SINCE 1999 A LIVE REVIEW SITE FOR OPERA, BALLET, CONCERTS, THEATRE , BROADCASTS AND FILMS
United Kingdom Shaw, Beethoven: Sunwook Kim (piano/director), Scottish Chamber Orchestra / Stephanie Gonley (violin/director). City Halls Glasgow, 9.10.2026. (GT)
United Kingdom Jeths, Mahler: BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra / Antony Hermus (conductor). City Halls, Glasgow, 8.10.2026. (GT)
United Kingdom Bach, Schnittke, Shostakovich: Lawrence Power (viola), Royal Scottish National Orchestra / Patrick Hahn (conductor). Glasgow Royal Concert Hall, 3.10.2026. (GT)
Director of the National Moravian-Silesian Theatre in Ostrava Jiří Nekvasil talks with Gregor Tassie
United Kingdom Berlioz: Timothy Rideout (viola), Scottish Chamber Orchestra / Maxim Emelyanychev (conductor). City Halls, Glasgow, 25.9.2026. (GT)
United Kingdom Beethoven, Zemlinsky: Bomsori Kim (violin), Miah Persson (soprano), James Atkinson (baritone), BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra / Ryan Wigglesworth (conductor). City Halls, Glasgow, 24.9.2026. (GT)
United Kingdom Rachmaninov, Mahler: Alexander Malofeev (pianist), Royal Scottish National Orchestra / Thomas Søndergård (conductor). Glasgow Royal Concert Hall, 19.9.2026. (GT)
Conductor Viliana Valtcheva talks with Gregor Tassie
Bulgaria’s music is best known for its magnificent choirs and the never-ending stream of singers who have become celebrated in the world’s most famous opera theatres. Boris Christov, Ghena Dimitrova, Lyuba Welitsch, Nicolai Ghiaurov, and Sonya Yoncheva are just a few Bulgarians who have become stars on the world stage.
There is a distinguished school of instrumentalists, but relatively few conductors, with one major exception in the brilliant Emil Tchakarov, who became legendary during a relatively brief period, until his death at the early age of 43 in Paris. A prodigy of Karajan, Tchakarov was renowned at the Metropolitan Opera, Covent Garden, Maggio Musicale Fiorentino and the Mariinsky Theatre, among many others. Mravinsky picked him as his successor before his early death in 1991.