The song is the shortest music piece which can tell a huge story in several minutes only and let you sink into its depths and perspectives, Miroslava Katsarova said several days before her concert IMAGINE on January 25 at Boris Hristov House of Culture in Plovdiv. The concert is a co-production of the renowned Bulgarian jazz singer Miroslava Katsarova, the Plovdiv Opera Orchestra and Jazz combo headed by Miroslav Turiysky.

The concert Imagine is part of the official programe of the State Opera Plovdiv and the opening events in the first month of the initiative Plovdiv-European Capital of Culture 2019, Miroslava Katsarova told Radio Bulgaria. This is yet another attempt to link jazz music with classical sounding which always risks going into the bosom of tastelessness. Fortunately our project is due to a wonderful meeting between the musicians of the Plovdiv Opera conducted by Konstantin Dobroikov and Jazz Combo- Mladen Dimitrov (drums), Alexander Lekov (bass guitar), Nikolay Karageorgiev (guitar) and Emil Pehlivanov (percussions). What we decided with our colleagues was to build jazz firmly into the classical phrasing. The two music formations joined into a solid musical matter. I have been working with Miroslav for a very long time. Each year we make together a thematic concert programme in different genres- jazz classic, Brazilian music, the so-called new jazz standards, French music, chanson, etc. We selected some pieces from this huge “song arsenal’ and made remakes. I believe we did something very interesting. Recently I read some phrases of John Zorn (renowned American composer, saxophonist and producer, representative of the vanguard jazz) who said that the music genres and traditions have common roots. The connection between the songs from different geographic, socio-cultural environments happened quite naturally in this music programme. The songs overflow into each other. The links happened naturally which made the programme more poetic.

The project Imagine is named after the popular song by John Lennon that will sound together with pieces from the music repertoire of Edith Piaf, Jacques Brel, Sting, Joao Jilberto, Billie Holliday, Antonio Carlos Jobim, etc. Miroslava sings in five languages. Miroslav Turiyski is author of the arrangements, orchestrations and intermedia between the pieces.

Miroslav brought freshness and intelligence to this project. He pays serious attention to the vocals and offers a new interpretation of vocal art. When one comes to the stage he must forget about his ego and place music above all-a skill that is developed through the years. This is the most important lesson I learnt during my work with him and is what I like when working with Miroslav and other artists such as Hristo Yotsov, Veselin Veselinov-Eko, Rumen Toskov, etc. All of them let me into the secrets of music. I am very proud to be part of this large-scale event-Plovdiv European Capital of Culture. I have been organizing Plovdiv Jazz Fest for five consecutive years now. I strongly believe that the people who work with dedication somehow change the image of this city. I am very happy that we can find more posters of symphony and jazz concerts, theatres and ballets in Plovdiv. This Bulgarian city has been a venue of cultural events for a long time. Now the focus is on the European Capital of Culture, but I am confident that it would continue to attract freedom-loving artists and people of spirit after 2019 as well.

English version: Kostadin Atanasov