Bulgarian
National Radio Symphony Orchestra
With its rich concert activity in the country, with its
numerous tours abroad and most importantly with its
extensive recording activity the Bulgarian National
Radio Symphony Orchestra has been established as a
model for high artistic and professional mastery. The
Bulgarian National Radio Music Library has a vast
collection of recordings of the Orchestra with the best
Bulgarian singers and instrumentalists such as G.
Dimitrova, Al. Milcheva, V. Katsarova, Al.
Pendenchanska, M. Minchev, L. Angelov, with the
outstanding guest musicians such as Al. Weissenberg,
Jean-Pierre Rampal, L. Kogan, R. Kherer...
Special credit for the professional and artistic growth
of the Symphony Orchestra of the BNR is given to his
most long-standing conductor and director Vassil
Stefanov (1913-1991). Within the period 1994 – 2002
the orchestra was led by one of the most talented
conductors of the younger generation – Milen Nachev.
Very successful for the orchestra are the years from
1994 to 2000 when it toured in South Korea, France,
Spain, Germany and Italy.
For the Olympic Games in Greece, 2004 the Orchestra
together with the Mixed Choir of the BNR performed in
Athena and Corinth the oratorio Saint Paul by the Greek
composer Petro Petridis. In 2005 was their successful
appearance in the Festival Chaux-de-Fonds – Switzerland
and their concert tour in Austria.
In the year 2001 the orchestra received the prestigious
award Crystal Lyre by the Ministry of Culture, the
League of Bulgarian Music and Dance Workers and Radio FM
Classic.
Rossen Milanov
Rossen Milanov is Associate Conductor of The
Philadelphia Orchestra and Chief Conductor of the
Bulgarian National Radio Orchestra. Additionally he is
Music Director of both the Haddonfield Symphony in New
Jersey, USA and the New Symphony Orchestra in Bulgaria.
The Chicago Tribune describes him as one who "bears
watching by anyone who cares about the future of music”.
With the Philadelphia Orchestra Mr Milanov’s concert
highlights includes Beethoven's 1st and 9th Symphonies
in summer 2005, as well as the world premiere of
Nicholas Maw’s English Horn Concerto. In Bulgaria he
continues his Mahler Symphony Cycle which is a
multi-season project. He has conducted concerts and
tours with the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra, Baltimore
and Colorado Symphonies, the orchestras of Juilliard
Opera Center, and Curtis Opera Theater. He has
participated in New Year Festival of Prague, Grand Park
Music Festival in Chicago, Rencontres Musicales d’Evian
in France, etc. Mr Milanov was a Bruno Walter Memorial
Scholarship student at the Juilliard School, and studied
at the Curtis Institute of Music, Duquesne University,
and the Bulgarian National Academy of Music. His
teachers were Otto-Werner Mueller, Robin Fountain, and
Vassil Kazandjiev. He founded the Sofia-Mt Vitosha
International Conducting Academy, a summer festival
dedicated to the training of young aspiring conductors.
He was honoured by Bulgarian Ministry of Culture with
the Award for Extraordinary Contribution to Bulgarian
Culture.
Krassimira Stoyanova
Krassimira Stoyanova made her debut at the Sofia
Opera National, where she sang Gilda from Rigoletto. In
1998 she was invited to take part in the production of
Carmen (Micaela) at the Wiener Staatsoper and since 1999
she has been engaged as a soloist of this prestigious
theater. Her name is a part of the programmes of leading
international festivals – Salzburg Festival, Yehudi
Menuhin in Strasburg, the festivals in Torino, Ravenna,
Ex-en- Province, Luzerne. She has worked with conductors
such as George Pretre, Maris Jansons, Sir Colin Davis,
Ricardo Muti, Christoph Eshenbach and others. Mrs.
Stoyanova has sung at the world famous opera houses,
among them are Vienna Opera, Metropolitan Opera, Covent
Garden in London, the opera houses of Zurich, Munich,
Berlin, Cologne, Hamburg, Helsinki, Tel Aviv, Buenos
Aires, Tokyo… Her rich and varied repertoire includes
famous operas by Verdi, Mozart, Puccini, Leoncavallo,
Meyerbeer, Halevi, Bizet, Donizetti, Gomes, cantata and
oratorio works such as Stabat Mater by Pergolesi,
Rossini, Dvorak and Szymanowski, Symphony No. 9 by
Beethoven, Te Deum by Bruckner, Requiem by Dvorak, Misa,
Gloria e Credo of Donizetti, Magnificat and Easter
Oratorio by Bach. Her highlights of this season are
Desdemona from Otello in Barcelona (her debut at the
Gran Teatro del Liceu) and in Tokyo and Vienna, as well
as Ein Deutsches Requiem by Brahms at the Wiener
Konzerthaus, Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 in Vienna and
Amsterdam… |
