Within this year's edition "Sofia Music Weeks" we are celebrating 30 years since the establishment of diplomatic relations between Bulgaria and the Sovereign Order of Malta. Splendor Musicus will be held on May 29 at 7:00 p.m. in the "Bulgaria" hall.
There are two stylistic vectors in the present concert – from the chivalric aesthetics of passions (“Amour Courtois”) as an inexhaustible source for the later unfolding of affects and contrasts during the Baroque era to the modern author's interpretation of the poetry of the 13th century minnesinger Wolfram von Eschenbach, recreated through the sensitivity of the modern artist &ndash ; the composer Prof. Dr. Atanas Atanasov. Thus, along with the arias, duets and instrumental interludes from operas by G. Fr. Handel, A. Vivaldi, A. Gretry and H. Purcell with a knightly theme. The works will be performed by the soloists Gudrun-Sidonier Otto (soprano, Switzerland), David Feldman (countertenor) and Valentin Vatev (bass, Bulgaria/Austria) with the participation of a chamber orchestra from the Sofia Philharmonic. Four “Balatti” based on texts by Eschenbach performed by the vocal quintet “Cantanti Dai Monti Verde”, which will be performed with the accompaniment of a solo cello.
Two of the ballads will be performed by a chamber orchestra and soloists. Added to this colorful musical palette is the grace of medieval and baroque dance performed by a ballet trio with choreographer Angelina Gavrilova. The entire performing constellation, presenting the “Shine of Music”, is under the direction of Prof. D.Sc. Virginia Atanasova.
"It is interesting to note that in the Middle Ages the audience knew how to read the plays on three levels - the spectators specifically follow the action, but in the background there is a thread that is connected to the mystical and religious through the metaphor of a song of the songs. In the Old Testament, the great metaphors for the glorification of the beloved and the bridegroom have been accepted in Judaism through the prism of the marriage between God and the chosen people," he said during the press conference on the occasion of the event.