The chamber choir and a look back at the first fifteen years

The chamber choir won special recognition at the Varna Summer International Music Festival in 1970 with two concerts of its own – in the chamber hall of the St Atanas church-museum and in the Internatsional hall. Under the headline “An exceptionally moving choir”, E. Parashkevov wrote in Narodno Delo (10 July 1970) about its soft, warm piano singing, its noble fortes and phrasing brought to virtuosity; among the best performances he named Taneyev’s “Look, what a mist”, a Latvian sailors’ song and Cheshmedzhiev’s “Doubt”.

Well-known musicians also wrote in the choir’s Golden Book. Petko Staynov called the chamber choir one of the finest singing ensembles in the country and an instrument that could be trusted with any task; the Hungarian conductor Dr Pál Kardos of Szeged praised the plasticity and balance of its sound. Enthusiastic entries were also left by Yordanov, head of the amateur music department, after the 5th May Choral Festival, by Associate Professor Vasiliy Ship of the Odesa Conservatory and by Roy Bohana of England.

The author then looks back at the first fifteen years. The musical world valued the choir for its natural tone, wide dynamic range and accurate intonation, and Chonev also as a public-spirited citizen. His initiatives – the May Choral Festival, which later grew into a competition, the country’s first boys’ choir and its first conductors’ collegium – bear the mark of a man who tied his life to choral music. The repertoire included G. Dimitrov’s “Ballad of the Communist” and “Dumnik-odumnik”, Pipkov’s “Spring Wind”, T. Popov’s “Invasion”, Stravinsky’s “Four Russian Songs”, Poulenc’s “Ave verum corpus”, Schumann’s “Manfred”, Beethoven’s Choral Fantasy, Handel’s “Hallelujah” and Cherubini’s Requiem – performed for the first time in Bulgaria. Bulgarian composers dedicated works to the choir – G. Dimitrov, P. Mechkov, G. Timev and Aram Berberyan (“Song for Varna”) – and the choir in turn championed Varna composers such as P. Mechkov, M. Kolarov and St. Mutafchiev.

Throughout, the choir relied on the support of the City People’s Council: a convenient rehearsal hall in Varna’s Jewish House, an annual grant, a music library, concert costumes and yearly tours. The board was led by public figures – Hristo Hristov, Lyuba Lipova and Nino Ninov – while its other members were elected by the singers; section leaders kept in touch with the singers and maintained discipline.