Podcast in English
Text size
Bulgarian National Radio © 2024 All Rights Reserved

Emanuil Manolov, aka Badema (the Almond) turns 80

Photo: private archive

Saxophone player Emanuil Manolov, aka The Almond, who played that piece, is among the most famous musicians in Bulgaria. His name is related to the orchestras from the 1950s – 60s. The Almond turns 80 today. Everyone who knows him will agree that he looks surprisingly good for his age – maybe due to the long decades of sports activities – skiing and surfing. His colleagues used to joke that he was the best saxophone player among sport persons. The Sofia Music School gave classical education to the Almond, but he was an early disappointment to his clarinet tutor. Manolov spent the next six decades, spelled by the magic of free music. His main occupation over the recent years has been lecturing. Our conversation takes the Almond back to his school years, the first concerts and the first meeting with jazz.

“Rumba used to be the main thing played at parties back then. I started to perform jazz later. Right after 9 September 1944 there were different foreign missions in Bulgaria – English, American, etc. Jazz was still not banned. That happened later, when those missions ceased their activities. Jazz became “a decadent style” and saxophone was called “a capitalist instrument”. Despite all this, there were musicians, playing jazz in the 1950s downtown Sofia, Plovdiv Ruse etc. The conductor of the Optimists orchestra Bozhidar Sekelarev signed a contract with the Bulgarian State Circus Theatre. Thus we were able to travel abroad. Lea Ivanova, Snezhka Dobreva and Liana Antonova were soloists back then. We had matinees before the shows with repertoire from the “banned music”. Then I started with the orchestra of Vasko Alipiev in the beer hall of the Bulgaria restaurant. The other hit spot was the Astoria Bar. A large part of the Photo: private archivevisitors were foreigners and there was no control over the repertoire. A casual meeting with great Lea Ivanova made me a part of her band – she needed another saxophone player and she invited me for a contract in Germany. Lea wrote a note on a tramway ticket to the clerk at the Concert Directorate, who was in charge of international passports. It looked unreal, but the ticket did the job and I went abroad.”

Many successful concerts at the Friedrichstadt-Palast followed, where the orchestra of Eddy Kazasyan and Lea Ivanova played as a part of the program. The Almond worked with famous names later on in Germany – the Lindenberg Orchestra, the Horst Kruger Sextet, the one of Claus Lentz… The musician spent a total of 10 years in Germany. Upon his return to Bulgaria, he hit the road again – this time with Poppies – the band, accompanying Lili Ivanova. In Bulgaria the saxophone player is known mostly as a soloist of the BNR Big Band. There are hundreds of plays, recorded with his participation for the archive of our media. Emanuil Manolov used to head Dixie Swing for long years as well – the small orchestra ceased its activities a few years ago. Those had released a CD as well.

On 18 December the colleagues from the Big band and conductor Antoni Donchev shall mark the 80th jubilee of the Almond. The concert is devoted to two other musicians from the orchestra – Gencho Vartovski /70/ and unforgettable Vili Kazasyan, whose 80th jubilee is also marked in December.

English version: Zhivko Stanchev




Последвайте ни и в Google News Showcase, за да научите най-важното от деня!
Listen to the daily news from Bulgaria presented in "Bulgaria Today" podcast, available in Spotify.

More from category

Surprise for Bulgarian audiences - Austrian violinist Rainer Honeck and Bulgarian pianist Plamena Mangova give first concert together

Little-known works will be performed by outstanding musicians at the Bulgaria Hall in Sofia on 6 November.  Variations on a Theme of Frank Bridge, Op. 10, an early work by Benjamin Britten dedicated to his composition teacher Frank Bridge, will be..

published on 11/4/24 2:32 PM

"Boris Christoff – Ambassador of the Bulgarian Song" concert in Studio 1 of the BNR

"Boris Christoff – Ambassador of the Bulgarian Song" is the title of the concert of the opera singer Plamen Beykov and pianist Bozhena Petrova, which will take place tonight in Studio 1 of the BNR. "The program is an..

published on 11/4/24 8:15 AM
Vesko Panteleev-Eshkenazy

Varna and Sliven immerse "In the world of music" with maestro Vesko Panteleev-Eshkenazy

One of the best violinists in the world and concertmaster of the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra in Amsterdam Vesko Eschkenazy is back home, in his native Sofia. The reason - the two closing concerts of the national tour of the project "In the World of..

published on 10/31/24 12:17 PM