Konstantin Kazanski is a Bulgarian composer, song writer, performer, arranger and musicologist. He is a friend of renowned Bulgarian poets Hristo Fotev, Konstantin Pavlov and Stefan Tsanev. His dream of studying theater directing did not come true.

"There is always discontent with what we have achieved and it does not matter whether others like it or not. We see all the flaws of what we did. People do not see it, but we can. And hence the desire for something more perfect. I did not intend to stay in France or in another foreign country. We were in Belgium with a Bulgarian orchestra and my situation was delicate, especially in Radio Sofia where doors were closed for me and I had no opportunities for creative work. If I had returned to Bulgaria, I would have graduated in international economic relations, which was not interesting to me. I chose the lesser evil, remaining in Paris and doing what I want.”

Kazanski is the author of the lyrics, the music and arrangements of all the songs.

"I'm not coming from an artistic family. However, my grandmother was a singer from the village of Kazanka, near Stara Zagora, hence the surname", the composer further explains. "One of my aunts has recorded about 230 songs for the fund of the BNR, but these are folk songs that I have nothing in common with. If I had not had so many obstacles in Bulgaria I would not have chosen to stay in France. I'm deeply grateful to all those who tried to keep me silent. If they had not decided to get rid of me, I would not have seen the miracles that I saw. There is no nostalgia, just gratitude.”

"My place is in Paris. The city grows on you. I have been living for 40 years in Montmartre. Nobody is originally from this neighborhood. There is nothing surprising and strange about the fact that someone came from somewhere else. There are so many religions there and it does not matter what one has studied. I have worked with some 200 different musicians and nobody ever asked me about my education. They just listen to your playing. Life is not easy, as there is much competition. I do some interesting things, which I have never done before, nor have I dreamed of doing them. I have been playing with gypsies and have written classical ballet for the largest theater in New York, at the invitation of the last impresario of Igor Stravinsky - Lillian Libman. I am a self-taught musician and my reputation is of one. My arrangements are not the work of someone who graduated from the Music Academy.”

“Vysotsky heard me for the first time when I accompanied the Dimitrijevic Gypsies. They are known all over the world but not in Bulgaria. Vysotsky invited me to participate in the recording of a record. Then he decided that I should participate in everything he recorded in France and that lasted for five years until the end of his life. Everyone was wondering why me, why not some Russian? He was fleeing from professional-style arrangement because he did not like that. Decisions about whether he was going to sing with a guitar or to be accompanied by an orchestra were taken for just a minute. We always reached full agreement and everything seemed possible. Both of us were amateurs, so we were willing to take the risk. I never have a specific goal and things just happen. It is very valuable for me when I am doing something new and when I learn something new. It is much more interesting than planned things”

"It was an accident. For 20 years I had written two or three songs in Bulgarian, 100 French and some in Russian and Gypsy language. For me, Bulgaria was a closed page. And when I came back for the second time in 1994, "Letters from Paris" with lyrics, music and arrangements was born for just 15 days. A friend came from Paris and I sang the songs to him, but my wife said, ‘You see, he wrote them, he would then put them in folders and they will remain there.’ I told her that nobody was interested in them. However, I recorded a demo. During my third arrival in Bulgaria my friend poet Stefan Tsanev offered me that the songs should be published in a book. There was no interest for a CD album and I do not like to finance my own projects. I want things to be spontaneous. I think in addition to humor there should be some surrealism and satire in our lives. There should be some sweat and nicotine. Art without these is like skimmed milk. Freedom is important, as well as the freedom to make mistakes.”

English: Alexander Markov