An orchestra of the same name existed for a few years only right after the democratic changes. The idea for the restoration of the formation was born due to the 100^th anniversary of the composer marked in 2012. Thus conductor Svetoslav Lazarov, who is a stepson and the only heir of Hadjiev and administrative manager Stefan Djankov took over the uneasy task. So, the new beginning was a fact and the Parashkev Hadjiev Orchestra presented itself to the audience last year.

“The idea for the restoration of the orchestra aims at the remembrance of this great composer’s name,” Svetoslav Lazarov says. “However, we are a polyvalent formation and we can perform music from different genres and epochs – renaissance, baroque, symphonic, rock operas etc. – we have original instruments, a big band and an electronic rock band.”

The orchestra consists of some 65 musicians and can be easily turned into a chamber formation or simfonietta. Performers from different orchestras across the country participate in it. Svetoslav Lazarov outlines two more renditions of the young formation from the past season:

“We are very young yet, taking our initial steps now. We do thank God for having the chance to start off concert activities. I will outline a very interesting concert with Bulgarian violinist Pavel Minev – he is of world renown, now he lives in Russia. The other remarkable concert is the master class of Valentin Peichinov – a prominent Bulgarian bass, who lives in New York and has a big company for training of young talents. We were really honored to be selected by him for the gala concert of his master class. He is a student and a friend of Parashkev Hadjiev.”

The conductor keeps a secret on whether the new concert season of the orchestra will be unveiled with an opera by Parashkev Hadjiev:

“Right now we have many proposals and ideas and maybe we will present an entire opera or operetta show,” Lazarov goes on to say. “However, I prefer to keep its name secret, while things get certain, so we can bring a surprise to the fans. It might be an opera of his. We think over a possible presentation of the Paradoxes triptych, based on stories by O’Henry – three one-act operas, named A Divorce, The Thief and The Presents.”

The main part of the orchestra’s repertoire will consist of Parashkev Hadjiev’s works, as his music was too modern for its time and shouldn’t be forgotten, says the composer’s stepson, who is grateful for the education, received amidst the artistic atmosphere of the composer’s home.

“That was really a house with strong artistic spirit and presence that still can be felt,” Svetoslav Lazarov recalls. “It was a place of constant music playing and singing. The moment he had composed something new, Parashkev Hadjiev would immediately play it to me and my mom. There used to be many art evenings with great names at home as well…”

English version: Zhivko Stanchev