The violinist Vasko Vassilev doesn't like the country where his family lives

Every city has its own charm and individual aura that makes it interesting and pleasant, but the people and the memories you create with them make the city is special. This is what he commented in the show "The suitcase on focus" on Radio "Focus" with host Asya Alexandrova, musician Vasko Vassilev.

According to him, Japan is the country where he dreamed of succeeding as a child. He shares that the thing he likes most about Japan is the cleanliness – everything there is designed so that it is clean, nice, tidy and there is no dirt on the street. "For me, this is something that neither exists in London, nor exists in Sofia, nor exists in Valencia.”. And the thing he can't get used to is the language, sharing that he still feels lost and can't understand the Japanese language.

"I love living in Tokyo. The strangest thing is that in such a huge city of 20 million people, you have a pub where everyone knows you, where you have a bottle of Japanese brandy with your name on it, waiting for you for up to 2 months. They keep you safe from drinking, they know you and you feel like you are in a village in Bulgaria,” he said.

Another very favorite place for the world-famous violinist is Valencia, where he spends a lot of time and has a house in an "exotic“ location. "It turned out that there are bullet marks on the doors on my street, the neighbors next to me have bracelets on their legs under house arrest and they have pigeons that they supposedly train, but in my opinion they bring different things with them from Colombia," he shares with a laugh.

Valencia is the city where there are very good conditions for his work and where he works on many different projects with different musicians. According to him, the most authentic flamenco happens spontaneously when the musicians start improvising. "Many years ago we were at the opera for a project with Tomatito, who is a very famous flamenco guitarist, and at some point something happened to them and they suddenly started playing and singing quite casually at one or two o'clock at night. This is the best music,” he thinks.

"The older I get, the more I adore London,” he said and explained that in his early years his attitude towards the city was negative because of the hard life he led in the beginning. "When I am there, I am really very busy because I work at the opera and our calendar is very antisocial – you work in the evening, performances, rehearsals during the day. I don't even know where the new bars and restaurants are. I hope in the future I can spend a month in London without working.“

Moscow is another favorite destination for Vasko Vasilev, which unfortunately he cannot access due to the war in Ukraine. "Music doesn't travel anymore. The same Russian huge stars, such as Gergiev, Netrebko, various, can no longer travel in Europe. It’s weird and it’s very radical,” he said regretfully.

The violinist says that he doesn't like Germany, where his family lives, the weather is depressing, and he doesn't like the German language, "but if there are concerts and they pay well, I go.