THE 54TH FESTIVAL OF THE OPERA AND BALLET ARTS – STARA ZAGORA PAID TRIBUTE TO 110 YEARS SINCE THE BIRTH OF BORIS HRISTOV

27.11.2024 https://dolap.bg/

The Gala-concert “The Bulgarian Basses for Boris Hristov”, dedicated to the 110 years since the birth of the great bass Boris Hristov was held on 25 November 2024 on the stage of the Stara Zagora State Opera. This is a gesture of respect to the remarkable personality and great patriot, who left eternal music-performing art to the world.

Under the baton of Dimitar Kyosev, in the Gala participated the leading basses soloists from the operas in Burgas, Varna, Plovdiv, Sofia and Stara Zagora – Bozhidar Bozhkilov, Delyan Slavov, Deyan Vachkov, Momchil Milanov, Petar Buchkov, Yulian Konstantinov.
The singers presented a repertoire which is emblematic of the world triumphs of Boris Hristov.

The first part began with the overture to the opera “Attila” by Giuseppe Verdi. Aria of Procida from the opera “The Sicilian Vespers” was performed by Deyan Vachkov. Petar Buchkov performed an aria of Banco from the opera “Macbeth” by Verdi. Couplets of Mephistopheles from the opera “Faust” by Gounod were sung by Momchil Milanov. Delyan Slavov had chosen an aria of Fiesco from “Simon Baccanegra” by Verdi. Again from Verdi – an aria of King Philippe from “Don Carlos” was sung by Yulian Konstantinov. All basses sang an aria of Leporello from “Don Giovanni” by Mozart.

The second part of the Gala began with the overture to the opera “Nabucco” by Verdi and Prayer of Zaccaria from the same opera performed by Momchil Milanov. From there on all arias were by Russian composers.

The young, hardly 31-year-old Bozhidar Bozhkilov – a face of his young generation performed brilliantly the aria of the old Prince Gremin from the opera “Eugine Onegin” by Pyotr Ilych Tchaikovsky and of Ivan Susanin from the opera “A Life for the Tsar” by Mikhail Glinka. The aria of Aleko from the eponymous opera by Sergei Rachmaninoff was the second performance of Deyan Vachkov. An aria of Prince Galitsky from “Prince Igor” by Alexander Borodin interpreted Delyan Slavov.

The last three performances were to music by Modest Mussorgsky: Song of Varlaam from the opera “Boris Godunov” was performed by Petar Buchkov and an aria of Boris from “Boris Godunov” – by Yulian Konstantinov. Then on the stage came out the six basses for and attractive final – “Song of the Flea” /edited by N. Rimsky-Korsakov/. The encore was the Slander Aria from “The Barber of Seville” by Rossini.
For a long time the audience applauded the soloists, the conductor Dimitar Kyosev and the wonderful Orchestra of the Stara Zagora State Opera.

Before the concert began, on a multi-media background, there sounded the voice of Baris Hristov, recorded during one of his interviews. He began and finished with the words that all his life, all his strength and talent he dedicated in the name of Bulgaria. Between the separate arias again sounded his deep and wise voice, his messages to singers and people:
“We can be proud of our national singing art. This is why we started with church songs, which best of all reflect the past of our music art…”
“I was sure that my road is singing. The opportunities for studying in Bulgaria were limited. Being unable to achieve what I desired, I satisfied myself to sing as a choirboy in our folk choirs, where participated people from a shoe-maker to a doctor, from a lawyer to an engineer and so on. They were created because there were the people who wanted to sing. In Bulgaria this passion for singing is widely spread. The fact that I had the opportunity to leave for Italy, to leave the career which I started following as a lawyer, put me in a difficult situation – psychologically, materially. It affected not only me, but my parents as well. My brother and the director of the “Gusla” Choir, Asen Dimitrov, insisted that I should take the road I desired“.
“To be well prepared in an opera, the artist should know the parts of all with whom he participates in the spectacle. This is very important because only in this way one finds himself in the full atmosphere of the whole spectacle. He understands better the essence of the ideas… And best of all – everything by heart. Do not ask me whether I know the arias in “La traviata” because I have not sung there and I do not have any part…”
“The recording of the church songs I started with the “Gusla” Choir, and with people from the temple Saint Alexander Nevsky Cathedral. The circumstances were such that destiny gave me this opportunity, to stand out. I am naturally trying to bear the highest always, as far as I can, the name of a singer-representative of the Native Land , of Bulgaria.
I have slowly overcome all most dangerous obstacles, because the obstacles exist. Such as the career of an emerging artist, such as the one of the popular artist. I would even say the more forward you go, the bigger is the responsibility”.
“I have my preferences to Boris Godunov, King Philippe, the role of Ivan the Terrible or the role of Agamemnon… I can firmly say that stepping on the stage, my personal I disappears. This is maybe one of the greatest talents, which God can give to an artist. This every artist can approach very easily – with hard work and the most important – with desire, with inclination to his work, which is a gift from nature.”
“The direction of my life: You know that I was a lawyer. That it was exactly Mussorgsky probably, who influenced so strongly my spirit so that I could change the road of my life. In me was born the desire to interpret this world, which he created. I think that in the larger part I succeeded. I do not think that in any way I have achieved the perfection to convey his ideas. Because art is infinite.
I wish that the singers, who will follow me, should be more interested in this area. To work more. To get deeper than me. And working more, they too, to be able to take out something of this enormous treasury. If I succeeded in this deed, I would be happy. If I was wrong – I plead to be excused. “

The Gala-concert “Bulgarian Basses for Boris Hristov”, dedicated to the 110th anniversary of the birth of the great opera singer, pedagogue and donor is part of a project, a natural continuation of the organized by the Museum “Boris Hristov” Gala-concerts and events in Moscow, Saint Petersburg, Berlin, Vienna, Rome, Bratislava, New York, Washington, Toronto, Ottawa, Montreal. These initiatives keep alive the memory of Boris Hristov and present the new generations of Bulgarian creators in the world.

Rositsa Rancheva