Beethoven in Ruse and the Ninth Symphony in Athens (1988–1989)

After the return home the choir set to work in earnest on Beethoven’s Mass in C major. On 10 November 1988 it recorded D. Hristov’s “Ergen dyado” for television, on 1 December it celebrated the 60th birthday of its former long-serving chairman Nino Ninov, and on 24 December it sang at the Winter Festival of Amateur Arts in Varna (15–25 December). Only at the end of January 1989 did it become clear that the Grubscher choir would return the visit from 24 June to 4 July – a mixed group of a children’s choir and adult singers.

On 31 January Alipi Naydenov, conductor of the Ruse Philharmonic, came to a rehearsal; he conducted the Mass and, although the choir was not yet ready, judged its work favourably. On 22 February the choir travelled to Ruse, and on 24 February 1989, at the Transport Workers’ House, it performed the Mass with the Philharmonic – according to the author, for the first time in Bulgaria. The Bulgarian soloists fell short of the audience’s expectations, but the choir’s experience helped the conductor out of an awkward moment. On 18 March the choir sang in Tolbukhin (Dobrich) at the regional round of the 7th National Festival (17–19 March), where R. Shtereva sat on the jury; on 23 March it welcomed the choir from Omurtag.

On 15 May the Mass was rehearsed with Andrey Andreev, conductor of the Varna Philharmonic, and two days later with the Dobrudzhanski Zvutsi choir of Tolbukhin and the Varna Symphony Orchestra. That same evening Morski Zvutsi played host to the choir of the Academy of Sciences from Kyiv, a competitor in the May competition, lodged in the hostel of the Dr Petar Beron teachers’ institute; the singers shared the costs. The Mass opened the competition at a fairly good standard, and on 30 May it was also performed in Tolbukhin – without a bass soloist.

On 1 June, after a farewell to the chorister Emiliya Harizanova, Chonev outlined the tasks ahead: a festival in Autun, France, in July 1990 with a large work for choir and orchestra – probably the German Requiem – and an a cappella programme for a concert in West Germany on the way. Sharp criticism of absentees and latecomers followed. R. Shtereva proposed cutting the choir down to its most committed singers; Asen Kolev asked whether the choir was a “singing club” or a serious choir and proposed a chamber choir, backed by Hristo Hristov, while Neli Dushek reminded everyone that nothing works without personal responsibility. On 8 June 1989 a new board was elected: chairman Eng. Ivan T. Ivanov, with section leaders Madlen Bohosyan, Antonina Toncheva, Ivan Donev and Svetoslav Boyadzhiev; Yanko Korenchev, chair of the municipal council for cultural development, was proposed as honorary chairman.

At the end of July Chonev received an invitation to perform Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony in Athens, in the municipality of Nikaia, with the Pazardzhik Symphony Orchestra and the Greek conductor Byron Fidetzis, arranged through the Impresario Agency in Sofia. The singers agreed to travel at their own expense, and the newcomers learned the work daily. On 30 August the coaches left for a rehearsal in Pazardzhik, the next day went on via Petrich, and only reached Athens around midnight. On 3 September 1989 the concert took place in the ancient “Katrikon” summer theatre, whose restoration was still unfinished; the performance was recorded by radio, and the conductor was presented with souvenirs. The promised fee for the recording never came, and the choir returned to Varna. Work on the German Requiem could not begin for lack of money to copy the parts, and the August salaries went unpaid. On 10 September the Orfey programme broadcast a recording of T. Popov’s “Autumn Motifs”, and on 18 September the choir’s hall hosted a meeting and concert with a choir from Zhytomyr.