“I started studying conducting in Bratislava when I was 14, thanks to my parents,” Konsantin Ilievsky says. “I wasn’t fully aware what was happening. But I did not neglect the piano – my first love. When I graduated from the conservatory in Bratislava I went on to study composition and conducting at the University of Music and Performing Arts in Vienna. There I graduated conducting with Uros Lajovic and composition with Detlev Muller-Siemens. In Bratislava I founded the Sinfonietta dell’Arte orchestra – last year we marked its 20th anniversary. The orchestra brings together musicians from different countries and it is my job to blend the national impulses they convey. My work with the Dianopolis chamber ensemble is very important to me. I am happy to be able to conduct the Sofia Philharmonic every season and last season I started making recordings with the Symphony Orchestra of the Bulgarian National Radio. I very much enjoy guest conducting with other Bulgarian orchestras – I regularly work with the symphony orchestras in Vidin, Pleven, Vratsa. I am a composer and I am frequently commissioned different works. I also enjoy pursuing my career as pianist. I have 10-15 concerts a year – as soloist and also with chamber formations. To my mind that is very important to any conductor – to continue to play and never forget what it is like to be an instrumentalist. I endeavour to set myself higher standards than I set for others. There are so many jokes about conductors, so it is difficult to pick out just one. But anyone who has chosen the profession must have a strong sense of humour and self-irony.”

Konstantin Ilievsky was born to a family of musicians. He was named after his grandfather – a theoretician and music pedagogue. His father is a composer, his mother and his grandmother (who passed away a few years ago) – piano teachers.

“I am extremely proud of my parents and grandparents. When I am conducting or performing on stage, I always feel I bear the responsibility of representing the entire Ilievsky family. My grandfather studied in Vienna – orchestration with Richard Strauss, conducting with Hermann Abendroth… My father, Kiril Ilievsky doesn’t like to be in the limelight, but he is among the contemporary Bulgarian composers whose works are performed most often. The evolution he has undergone is remarkable, few can compare with him. I remember when I was a child – if I played just one note, there would be five different opinions at home. But in time this proved to be a factor that has pushed me to evolve. They never endeavoured to “smother” me with their opinions. It is extremely rewarding to have my parents say they like my work.”

It takes a lot of different qualities to be a conductor, but there is one that is essential – remarkable tenacity, says Konstantin further, and he is speaking from experience. At the moment he is recording with the BNR Symphony Orchestra – Concerto for Piano No. 2 by Dmitri Shostakovich, soloist Alexander Hinchev. Over the past couple of months he has conducted and performed in over 20 concerts and is to have more in the days to come. On 4 June he will perform as soloist of the Hilaris Chamber Orchestra in Bratislava a work by composer Vladislav Sarissky; written especially for him – it is called Nit-Nat-Snok – or Konstantin backwards.

The audio file features:

* Spanish Capriccio, part 5 by Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov, performed by the Sofia Philharmonic, conductor Konstantin Ilievsky;

* Ancient airs and dances, Suite No. 1, part 2 by Ottorino Respighi;

* Concerto for Piano, Hammerklavier, Harpsichord and Orchestra by Georgi Arnaudov, part 1, performed by the Sofia Philharmonic, conductor Konstantin Ilievsky.

English version: Milena Daynova