Carmina Burana brings together orchestras from Bulgaria, Greece and North Macedonia in Sofia

Conductor Nayden Todorov: We should not break the ties with each other, because the wheel keeps turning

published on 2/18/25 5:05 PM

Photo: BTA

A concert performance of the stage cantata Carmina Burana by Carl Orff in Sofia has turned into a celebration for music lovers and a testament to the power of music to melt ice in diplomacy.

For the first time, three orchestras from three neighboring Balkan countries took to the same stage. The Sofia Philharmonic, the Philharmonic of North Macedonia and the Thessaloniki State Symphony Orchestra were joined by the Bulgarian National Philharmonic Choir "Svetoslav Obretenov" and three soloists - one from each of the three countries under the baton of the conductor of the Sofia Philharmonic Nayden Todorov.

"Because Bulgaria and North Macedonia, North Macedonia and Greece, Bulgaria and Greece have always had special relations, we, the leaders of the three orchestras, decided to show that we can actually work great together. We need to show that something is coming from the Balkans that can be an example for the whole of Europe, that we can work together, that we can rebuild the bridges that seem to be gone and we can reverse a process that is very frightening - the process of division," conductor Nayden Todorov said in an interview with BNT.

The magnetic sound created by 240 musicians on stage did not leave indifferent any spectator in the audience on February 17 in Hall 1 of the National Palace of Culture in Sofia. Each of the performances by soprano Ana Durlovski (Republic of Macedonia), tenor Nikolas Spanos (Greece) and baritone Ivo Yordanov (Bulgaria) was wildly applauded by the audience, BTA reports.

And conductor Nayden Todorov promised: "With our colleagues from Greece and North Macedonia, we are embarking on something new."

The choice of a a musical composition for this first joint performance is not at all accidental:

"Carmina Burana" carries an idea that is very important to us, namely the wheel of fate. What goes down today goes up tomorrow, what is up today can be down tomorrow. And this is our message. We should not sever the links with each other, because the wheel continues to turn," Nayden Todorov adds in his television interview.

Photos: BTA

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