site.btaNayden Todorov: We Have Rarely Been Received with So Much Enthusiasm as in Berlin

A few minutes after the Sofia Philharmonic gave its first concert in the Grand Hall of the Berlin Philharmonic on Monday, conductor Nayden Todorov told BTA: "We have rarely been received with such a great enthusiasm as here in Berlin."

He believes this has paved the way for more concerts in that magnificent hall. "Now we will be talking about future concerts in the cities, including Berlin," Maestro Todorov said.

The audience was wonderful, the conductor said. "Many people came up to me and said they were impressed, and they were amazed there was such an orchestra that they didn't know about. An orchestra with such sound and such colourful playing."

"I think we chose a successful programme - Pancho Vladigerov had a strong connection with this city and Ludmil Angelov is a marvelous pianist and one of the best performers of Vladigerov ever. Moreover, Mendelssohn's Symphony No. 4 'Italian' has a message which is very relevant today: We should look at life with a smile and look for the good, not the bad. And I think this message got through to the audience in Berlin and this was the reason for its reaction," Todorov commented.

"We should also say that the orchestra was very strong. That hall is legendary and the orchestra deserved to perform in it. I am very happy to have conducted the first concert of the Sofia Philharmonic in the hall of the Berlin Philharmonic," Todorov said.

Ludmil Angelov played an encore. "The orchestra didn't, although the audience was very insistent. The applause went on for a very long time. In the end, however, I decided to get the orchestra out because after our performance of Mendelssohn it would have been hard to do something as meaningful," the conductor said.

"To me, the response of the colleagues from the Berlin Philharmonic was important because they hear the world's greatest orchestras. The response of Medici Television that filmed the concert for Medici and Mezzo Television was very important. They said this was something special, which will be talked for a long time."

The programme included Pancho Vladigerov's Concerto for Piano and Orchestra No. 3 and Mendelssohn's Symphony No. 4. 

The Sofia Philharmonic's first ever concert in the Grand Hall of the Berlin Philharmonic on December 12 took place on the initiative of the Bulgarian Cultural Institute Berlin and celebrated its 60th anniversary.

The concert was attended by Bulgaria's Culture Minister Velislav Minekov, the Bulgarian Ambassador in Berlin, Elena Shekerletova, the Cultural Institute's Director Borislav Petranov, BTA Director General Kiril Valchev, Katrin Budde, Chair of the Bundestag's Committee on Cultural and Media Affairs, Tim Kurth, President of the German-Bulgarian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (GBCCI), GBCCI CEO/Managing Director Mitko Vassilev, Union of Bulgarian Composers Chair Tsenko Minkin, President Rumen Radev's wife Desislava Radeva, Bundestag members and diplomats.

BTA is a media partner of the Sofia Philharmonic.