Varna and Sliven immerse "In the world of music" with maestro Vesko Panteleev-Eshkenazy

One of the best violinists in the world and concertmaster of the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra in Amsterdam Vesko Eschkenazy is back home, in his native Sofia. The reason - the two closing concerts of the national tour of the project "In the World of Music" by Maestro Eshkenazy, virtuoso accordionist Veronika Todorova and the Pleven Philharmonic Orchestra under the baton of George Miltiyadoff. On November 1, the musicians will perform on the stage of the Congress Center in Varna, and they will be in Sliven for a concert in the hall of the same name on November 7. The start of both concerts is at 7 p.m. Bulgarian time.

"In the world of music" is a very special project and I am extremely grateful to the Pleven Philharmonic and personally to its director Lyubomir Dyakovski for responding to my idea to make such a program", says Vesko Eshkenazy in a special interview for Radio Bulgaria.

Lyubomir Dyakovski, Veronika Todorova, Vesko Panteleev-Eshkenazy and George Miltiadoff

"This is not the usual program where a violinist goes out to play as a soloist of an orchestra. In addition to me, Veronika Todorova, a wonderful Bulgarian accordionist, and George Miltiyadoff, who is not only the conductor, but also the arranger of all the works, also take part in it. The repertoire includes works by Mozart, through Piazzola, a piece by Veronika, which she wrote especially for us.

Accordionist Veronika Todorova - on the journey back home and concert life in Bulgaria

We go through time and go all the way to Queen and Freddie Mercury. And if I can I'll let you in on a secret, as we're constantly updating the program to make it more interesting, we also play AC/DC music, which is really quite shocking at first. And strage as it may sound, music similar to that of AC/DC when arraned by George Miltiyadoff for orchestra, violin and accordion starts to sound terribly symphonic and then you understand that good music, it doesn't matter if it was written 200 years ago or now, when it is written honestly and beautifully it is one whole."

This music is also easy to play, specifies Vesko Eshkenazy. It speaks for itself and says everything that the composer wanted to convey to the musicians and, accordingly, to the audience, he believes. The beginning of the project "In the world of music" was set in 2022, and from then until now the musicians have toured a number of large and smaller cities around Bulgaria, including Pleven, Sofia, Plovdiv, Troyan, Varna, Burgas, Sozopol, Nessebar, Pomorie, Koprivshtitsa, Sliven, Yambol, Stara Zagora, Veliko Tarnovo, Silistra, Ruse, Dobrich, Debnevo and many others. The halls are always full, Eshkenazi tells us with a smile. A special joy for the musicians are the young people in the audience, sometimes even children, because in this way the attitude towards classical and world music is nurtured.

"We have been to places like Montana (Northwestern Bulgaria), for example, where last summer on a very hot day with 40 degrees outside, the hall had no air conditioning, and we did not expect anyone to come. The hall was filled with people and I was very surprised that I personally would not go in this heat. But in such places where people really have a huge thirst to hear something like this in Bulgaria, in small and large cities, I have noticed that when you present such a project, the halls are small for all those who want to to hear it. We were in Troyan last year and people lined up for hours before the concert. There are really no limits and when something is done with responsibility and you put all your energy into it, I think that then people naturally respond and want to hear it."

Music awakens the spirit! And since the concert in Varna is on the Day of Bulgaria's National Awakeners and Enlighteners - November 1, we ask Vesko Eshkenazy, who is his personal awakener?

"My grandmother Violeta, actually, who put the violin in my hands, so to speak. She put the violin in the hands of our whole family. She was the person who said, "Start playing and you'll see what a beautiful instrument it is, you'll you understand how important music is to people and that there is nothing more beautiful than it". I think that there is no clearer way than this embodiment of the word awakener, to open your eyes to something like that. When we talk about a awakener and an enlightener, it is a personality who is a phenomenon in their won rights, my awakeners are now in the past, unfortunately. And I don't say that because I want to be pessimistic, but these are the people who really showed me the way in life. Besides my grandmother, these are my professor at Guildhall School in London, Ifra Nieman, and our great conductor, who has not been with us for a long time, but I must mention him - Emil Chakarov. They gave me the fire and for me they will always be the people who woke me up to what I am doing now."

And the work of maestro Vesko Panteleev-Eshkenazy is at the world level. For a quarter of a century, he has been first violin in the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra of Amsterdam, winning a competition for the position when he was only 29 years old. He declares with undisguised pride that the Bulgarian music school is one of the best in the world and there is no lack of talent in this country. That is why he is so often in his homeland and includes participation in projects such as "In the world of music" in his full calendar. And immediately after the concert with the Pleven Philharmonic in Sliven, our virtuoso violinist will return to Amsterdam, where he will start preparations with the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra for a tour in the USA.

"We are going there with two programs - with a symphony by Mahler, and the other one with a symphony by Schumann. We start the tour from the state of Florida. We hope everything will be fine there. We know for now that our concerts will be held in different cities in Florida. After that we're going to New York and Washington. The tour starts on November 16th and will last for two weeks."