This year the Bulgarian National Radio Symphony Orchestra marks seven decades since its creation. The 70^th creative season of the orchestra starts on September 28, with a concert in the Bulgaria Hall in Sofia. Chief conductor Mark Kadin told us more about the program that marks the start of a series of major music events.

“We open our concert season with music by Bulgarian Dobrinka Tabakova - a significant name among contemporary composers, whose works are performed all over the world. The audience will hear Orpheus’ Comet- a festive, bright work that brings special solemnity, an elevated mood, and gives an impulse for the whole season. We will continue with Chopin's Concerto №2 for Piano and Orchestra and we will partner with remarkable Russian pianist Anna Tsybuleva, a laureate of several international competitions. We will also perform one of the pearls among Dvorak’s works - his Symphony№8. It somewhat remains in the shadow of his renowned Ninth Symphony, but it is no less interesting.”

Upcoming concerts include other Bulgarian works, as well as works by various composers, which have not been performed before or are performed very rarely in this country.

“It is important for us not only to present contemporary Bulgarian music but also to preserve interest towards composers from previous generations. In the program we have works by Lyubomir Pipkov and Alexander Raichev. The concert on February 1, 2019 is dedicated to the 80th birthday of Georgi Minchev - one of the brightest figures in contemporary Bulgarian music. The composer himself titled the concert ‘A Deep Bow to my Teachers’ as the program includes not only his works but works by his teachers - Marin Goleminov, Rodion Shchedrin, Aram Khachaturian. I would also like to pay attention to the concert that will take place on March 15 - Hungary's Independence Day. We dedicate it to this great country. We have invited remarkable violinist Kristóf Baráti, who has recently convincingly taken his deserved place among the greatest violinists. I think the Bulgarian public will appreciate his mastery. On May 17, 2019, for the first time in Bulgaria, we will perform the suite ‘Dead Souls’ by Alfred Schnittke, as well as the music of Prokofiev for the unfinished movie ‘The Queen of Spades’. Of course, the other concerts in our program also deserve attention. Each of them would bring something new and interesting to the audience.”

What is the general idea that unites the twelve concert programs? Here's the answer of the maestro:

“The concept behind the program is quite simple. We do not have many concerts because our primary duty as a radio orchestra is recording. We perform in concert halls less often in comparison to other orchestras. That is why we strive for each of our programs to be different, so the audience can learn something new. That's why the soloists are not the most popular names as we love working with young artists - they are the new generation and perhaps in the years to come they will be among the greatest stars of modern times. We love finding new names - Tsybuleva, Fabian Müller, who will be a soloist at the Schumann concert for piano and orchestra on November9. We cannot ignore what the audience likes and knows, but we aim at keeping high standards in performing the popular works, playing them like no one else has ever done before.”

It is well known that at the end of the last concert season the musicians from the Bulgarian National Radio held a protest asking for decent salaries. The orchestra performed improvised outdoor concerts, conducted by the maestro.

“Talks are currently being held at a high government level, and I hope we would stop talking about this problem in the coming weeks or months. Unfortunately, the issue remains unresolved, but we cannot stop our work. It has been 70 years of daily rehearsals, countless concerts and recordings, which determine the high quality of the orchestra’s work,” the famous conductor said.

English: Alexander Markov