting a given work in a light form, easy to consume, has influenced young performers”, Dimitar Ivanov contends. “When I play I try to find for myself and for the audience the emotional key to the work performed. My priority is to present the full beauty and content of a work of music.”
We end this edition of Timeout for Music with a fragment from the third movement of Concerto for violin and orchestra by Samuel Barber in the rendition of Dimitar Ivanov, with the Classic FM Orchestra under the baton of Luciano di Martino.

Translated by Daniela Konstantinova