Rousse Philharmonic Orchestra
Encyclopedia
History of the Orchestra
The Rousse Philharmonic Orchestra was established in 1948. Some of the best BulgariaBulgaria
Bulgaria , officially the Republic of Bulgaria , is a parliamentary democracy within a unitary constitutional republic in Southeast Europe. The country borders Romania to the north, Serbia and Macedonia to the west, Greece and Turkey to the south, as well as the Black Sea to the east...
n conductors — Konstantin Iliev, Dobrin Petkov
Dobrin Petkov
Dobrin Petkov was a Bulgarian conductor.-Life and career:Born in Dresden, Germany, Petkov was the son of a famous violin pedagogue, whose students were leading musicians in Bulgaria and abroad. His mother, Tsvetana Zografova, studied singing in Vienna, Austria...
, Sasha Popov, Russlan Raychev, Ilia Temkov, Alexander Vladigerov, Tzanko Delibozov and Georgi Dimitrov among others, have worked with this orchestra. Since 2005 the General Music Director of the Rousse Philharmonic Orchestra is Maestro Nayden Todorov
Nayden Todorov
Nayden Todorov is a Bulgarian conductor.- Positions :*Plovdiv Youth Orchestra *Vratza Philharmonic Orchestra *Sofia Festival Orchestra...
.
The first international music festival in Bulgaria was established in 1961 on the initiative and the organization of Rousse Philharmonic, which transformed this Danubian
Danube
The Danube is a river in the Central Europe and the Europe's second longest river after the Volga. It is classified as an international waterway....
city, already famed for its architecture and character, into an attractive international music center. That festival, called March Music Days
March Music Days
The March Music Days is a festival, held annually for two weeks in the second half of March in Rousse, Bulgaria, which attracts many elite musicians....
, is held annually in the middle of March, and is a gathering point for famous orchestras, singers, instrumentalists, composers and conductors. In 1966 the Rousse Philharmonic Orchestra was the organizer of the Winter Music Evenings festival — the first of its kind in Bulgaria.
The concert stage of the orchestra has welcomed many famous conductors, such as Kurt Mazur, Rolf Kleinert, Carol Stria, Carlo Zecchi
Carlo Zecchi
Carlo Zecchi was an Italian pianist, music teacher and conductor.Zecchi was born in Rome. He led pianistic courses in Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia, Rome, and in Salzburg. Highly acclaimed performer of Domenico Scarlatti, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Claude Debussy works, and of Romantic...
, Helmut Koch, Valeri Gergiev, Evgenii Svetlanov, as well as soloists - Salvatore Accardo
Salvatore Accardo
Salvatore Accardo is an Italian violin virtuoso and conductor.He is highly regarded for his interpretations of Paganini, J. S. Bach, Antonio Vivaldi, contemporary works, chamber music, and opera conducting....
, Ruggiero Ricci
Ruggiero Ricci
Ruggiero Ricci is an Italian-American violinist known for performances and recordings of the works of Paganini. He was born in San Bruno, California. Ricci's brother was cellist and his sister Emma played violin with the New York Metropolitan Opera.He is the son of Italian immigrants. His...
, Daniel Stefan, Svetoslav Richter, Franco Petraci, Yuri Bashmet
Yuri Bashmet
Yuri Abramovich Bashmet is a Russian conductor and violist.Direct patrilineal descendant of Besht.-Biography:Yuri Bashmet was born on 24 January 1953 in Rostov-on-Don in the family of Abram Borisovich Bashmet and Maya Zinovyeva Bashmet . "Father's mother, Tsilya Efimovna, studied singing at the...
, Katya Richarelli, Robert Kohen, Igor Oistrach, Vladimir Spivakov
Vladimir Spivakov
Vladimir Teodorovich Spivakov is a leading Russian conductor and violinist best known for his work with the chamber orchestra....
, Jacob Zach, Michail Voscressenski among others. The Rousse Philharmonic Orchestra was pleased to host the famous Russian composer Dmitry Shostakovich in 1958 and in 1965. From 1975 until 1992 the orchestra was an active participant in Accademia Chigia Sienna, Italy.
The names of Franco Ferrara
Franco Ferrara
Franco Ferrara was an Italian conductor.After obtaining diplomas in piano, violin, organ and musical composition at the Conservatory of Bologna, Ferrara began his career as violin player in Bologna, in Rome and in Florence, with the Orchestra of Maggio Musicale Fiorentino...
, Carlo Maria Giulini
Carlo Maria Giulini
Carlo Maria Giulini was an Italian conductor.-Biography:Giulini was born in Barletta, Italy, to a father born in Lombardy and a mother born in Naples; but he was raised in Bolzano, which at the time of his birth was part of Austria...
, Genady Rozdestvensky, Bruno Bartolletti, Ferdinand Leitner
Ferdinand Leitner
Ferdinand Leitner was a German conductor. Leitner studied under Franz Schreker, Julius Prüwer, Artur Schnabel and Karl Muck. He also was a composition student with Robert Kahn. Starting as a pianist, through the help of Fritz Busch, he became a conductor in the 1930s...
often appear on concert programs and in numerous collaborations. The orchestra's repertoire includes a broad spectrum of genres and styles — including works from the early music period and contemporary composers. In the rich performing history of the orchestra one can find major musical pieces, such as Prokofiev's Ivan Grozny
Ivan the Terrible (Prokofiev)
Ivan the Terrible is music by Sergei Prokofiev originally composed for the Sergei Eisenstein film about the sixteenth-century ruler. Prokofiev composed music to Part 1 in 1942-44, and to Part 2 in 1945; the score is cataloged as Op. 116...
and Alexander Nevsky
Alexander Nevsky (Prokofiev)
Alexander Nevsky is the score for the 1938 Sergei Eisenstein film Alexander Nevsky, composed by Sergei Prokofiev. He later rearranged the music in the form of a cantata for mezzo-soprano, chorus, and orchestra...
, Stravinsky's Oedipus
Oedipus rex (opera)
Oedipus rex is an "Opera-oratorio after Sophocles" by Igor Stravinsky, scored for orchestra, speaker, soloists, and male chorus. The libretto, based on Sophocles's tragedy, was written by Jean Cocteau in French and then translated by Abbé Jean Daniélou into Latin...
, Petrushka
Petrushka
Petrouchka or Petrushka is a ballet with music by Russian composer Igor Stravinsky, composed in 1910–11 and revised in 1947....
, and The Rite of Spring
The Rite of Spring
The Rite of Spring, original French title Le sacre du printemps , is a ballet with music by Igor Stravinsky; choreography by Vaslav Nijinsky; and concept, set design and costumes by Nicholas Roerich...
, Richard Strauss
Richard Strauss
Richard Georg Strauss was a leading German composer of the late Romantic and early modern eras. He is known for his operas, which include Der Rosenkavalier and Salome; his Lieder, especially his Four Last Songs; and his tone poems and orchestral works, such as Death and Transfiguration, Till...
's Also sprach Zarathustra, Carl Orff
Carl Orff
Carl Orff was a 20th-century German composer, best known for his cantata Carmina Burana . In addition to his career as a composer, Orff developed an influential method of music education for children.-Early life:...
's Carmina Burana
Carmina Burana (Orff)
Carmina Burana is a scenic cantata composed by Carl Orff in 1935 and 1936. It is based on 24 of the poems found in the medieval collection Carmina Burana...
, etc. The Rousse Philharmonic Orchestra toured in Austria, Germany, Italy, Poland, Romania, Spain, France and Switzerland in addition to its well-appreciated tour programme in Bulgaria. The orchestra has recorded with Bulgarian National Radio
Bulgarian National Radio
Bulgarian National Radio is Bulgaria's national radio broadcasting organization. It operates two national and seven regional channels, as well as an international service – Radio Bulgaria – which broadcasts in 11 languages.-National:...
and the Balkanton
Balkanton
Balkanton was a state-owned record manufacturing company in Bulgaria founded in 1952. Many of the produced records were, or still are available in the countries of the Soviet bloc....
record company, and has released many CDs.
Opera & Philharmonic Society
Opera & Philharmonic Society Rousse was established in 1999 joining the outstanding potentialities of the Rousse State OperaRousse State Opera
- History :Founded in 1949, the Rousse Opera Theatre is the inheritor of the Rousse Opera Society , which makes it one of the oldest state cultural institutions in Bulgaria. The staff of schooled singers, the monolithic choir, the ballet, and the instrumental culture of the orchestra have a...
and Rousse Philharmonic Orchestra – two of the leading cultural institutions of Bulgaria. It presents opera, ballet as well as symphony works, and over the last years becomes one of the most expressive formations with remarkable soloists and excellent conductors.
The Opera & Philharmonic Society has at its disposal two halls – a concert one equipped with a record studio and a nice Opera House. Both halls have more than 600 seats each.
The Opera & Philharmonic Society possesses technical means for producing theatrical sceneries.
General Music Director
The General Music Director of the Rousse State OperaRousse State Opera
- History :Founded in 1949, the Rousse Opera Theatre is the inheritor of the Rousse Opera Society , which makes it one of the oldest state cultural institutions in Bulgaria. The staff of schooled singers, the monolithic choir, the ballet, and the instrumental culture of the orchestra have a...
and the Rousse Philharmonic Orchestra Nayden Todorov
Nayden Todorov
Nayden Todorov is a Bulgarian conductor.- Positions :*Plovdiv Youth Orchestra *Vratza Philharmonic Orchestra *Sofia Festival Orchestra...
studied with Karl Osterreicher and Uros Lajovic in Vienna. He conducted major orchestras across Europe and America, as well as in Israel.
Maestro Todorov was a resident conductor of the Israel Northern Symphony in Haifa. In 1997 he organized the First festival "Thracia Summer". Todorov commands a vast repertoire and is one of the most respected young conductors in the music world.
Nayden Todorov
Nayden Todorov
Nayden Todorov is a Bulgarian conductor.- Positions :*Plovdiv Youth Orchestra *Vratza Philharmonic Orchestra *Sofia Festival Orchestra...
has recorded over a hundred compact discs for Naxos, Balkanton, RENT Music, MMO, Danacord, IMI and Hungaroton and has also created several music productions for various radio and TV stations. In addition he is the Principal Guest Conductor of the much-lauded Sofia Philharmonic Orchestra.
External links
- Opera & Philharmonic Society Rousse (Non-English)
- Rousse Municipality