The Ninth in Varna and first prize at Varna ’75 (1975)

Tasks in early 1975 came one after another. On 10 February the choir sang Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony with the Varna Philharmonic under Emil Glavanakov – a work not heard in the city for eight years. In Narodno Delo (16 February) Lyudmila Dimitrova wrote, under the headline “We expect more convincing artistic results”, that interest was enormous and that the choir had mastered the complex, instrumentally conceived score thanks to Marin Chonev, but that the soloists – T. Kostov, Maria Bohachek, P. Gerdzhikov and N. Bozhkova – failed to blend as an ensemble; even so, collaboration between Varna’s two representative ensembles was worthwhile.

On 22 February the choir took part in the premiere of Stefan Dragostinov’s Symphony-Requiem No. 2, after Lyubomir Levchev’s “Romantic Ballad”, conducted by Kamen Goleminov in the House of Amateur Arts. On 15 March it was in the Bulgaria Hall in Sofia for the Days of Varna Musical Culture – again with the Ninth under Glavanakov – and the next day the chamber choir also sang there. On 20 March the Ninth was heard again at the House of Amateur Arts in Varna, with even warmer reviews.

Next came the 9th International May Choral Competition, Varna ’75 – the first competition held within the May Choral Festival, in which Morski Zvutsi competed as host. As before every competition, the choir met leading conductors: Varban Rangelov of the Tsarevets choir (Veliko Tarnovo), Milko Dimitrov, Samuil Vidas of the Georgi Kirkov choir, Hristo Arishtirov of the Mayakovski choir, Donka Bozadzhieva, Vasil Arnaudov, the deputy chair of the City People’s Council Ivanka Hristova, Aleksandar Tanev and Prof. Dimitar Ruskov.

The competition opened on 14 May in the Palace of Culture and Sports, while the concerts and the jury of Bulgarian and foreign experts were based at the House of Amateur Arts. The choir sang on 17 May and on 18 May appeared in the winners’ closing concert. The result speaks for itself: 96.55 points against 92.86 for the runner-up, the choir of the Moscow Conservatory. The book reproduces the diploma for first prize and a gold medal. Todor Stoychev, first secretary of the regional party committee, sent a telegram of congratulations, published on 28 May in Narodno Delo, which called the success further proof of the talent of Chonev and his amateur singers.