Bulgarian-Jewish composer
Pancho Vladigerov was born in Zurich in 1899, but his family moved to his father's native country when he was still a youth, and thus the mature composer's music is imbued with the expressive melodies, propulsive rhythms, and vibrant colors of Bulgaria. On this 2005 CPO disc,
Vladigerov's art is represented by three orchestral works from his twenties and early thirties: the muscular Bulgarian Rhapsody from 1928 named "Vardar" after Macedonia's greatest river, the dreamy Traumspiel Suite from 1921, and the infectious Seven Bulgarian Dances from 1931. To some,
Vladigerov's music with its sweetness and sentimentality and its energy and exuberance may sound less like a cousin of
Béla Bartók than like the brother of
Erich Wolfgang Korngold. Brilliantly performed by the Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester Berlin and persuasively conducted by Bulgarian
Horia Andreescu,
Vladigerov's music may appeal more to listeners looking for another
Steiner than for another Janácek, but it is still well worth hearing. Recorded in the venerable Jesus-Christus Kirche in Berlin, CPO's sound here is as deep and detailed as the finest ever made by DG back in the '60s.