A second cup in folklore and the road through Italy

At the gathering of all the competitors the singers met members of a choir from Padua, where they were to make a short visit at Pio Capone’s invitation. That evening, at the award ceremony and winners’ concert, the choir had to close the programme – once again around midnight. This time it sang far below its best: lack of sleep and fatigue showed from the first song. That may have encouraged the rivals in the folklore category, but by the evening of 23 September every singer was back in full form, and at 6 pm the choir took the stage with the confidence of winners of the harder category.

The jury awarded no first prize to the men’s and women’s choirs, which made Morski Zvutsi’s performance stand out all the more. The songs by Dobri Hristov, G. Dimitrov and Kr. Kyurkchiyski – “Slana padna, Gane”, “Rachenitsa”, “Lika-prilika” – were applauded as soon as they were announced. So the choir won first place in the folklore category too – a “clean victory”, as an Italian daily put it – and sent many Italians looking for Varna on the map. The president of the organising committee, Giovanni Cocciani, said the choir embodied the charm of Bulgarian choirs and had enchanted the people of Gorizia, and the mayor, Pasquale De Simone, declared: “I am happy about your magnificent victory!” The announcer, Ubaldo Agati, called Chonev “the audience’s favourite”.

Leading Bulgarian choral conductors were also in Gorizia – Samuil Vidas, Vasil Arnaudov, Hristo Arishtirov, Evgeni Cheshmedzhiev and Donka Bozadzhieva. Speaking for them, Arnaudov praised the choir’s huge contribution to the success of Bulgarian choral art. The newspaper Il Piccolo noted that 22 strong ensembles had competed in the mixed-choir category and that the Bulgarians’ victory was beyond dispute.

The next day, accompanied by Pio Capone, the choir travelled to Padua. That evening, in the large civic hall, it performed the Requiem with piano (Petar Vitanov) and songs by Bulgarian composers, and Capone, conductor of the choir of the Basilica of Sant’Antonio, introduced the guests. A meeting with his choristers followed, then visits to Venice and Rome and a performance at the Flaminio stadium as part of the national festival of the newspaper l’Unità. On 3 October 1972 the choir was back in Varna – for a very short rest.