Култура

Give them rest forever, O Lord; and a light that never fails to illumine them.
In 1874 in Milan for the first time sounded "Requiem" by Giuseppe Verdi on the anniversary of the death of Alessandro Manzoni, called by the Maestro "Saint". On September 13, in Hall 1 of the National Palace of Culture, the Verdian "Requiem" sounded again, this time for our Nikolai Ghiaurov. The occasion: a sad 75th birthday of the first bass on the planet, which for several months is no longer among us.
The concert was held under the patronage of President Georgi Parvanov and in the presence of N. Parvanov's wife. Ghiaurov the world-famous prima Mirela Freni. The performance was entrusted to the orchestra and people of the National Opera and Ballet under the direction of Vladimir Gyaurov - the son who graduated piano at the Giuseppe Verdi Conservatory in Milan and composition and conducting in Vienna under Karl Ostereicher, described by critics as a conductor who managed to achieve the ideal balance between rationality and temperament. On stage at the National Palace of Culture for Nikolay Ghiaurov sang the Italian-born Laura Brioli, identified by the world media and music critics as one of the greatest discoveries for the opera stage in the last decade; the soprano Tsvetelina Vasileva; the graduate of singing at the Veron Conservatory and known since 1997. tenor Maurizio Comencini and the Athens-born and familiar to the opera stages in Greece, Italy, France and Germany bass Christiforos Stamboglis.
Among the spectators who filled Hall 1 of the National Palace of Culture was also a representative group of Velingradians, who together with the Velingrad people in Sofia honored the memory of Nikolay Ghiaurov. To Mirela Freni the Velingradians gave a bouquet of roses with the inscription "We are sad with you! We are waiting for you in Velingrad!". Accepting the flowers with tears of gratitude, the world prima said: "I love Velingrad very much, but so far I do not have the physical opportunity to come. But I promise that I will take these roses to Nicholas' grave in Modena". There were also flowers from Velingrad for Nikolai Gyaurov's daughter-in-law Rumyana, wife of Vladimir, who did so much for the presence in the National Palace of Culture on 13 September. And among the baskets of flowers by the President of Bulgaria and the President of the National Assembly for the conductor Vladimir Ghiaurov was ours. With gratitude!
Veska Bozhkova