Albena, Samora Machel and the final preparations (September–October 1980)

The holiday was extended – to 18 August for the chamber choir and to 1 September for the full choir. The chamber choir met earlier because on 8 September it was to sing at the international seminar on choral music in the resort of Albena. Work on the Mozart Mass was halted: ahead of the 1300th anniversary of the Bulgarian state, a directive had come down that choirs should not include songs with religious content, and there was no point learning a large work that could not be performed at least a few times. On 25 August came the news that the invitation from Idar-Oberstein had arrived and the money was secured; now came the most painful decision – which singers would be left off the tour.

Without being told in good time, the full choir found itself on the programme of the official assembly for 9 September in the Drama Theatre, and its performance was warmly applauded. On 8 September, on the eve of the 36th anniversary of 9 September 1944, the chamber choir travelled to Albena. The stage of the Culture and Information Centre was small and stuffy, and the concert started late while the choir waited for the seminar’s organisers, led by Prof. Ptitsa from the USSR. The presenter, Vladimir Aprelev, handled both Russian and German with ease. The songs rang out with confidence, the audience could hardly stop applauding, and the interpreters struggled to pass on all the congratulations to Chonev in different languages.

On 11 September the singers were driven to the airport to sing at the welcome for Todor Zhivkov’s guest, the President of Mozambique and FRELIMO leader Samora Machel – according to the script, while he walked past the guard of honour. The singers found it odd, but it worked: the delegation stopped by the choir, listened and moved on. The next day the choir sang for the same delegation at a rally in the Palace of Culture and Sports, with the Bulgarian Merchant Fleet Wind Orchestra conducted by Angel Karshanov; the whole hall joined in “The Internationale”.

With a month to go and the German songs still unlearned, the choir rehearsed four times a week. On 18 September the board settled the five people who would not travel. The trip was arranged through the youth travel organisation Orbita – two large coaches and a minibus, on a route approved by the Interior Ministry: from 12 October Varna – Vidin – Budapest – Prague – Idar-Oberstein (stay 17–22 October) and back the same way by 25 October. Korbakov took the visa papers to Sofia. On 22 September singers and leaders of the Czechoslovak Dvořák choir, guests of the Temelko Nenkov choir from Pernik, visited a rehearsal; after a short concert the two boards met and proposed exchange visits in 1982.

The last weeks brought their worries: the soprano Tamara Valeva dropped out for health reasons and was replaced by Velichka Todorova, and Kosta Enchev, who had been ill, recovered only days before departure. The heavy workload took its toll – absences multiplied, and the deputy chairman Iliya Torbarov gave the absentees a stern talking-to. On 8 October the choir gave its usual preview concert for D. Bozadzhieva and other guests, mostly with the programme for West Germany.