Name: Approaches to the Musical Text (March Music Days 4)
Item: Sofia Philharmonic & Nayden Todorov visiting March Music Days
Author: Екатерина Дочева

The Sofia Philharmonic, with Nayden Todorov and the remarkable pianist Elena Bashkirova, toured with a Beethoven programme — the Fourth Piano Concerto and the Fourth Symphony (23 March). [...] And I have written before that conductor Nayden Todorov is becoming ever more effective at subordinating the partnering orchestra to a great soloist — this was not always so in the past. [...] The orchestra was also well prepared for Beethoven's Fourth Symphony. It suits Nayden Todorov's energetic temperament — it sounded lively, fresh, with optimal concentration in the execution of the score. I would not undervalue the ensemble's solid performance; its task was especially difficult in the final movement, taken at the faster tempo favoured, for instance, by Simon Rattle, and this was sustained throughout without faltering.