Venturesome, bold, Vivi Vassileva breaks into dance around the bass drums on the stage, wringing out of them a sound like thunder, then a gentle whisper. Audiences in Bulgaria will be able to see and hear Vivi Vassileva perform in Sofia’s Bulgaria hall tonight.

Catalan composer Oriol Cruixent dedicated “Oraculum”, his Concerto for Multi-Percussion and Orchestra, to Vivi Vassileva. Together with the Bulgarian National Radio’s Symphony Orchestra, the young soloist will perform “Oraculum” on a Bulgarian stage for the first time after its world premiere in 2019 in Wuppertal, Germany.

“Oracles were once regarded as portals used by the gods to talk to humans directly. In “Oraculum” the percussion section acts as an oracle, urging the inquisitive listeners to open their chakras one by one, by active and conscious listening,” the composer explains. To get his idea across he uses almost 20 percussion instruments – among them bass drums, tupan, Arab aluphone, marimba, vibraphone, bongos, gong, cymbals.

“This concert consists of seven parts and they are the seven energy centres in our bodies,” Vivi Vasileva says in an interview with the BNR’s Hristo Botev channel. “The first part begins with a huge boom coming from the two bass drums, sending shockwaves across the entire hall. We, musicians are especially sensitive to the power of this energy, we not only listen to the music, we feel the vibrations of the instruments. The third part is the part I love best – it is connected with the energy coming from the stomach when we are overexcited and feel the urge to act. And as Oriol Cruixent knew I was Bulgarian, that I grew up with the rhythms of the Balkans, he put in a lot of odd metres - 5/8, 7/8, 10/8. I have played “Oraculum” with German orchestras, and the first rehearsal is always such an adventure, but I feel sure that the BNR’s orchestra is really going to get a kick out of these rhythms. The fourth part of the concert is connected with the heart, and has a really beautiful melody. Advancing towards the seventh part we reach the stage of meditation, nirvana.”

Vivi, who was born in Germany, first came in contact with percussion instruments as a child, on a wild beach on Bulgaria’s seashore. It was at Karadere that she saw some young people having fun using hand-made percussion instruments and couldn’t resist the urge to join them. That was how the girl, born to a family of violinists strayed from the family tradition – the violin - at an early age, even though her brother is Vasko Vassilev, the renowned soloist and long-time concert master at Covent Garden.

The young percussionist is nowadays a sought-after performer on the elite stages of the world, she is holder of numerous awards, the most prestigious of which she received only recently – the Leonard Bernstein Award at the Schleswig-Holstein music festival. When she performs it is with her percussion quartet, or with different musicians. But what is the secret to success when you make music together with other musicians?

“The first thing is how we perceive music,” Vivi answers. “We don’t rehearse, let’s say for one hour, we rehearse until we have given everything we can to make magic out of a given piece of music. That is why I love working with musicians who are, like me, infinitely curious, musicians who experiment and experiment, and never stop. With them we play in such a way as to remain true to ourselves, investing 200% passion and love of music. The second thing is that we must get along as human beings, because we do concerts together, we travel on tour.”

As to her repertoire, Vivi Vassileva says it consists almost entirely of music written in the past few decades, the time when percussion was starting to be perceived as solo instruments.

“I believe percussion are the instruments of the 21^st century,” she goes on to say. “Because we play instruments coming from all kinds of cultures, because contemporary composers write so much music for us, because it is possible to create new sounds and rhythms. And because audiences come in contact with something that is new, not like Mozart though one melody, but through the energy of the DNA of humankind.  Percussion instruments are, on the other hand, the newest instruments – as solo instruments they have existed for about 30 years – but at the same time they are the oldest instruments. It is a great honour for me that the Leonard Bernstein Award goes to percussion instruments. I am very happy to shoulder this responsibility, I shall continue at full throttle – learning new concertos, playing with orchestras and bands, doing what I love best.”

Interview by Milena Vodenicharova, Hristo Botev channel, BNR

Compiled and edited by Diana Tsankova