The bio of pianist Plamena Mangova is dotted with a multitude of curious facts, and there is hardly a good summary of it. Since the beginning of the year the pianist has given concerts in Vienna, Florence and Madrid and also in Bucharest with the Romanian National Orchestra. With the same program the musicians appeared at the 50th edition of the March Music Days festival in the Bulgarian Danube City of Rousse. Mangova is scheduled to appear soon in UK and Russia. She says that 2014 was also a year with a tight creative schedule for her:

"The previous season was quite interesting, as I traveled to countries I had not even dreamt of visiting. I was in New Zealand with the National Orchestra in the capital Wellington. We had a brief but quite tight tour and presented a program in five cities. After that I had a concert in Taipei. Later on in Moscow I was happy to join for the first time the festival organized by the daughter of great Russian cellist Mstislav Rostropovich. It was a guest-appearance with the Radio France Philharmonic Orchestra, one of the world's best. Its concertmaster is brilliant Bulgarian violinist Svetlin Roussev, a good friend of mine. I played the Concerto in G major by Maurice Ravel in the historic Grand Hall of the Moscow Conservatory. I had other appearances in Russia and in the German-speaking part of Europe.”

Plamena Mangova has graduated the Music School in her native town of Pleven, Northern Bulgaria, and the National Academy of Music in Sofia in the class of Marina Kapatsinska. She has specialized in the Queen Sophia College of Music in Madrid with Dmitry Bashkirov and at the Queen Elizabeth Music College with Abdel Rahman El Bacha. Plamena has won prizes at international competitions, such as Paloma O'Shea in Santander, Spain, Vittorio Gui in Florence, Italy etc. In 2007 Mangova won second prize in one of the world's top competitions, Queen Elizabeth in Belgium. Since then her career has prospered. Her first CD was with music by Dmitri Shostakovich and won the prestigious French award Diapason d'Or back in 2007. She has been working with high-class orchestras and conductors and has carried out a few chamber music projects. Despite her busy schedule Plamena is still in love with her job.

"I think that the strongest inspiration comes from the incredible pleasure of playing music. Trips, concerts and jet lags cause a lot of stress. It is only the great love for music that motivates musicians to go ahead and eliminate obstacles. Let me quote the great Russian conductor Vladimir Fedoseyev who once said, 'An artiste should remain an artiste regardless of any circumstances and ordeals'. One unforgettable moment in my bio is the performance of a Mozart concerto with conductor Sir Colin Davis, and also, my work with Andrew Davis, Myung Whun Chung of South Korea and other big names. I am going to play the Second Concerto for Piano and Orchestra by Saint Saëns with famous American conductor Leonard Slatkin and the National Orchestra from Lyon, France. I love what I do and I feel lucky to be able to encounter great musicians and get acquainted with different cultures.”  

English Daniela Konstantinova

Photos: private library

The audio file contains the following works, performed by Plamena Mangova:

1. A fragment from Concerto for Piano and Orchestra No. 1 by Beethoven, with the Sofia Philharmonic, conductor Plamen Djouroff

2. Danzas Argentinas (Argentine Dances) by Alberto Ginastera