Having passed under the sign of the 250^th birth anniversary of Ludwig van Beethoven, 2020 has been imbued with the music of the composer who has left coming generations remarkable works, throwing a bridge from Classicism to the next era in music – Romanticism.

The fact that it has been such a difficult and unpredictable year for the entire human race has actually made the incredible and, at times terrible obstacles the composer encountered in his life and career all the more comprehensible. Even though many of the events and concerts dedicated to this anniversary had to be cancelled, many classical music lovers have been able to enjoy their favourite performances of works by the composer thanks to the endless possibilities the Internet offers.

Our “video” concert features but a small part of the works by Ludwig van Beethoven recorded by Bulgarian pianists and violinists representing different generations.

Concerto No.1 for piano and orchestra by Beethoven, dedicated to a student of his, was first performed in Prague in 1798, with the composer as soloist. You can hear it “as interpreted” by the Sofia Soloists with conductor Vassil Kazandjiev and pianist Ivan Drenikov.

Having studied in Bulgaria with Pancho Vladigerov and Panka Pelishek, at age 18 Ivan Drenikov was ranked third at the Ferruccio Busoni International Piano Competition in Italy, where, a little later Arturo Michelangeli chose him to be his student. Prof. Drenikov currently lectures at the National Academy of Music Pancho Vladigerov.

Beethoven was born in 1770 in Bonn, and baptized on 17 December – which is why some analysts say that his most likely birthdate is 16 December - as a matter of law and custom, babies at the time were baptized within 24 hours of birth.His life started revolving around music at a very early age – he first studied with his father who had the ambition of turning him into a second Mozart. At his first concert he even announced the child was 6 instead of 7.

Peter Deltchev too started his career as a child prodigy, the only Bulgarian to have won prizes at the major international Paganini competition twice. His performance of Spring Sonata by Beethoven is from decades ago, and the recording is one of very few videos of the talented Bulgarian violinist.

One of the most successful Bulgarian pianists in recent years, Evgeni Bozhanov, has won an impressive number of awards at international competitions. One of them is the second prize (first prize unawarded) at the Sviatoslav Richter competition in Russia, and second prize at the Queen Elisabeth competition in Belgium. Evgeni was among the finalists at the Van Cliburn International Piano Competition in USA in 2009. The recording of Piano Sonata, Op.31 No.3 is from that competition.

We end this brief “Beethoven overview” with a performance by violinist Vasko Vassilev whom celebrated his 50th birthday this year. The recording is with the Baltic Neopolis Orchestra and the work – a transcript of Symphony No. 5 by the German composer. It is one of the most popular and most frequently performed woks by Beethoven –an outstanding figure in the history of the music of the world, a figure who has genuinely lived up to words like “genius” and “perfection”.