The symphony orchestra and the academic choir of the “Oltenia” Philharmonic from Craiova will perform a concert tonight in the sixth largest city of Romania under the baton of the Bulgarian Hristo Pavlov. The program includes “Requiem” in D minor, K.626 by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. BTA was the only media allowed in the dress rehearsal for the event.
“The rehearsal went well, considering that I just got to know the soloists, and it was only my second time with the choir”, shared the conductor Hristo Pavlov and added that he feels at home in Craiova. In an interview with BTA, he expressed hope for closer musical collaborations between Bulgaria and Romania.
“It’s not just me coming to Romania, of course it’s nice, but then nothing will be left behind if we’re the only ones walking around. We need to join the efforts of two or three institutes, why not more. It should be a slightly more Balkan formation, so we can start between Bulgaria and Romania, because we are very close, but nothing prevents us from including other countries as well”, explained maestro Hristo Pavlov.
He shared that he likes Romanian folk music because it has a special energy impulse.
“I have hardly heard any very slow and melancholic things, and this is what I like in both Romanian and Hungarian folk music – that there is a pleasant aggression, if I may say so,” says the Bulgarian.
He does not hide his weakness for Romanian cuisine.
“It is both the same and different. The Romanian Sarmi is a magnificent thing. I love kachamak, so here I am in the right place”, says Hristo Pavlov with a smile.
The following is the entire interview that the Bulgarian conductor gave to BTA hours before the concert in Craiova.
Maestro Pavlov, are you coming to Romania for the first time and are you visiting Craiova for the first time?
– No and no. I am already in Romania for the third time. This is the fourth or fifth time I am working with Romanian musicians, because we also brought a chamber orchestra to Bulgaria. In fact, we worked there twice – once as the International Festival Orchestra of “Sofia Music Weeks” last year and once we had a concert in Vratsa with the entire chamber orchestra. Most of the musicians are from different backgrounds, but they all work in Bucharest.
I am in Craiova for the second time. The last time was in autumn and I am very happy because I feel quite at home.
How was the rehearsal today and what do you have in store for the audience tonight?
– Mozart. “Requiem”. It’s long enough that there’s no need for anything else (laughs). The rehearsal went well, considering that I had just met the soloists and it was only my second time with choirs. Recently, it often happens to me that the rehearsal period is narrowed not only here, but also here. It seems to be a worldwide trend to run out of time considering that we have to do more and more things. But when people have a good attitude and a professional attitude, this is usually not a problem, but it motivates us to do the things we are going to change faster.
It is your words that inspiration comes from and because of the audience. Does this also apply to the Romanian audience here in Craiova? How do you expect to be received?
– The audience in Craiova was very welcoming last time. Around the Easter holidays, it is a common phenomenon to perform such cantata music and I do not expect anything different this time – firstly because of the music, then because of the good work that we were able to do with the colleagues.
For so-called inspiration, a word I don’t like to use very often, there really needs to be a process and it needs to be two-way. The impulse has to come from somewhere. Otherwise, it’s like a rehearsal if we’re alone. We lived this for a while during the Covid-19 pandemic. The audience is what inspires every single artist on stage.
And is music what could connect and bring together the Bulgarian and Romanian people? Because we have been running in the same rut for a long time and in terms of politics, Schengen, economy and what not. But is music that easy path we can walk together to become closer?
– I had not thought so fundamentally about this question, but I agree that it could, because music is a universal language. Yes, we are talking about style, about small things in interpretation, and there is a difference from person to person, no matter what nationality he is. So yes, it could and I hope it will happen. I am already talking to several colleagues in Romania about possible, closer collaborations. Not only me coming to Romania. Of course, it is nice, but nothing will be left behind if we are the only ones walking around, but if we combine the efforts of two or three institutes, and why not more. To be a bit more Balkan formation, so we can start between Bulgaria and Romania, because we are very close, but nothing prevents us from including other countries as well. I am also trying to find suitable contacts there, so that we can include more cultural institutes in possible collaborations, both all together, and two or three institutions at a time, because music is a language that does not need translation.
I speak English to them when I come here. Not everyone understands me well. When someone comes to Bulgaria, speak English. If he doesn’t know English, he asks “Do you know German, Italian?” But there is a problem with language and we should reduce as much as possible the verbal part of the communication and stay on the non-verbal. And here music already has a uniformity compared to any other language. The differences are small, not as big as between languages, so music definitely, and other arts, but not all. Those that consist of speech have a language barrier, while music does not.
What is music for you besides a universal language, work and inspiration?
– It’s clichéd, but that’s probably all, because I don’t remember anything else in my life. I remember the first time I gave up music when I was very young because I had to play for five hours at a time or I wouldn’t become a person, as a teacher said. I stopped for a year, found the other instrument on my own without anyone pushing me, so I don’t have many memories outside of music.
At critical moments, earlier in life, I have tried two or three times what else I can do for more money, for more success or any such motivation, especially in crisis years. I’ve worked on a few other things. I enjoyed it, but it’s not something you can do from morning to night in my case. I know that there are people who, although rarely, do other work with pleasure, every day. But I can’t seem to do anything else with pleasure, so music must be everything.
What do you know about Romanian music, do you know Romanian artists?
– Over the years I have worked, in one form or another, with Romanian performers. I know the better-known, more representative part of folk music, which is both similar and different, and I actually quite like it, because it has a particular energetic impulse. I’ve hardly heard any very slow and melancholic stuff, and that’s what I like about both Romanian and Hungarian folk music – that there’s a nice aggression, if I may say so. Of course, we have all heard of Enescu and his works. I have heard about the way they look after the national level here, for example the George Enescu Festival – with noble and ignoble envy. Anyone in Bulgaria who knows anything about the subject knows that this will never happen here. I mean it’s clear why there’s so much money for this job. With us, this has never been and will never be state policy, but it makes us stronger.
I don’t know the more popular part of Romanian culture. I admit. Except, of course, the collaborations of our singers, who are not my style of music, but work mainly with a Romanian composer and arranger. I know, I have also met people from the operetta circles of Bucharest and Constanta. They visited us both in Sofia and Vratsa.
Food, which for me is an important part of culture, I think I know it better and I like it more and more. It is both the same and different. I like that a lot. There is both variety and nothing very different.
You are probably talking about the kebabs that the Romanians also have, but they prepare them with slightly different spices than we do?
– Not so much. They are not that different. But the Sarms, that’s a magnificent thing. I love kachamak, so I’m in the right place here, and all kinds of manchiki here are very, very tasty. For me, it is an important part of the culture of every nation and something that I like to explore and explore when I am in a foreign place and at home.
