Pancho VLADIGEROV (1899–1978)
Seven Symphonic Bulgarian Dances, Op. 23 (1931) [38:08]
Vardar Rhapsody, Op. 16 (1922, orchestrated 1928) [9:28]
Bulgarian Suite, Op. 21 (1927) [26:38]
Rousse Philharmonic Orchestra/Nayden Todorov
rec. 2016, Rousse Philharmonic Hall, Bulgaria
NAXOS 8.573422 [74:25]
As Richard Whitehouse says in his helpful essay disc, Bulgarian composer Pancho Vladigerov was born in Zurich at the turn of the century. His family was well-connected and rested within the higher echelons of Europe’s arts community. For example, his mother Eliza was a relative of Boris Pasternak (the author of the 1957 novel Doctor Zhivago). His family facilitated the child’s musical inclinations rather than placing obstacles along the way. In 1910 they moved to Sofia where Pancho studied composition with Dobri Hristov, a composer whose music is intermittently featured on BBC Radio 3’s Through the Night. Two years later Vladigerov enrolled at the Staatliche Akademische Hochschule für Musik, Berlin. There his teachers included Paul Juon. Later he worked with Friedrich Gernsheim and Georg Schumann. In 1932 he found his way back to Sofia and the State Academy of Music. In his seventh decade, the Bulgarian company Balkanton released a momentous anniversary edition of his stage and symphonic music in two bulky LP boxes; now, if only these recordings could be systematically released. As you might expect from his dates, his music is nationalist-melodic and often catchy. There’s an opera (Tsar Kaloyan), two symphonies, five piano concertos, two violin concertos and chamber music. In a way it’s a surprise that the latter, which includes a string quartet and piano trio, has not led the way in introducing Vladigerov to today’s recorded music audiences.
Untypically for dance pieces, the Seven Symphonic Bulgarian Dances sport Italian tempo and mood titles not Bulgarian regional names. They are each quite extended pieces and together run to the length of a fairly substantial symphony. They are prone to break away from typical folk-dance structures, taking them as points of embarkation points rather than destinations. For example, the fourth of the seven runs into delicately dreamy, even luxuriant realms (Bax out of Rimsky) which flank all that toe-tapping and swirling. The Vardar Rhapsody from the previous decade is amongst Vladigerov’s most popular works; certainly the most frequently recorded (conducted by both father and son amongst others). It’s an overture-length piece, mixing dervish dazzle and Rimskian fantasy and not so far removed from Enescu’s two rhapsodies. It was first written for violin and piano and became ‘the Bulgarian equivalent of Chopin’s Polonaise in A’. The four movements of his Bulgarian Suite are: Quasi marcia; Chant; Chorovodna and Ratchenitza. Chant is notable for its luscious violin solo and generally warmly lulling, sun-drenched landscapes. Again, Vladigerov indulges in some ecstatic Rimskian slewing, slipping and sliding. The final Ratchenitza is full of vitality that mines the same vein as Kalinnikov in his two symphonies but with a Bulgarian stomp. If you like the dance work of Khachaturian, Kodály, Weinberger, Eshpai, Svetlanov, Enescu and early Janáček then these works will speak to you.
The recordings are excellent and the playing enthusiastically creditable, if not elite. We last heard from the conductor and producer Nayden Todorov when he worked with the Plovdiv orchestra on Danacord’s Louis Glass cycle. Vladigerov competition comes at full price - and with overlap - from CPO (777 125-2). The way is surely clear for an edition that includes this composer’s two symphonies and five piano concertos. That would be most welcome.
Rob Barnett
