Dobrinka Tabakova was born in 1980 in Plovdiv. Only 14-year-old, she won the Jean-Frederic Perrenoud Prize at the 4th International Festival of Music in Vienna. She studied at the Royal Academy of Music in London and the Guildhall School of Music, where she won the Witold Lutoslawski award (1999). She has a PhD in composition from King's College London (2007). Her works have been performed in Bulgaria, Great Britain, Russia, Italy, France, Germany, Austria, USA, China, Australia, etc. Tabakova’s compositions are included in the repertoire of prominent artists such as violist Maxim Rysanov, violinist Janine Jansen, cellist Christine Blaumane and others. She has received a number of prestigious contracts, the last one from the Royal Philharmonic Society for the Music Biennial in the UK in 2014.
The official presentation of the album took place in a studio in central London on 22 April 2013. It is released by the renowned British label for modern jazz and classical music ECM. Tabakova is the first Bulgarian composer ever to be feature in its catalog. “For me this was an exciting and long-awaited event”, Dobrinka Tabakova says. “The launch was attended by journalists, colleagues and friends. There was also a concert program. It started with my work Suite in Old Style which I wrote for violist Maxim Rysanov”. This same work was one of the “culprits” that made producer Manfred Eicher discover the Bulgarian composer.
“In 2008 when we played Suite in Old Style at the Lokenhaus festival in Austria, producer Manfred Eicher liked it and wanted to hear more of my works," Dobrinka Tabakova recalls. "I sent him some recordings and later I received a message where he was offering me to do a whole CD with my works. We made the recordings especially for this album, the majority in Vilnius with the Lithuanian Chamber Orchestra in their hall of their Philharmonic. Only one of the works was recorded in Berlin – the string sextet Such Different Paths. I very much hope that the audience will like this CD. For me it is the culmination of many years of work and friendships with the people who perform on this album.”
The album includes Concerto for Cello and Strings, Suite in Old Style inspired by Rameau (Suite in old style for viola and chamber orchestra) and three chamber works: the string trio Insight, the string sextetSuch Different Paths and a trio for violin, accordion and double bass Frozen River Flows.
At the time when she received her Grammy nomination, Dobrinka Tabakova was in Sofia to record her new work titled Fantasy Homage to Schubert. It is now in the sound archives of the Bulgarian National Radio, performed by the string section of the BNR symphony orchestra conducted by Emil Tabakov.
In recent months, the Bulgarian composer was also engaged in working on the soundtrack for a new film called "Pulse" which will premiere at the Glasgow Short Film Festival (13-16 February). The film will be screened at the opening of the forum and will then travel around other cities in the UK, and in August will be screened again in Glasgow in the cultural program of the sports games. The director of the film is from Scotland. “I am working with her for the first time and the script revolves around life in a large cosmopolitan city and how it affects people”, Dobrinka Tabakva explains. “It tackles the theme of alienation between people that can lead to serious inner conflicts and negative thoughts. The film is oriented towards different nations living together, so I wanted to include instruments uncharacteristic of the Western world. The piece is written for two pianos and percussion. I also included the gamelan - an ensemble of musical instruments typical of the region of Indonesia. I also incorporated into the music the idea of the Morse code. We live so close to each other physically, but spiritually we are so alienated that we need to send signals to each other”.
NB. This article is based on two interviews made by Milen Panayotov for the Hristo Botev programme in 2013.
