In honour of the 60th birthday of Rumen Balyozov, Gega New music house has released some of his works – pieces for violoncello and for piano. The composer is also a notable cello player, thus it is not surprising that this instrument plays an important role in his works.
Rumen Balyozov graduated from the National Academy of Music “Prof. Pancho Vladigerov”, where he studied violoncello in the class of Prof. K. Popov and composition with Prof. D. Tapkoff. Since 1974 he has been working as a cellist in the Symphony Orchestra of the Bulgarian National Radio. His works cover the following genres: symphonies, opera, ballet, pieces for symphony and string orchestras, chamber music, soundtracks to films, TV and theatre productions. A part of them have been recorded for the Bulgarian National Radio, Bulgarian National Television, Radio Bratislava and Radio Köln (WDR). They have been performed in Europe and America. He likes to experiment, to employ different genre approaches and compositional techniques. His works are ingenious and original, frequently inspired by his famous sense of humour.
The pieces included in this release have been recorded by the cellist Ventseslav Nikolov and the pianist Radoslav Nikolov.
Ventseslav Nikolov is a professor at the National Academy of Music in Sofia. His art is well-known to the audience in Europe, North and Central America. He is often a guest performer at prestigious symphony orchestras.
Radoslav Nikolov belongs to the younger generation of musicians, yet he has won numerous awards at national and international piano competitions and has also given concerts in Japan, Germany, Italy, Hungary, Poland, Austria, The Netherlands, Czech Republic, Switzerland, Russia.
WORKS FOR VIOLONCELLO & FOR PIANO · RUMEN BALYOZOV
Track Listing
[1] Wedding capriccio for violoncello 5’12’’
Bestiary for violoncello and piano
[2] Monkeys 3’23’’
[3] Camel 3’28’’
[4] Antelopes 1’40’’
[5] Crocodile 2’50’’
[6] Bat 3’59’’
[7] Hippopotamus 2’32’’
[8] Sloth 1’57’’
[9] Penguin 3’38’’
Two children’s stories for piano
[10] Very funny 1’13’’
[11] Very scary 1’42’’
“Welcome, 20th century” for violoncello
(Ventseslav Nikolov version)
[12] Prologue 1’18’’
[13] Jazz 4’05’’
[14] Dodecaphony 3’13’’
[15] Modernism 2’41’’
[16] Epilogue 2’10’’
[17] Capriccio on another occasion 4’09’’
“Moz-art a la…” for violoncello
[18] “Moz-art a la Schnittke” for piano 10’36’’
[19] inVENTSIons for violoncello and piano 7’41’’
[20] Capriccio on an occasion for violoncello 4’11’’
(Happy birthday to… )
Total : 71’36’’
Participating
Ventseslav Nikolov, violoncello
Radoslav Nikolov, piano