The Washington International Piano Arts Council in association with the Koschiusko Foundation presented a magnificent concert by Pianist Krassimira Jordan, who’s recital brought her audience to their feet in rousing applause. The concert was held at the Kosciusko foundation’s headquarters in Washington DC.
Ms. Jordan, artist in residence at Baylor University, performed a program of works by Debussy, Liszt, Leonard Bernstein and the Bulgarian composers Pantcho Vladigerov and Alexander Vladigerov. Well known for her performances of the great “tour de force” pieces of Franz Liszt, Ms. Jordan also gave a brilliant performance of works by composers from the country of her birth, Bulgaria.
With a clear and limpid tonality, Ms. Jordan created a cascading sounds of music, with the suppleness that evokes the aura of a ballet dancer as she performed with great energy and strength. Such was the character of her interpretation of Franz Listz ‘s Spanish Rhapsody. In presenting flowers to Ms. Jordan at the end of the performance, Portia Davidson, Executive Board Member of the Washington International Piano Arts council exclaimed, “God really waved his magic wand when he made you.”
Of particular interest on the program were the two works by Pantcho Vladigerov and his son Alexander Vladigerov. Considered the father of modern Bulgarian classical music, Pantcho Vladigerov was in the forefront (similar to Bela Bartok in Hungary) in creating a music that utilizes folk music idioms to create a Bulgarian musical identity in the classical music genre. The lush appealing sonorities of both these composers, in the style of Central European composers such as Dohnanyi and Russian composers such as Khatchaturian, deserve a wider audience .
Bulgaria’s music occupies a very special place in the centuries old volatile history in the preservation of its national liberation. Indeed, by virtue of its geopolitical history its has had to struggle to maintain its cultural identity. In quoting from the noted ethnomusicologist Raina Katsarova,”Bulgarian folk music ….. has also been a shield against encroachments upon the spiritual freedom of the Bulgarian people, their support and comfort in the dark days of slavery, their passive resistance to subjugation. Though frequently threatened, it remained wholly unshaken in its music and in its language.”
Indeed, the continued preservation and greater dissemination of Bulgaria’s piano classical musical repertoire is assured in the “extraodinary hands” of such an artist as Krassimira Jordan.
Ms. Jordan serves as the Artistic Director of the Vienna International Piano Competition for Amateurs. Its counterpart in the United States, the Washington International Piano Arts Council founded by John and Chateau Gardecki and co-hosts of Ms. Jordan’s concert at the Koschiusko Foundation continues to be a dynamic force in celebrating the many musical traditions throughout the world to promote international understanding through the arts.
