Preparing for Gorizia, the May Festival and a tour of Hungary (1972)

At the first rehearsal after Sofia Chonev announced the line-up for Gorizia and invited Samuil Vidas, conductor of the Georgi Kirkov choir in Sofia, who knew the competition both as a competitor and as a member of its international jury. Vidas explained that the organisers were irritated by the Bulgarian choirs that carried off the gold medals every year; in the end the restrictions came down to two conditions – one ensemble each in the polyphony and folklore groups. The eight-song programme was settled and the compulsory piece had arrived.

The smaller ensemble rehearsed four times a week for a month. Besides Chonev, Vitanov and Yordanka Shishkova, the coaching team included Anelia Lilova, accompanist of the vocal studio, and Atanas Dimitrov, conductor of the newly formed ensemble of the BMF. The full choir came together only before the 1972 May Choral Festival to run through the Requiem, and hosted the Hungarian choir from Debrecen. At the festival Prof. Georgi Dimitrov singled out Morski Zvutsi’s “persistent, intelligent and substantial work” and called Chonev a far-sighted, searching artist. On 21 May 1972 the large choir sang the Requiem and the chamber choir several songs; the hall erupted in endless applause, and the jury joined in. Three days later, on 24 May, Chonev was awarded the title of Honoured Artist – a joy for the singers too.

After the festival the Gorizia organisers asked for the women’s ensemble to take part as well – a great honour, but very late. In mid-June Vidas came to a rehearsal again, and a letter arrived from Italy from Pio Capone, a permanent member of the jury, who offered a concert in Padua after the competition – the Requiem with piano and Bulgarian songs – and would cover meals and hotel for one day. On 22 June the Honoured Artist Krum Boyadzhiev also attended a rehearsal; his words were kind, but much work still lay ahead. The women began learning their songs, but an official letter later withdrew their invitation.

On 27 June the choir set off for Debrecen, for the Béla Bartók festival of contemporary music at the Arany Bika (“Golden Bull”) hotel. Exceptionally, its concert was held before lunch; the audience gave it a warm welcome and demanded an encore. The jury also expressed its admiration, but advised the choir to pay more attention to contemporary choral music – a weakness of all Bulgarian choirs. The author wonders whether another chamber ensemble of young, better-trained singers might be needed for that. In Sátoraljaújhely the concert started an hour late while the audience gathered; the choir sang its competition programme for the second time and almost the whole Requiem. On 9 July the Hungarian tour ended safely.