ABGU Chamber Orchestra Concert in Bulgaria Hall

Last Friday, the good people at Sofia City Library provided us good volunteers (dobrovoltsi!) with tickets for a concert by the ABGU (Armenian General Benevolent Union) Chamber Orchestra, which took place in Bulgaria Concert Hall. You can read the press release in Bulgarian with more about the Sofia European Music Festival, the orchestra and the soloists here (and, if needed, do a Google Translation accordingly - it's not too bad).

Truth be told, we hadn't been to a music hall in Sofia before this opportunity was given to us. Generally, I find that it's difficult to enjoy concerts of music you've never heard before; this instance, however, was a good opportunity for us to discover and enjoy great pieces.

We recorded (parts of) them for sharing this pleasure with you, dear readers, and for giving you a taste of what it was like for us to to be in a Bulgarian concert hall.

W.A. Mozart Piano Concert №27 1 (I don't know exactly which part - sorry for the low volume)

W.A. Mozart Piano Concert №27 2 (I don't know exactly which part - sorry for the low volume)

Jean Sibelius Valse Triste // Mendelssohn Violin Concert Op. 64 (the audio quality is much better here because I set my audio recorder to "concert", which I hadn't for the previous recordings. I'm sorry to say it's not complete because the battery ran out).
If you choose to listen to just one of the recordings, the last one should be it.
The concert finished with the following piece, which I didn't know and now it's my earworm for tonight.

Korean Music Night at NDK

Last Thursday we had  the opportunity to go to a Korean music concert at NDK - the National Palace of Culture - organised by the Korean embassy. Just between you and us: they're also planning a Koran section in the library itself, so as you can see they're being quite aggressive - in a good way!

The musicians performed with a guitar, a piano, a kayagum and a taegum

The programme (source: Korean embassy in Bulgaria facebook page):

< Programme >

1. "Ch’ŏngsŏnggok"(청성곡), Traditional music - Taegum
:Taegŭm is a large transverse bamboo flute, or tanso, a small notched bamboo vertical flute.

2. "Sanjo"(산조), Traditional music - Kayagum
:Sanjo is Korean representative music for solo instruments, developed in the 19th century. It has five movements which increase in tempo Chinyangjo, Chungmori, Chungjungmori, Chajinmori and Hwimori.

3. "People of the sea" (바다의 사람들), transcript by Ju Eun Jung from traditional melody - Kayagum, Taegum

4. "Pochagi" (보자기), Hye Lim Kim - Taegum
:Literally 'Pochagi' means a patchwork cloth that can be used as a wrapping cloth.

5. "Let it be", Beetles - Kayagum, Guitar

6. "Heart for the People"(그들을 위한 마음), Ji Eun Jung - Kayagum, Guitar
:As is well known, Korea has been divided into North and South for more than 60 years. In the face of such geographical and ideological division, the most important thing is to continue to love the people who are suffering. So this composition is called 'Heart for the people'.

7. "The Narrow Way"(좁은길), composition and text by Ji Eun Jung - Kayagum & singing, Guitar

8. "Ch’ŏng"(청), Taesŏng Kim - Taegŭm, Piano
:The powerfully passionate music combines with the calmness and contemplation of ‘Ch’ŏngsŏnggok’ to bind the piece together.

9. "Arirang", Traditional music - Kayagum, Guitar, Taegum, Piano
:'Arirang', is the most representative Korean traditional folk song. 'Arirang' is an ancient native Korean word. 'Ari' means 'beautiful' and 'rang' can mean 'dear'.

10. "Hubava si, moya goro", Bulgarian folk song, transcript by Ji Eun Jung -Kayagum, Guitar, Taegum, Piano

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We recorded parts of the concert to share the feeling of being there.You're welcome!


Let It Be

Heart For The People

The Narrow Way (lyrics in Bulgarian and Korean)

Arirang

Hubava Si, Moya Goro

As a last surprise, there was a small buffet waiting for us at the exit. And all this for free. You Koreans are spoiling us!