A grand musical event - three orchestras perform "Carmina Burana" at National Palace of Culture

On February 17, Hall 1 of the National Palace of Culture (NDK) in Sofia will host a grand musical event—unprecedented in its scale in Bulgaria—the performance of Carmina Burana by Carl Orff.

Three orchestras—the Sofia Philharmonic, the Philharmonic Orchestra of North Macedonia, and the State Symphony Orchestra of Thessaloniki—will come together on one stage for the first time.

They will be joined by the National Philharmonic Choir "Svetoslav Obretenov" and three soloists—one from Bulgaria, one from North Macedonia, and one from Greece.

The Sofia Philharmonic has dubbed this concert "Epic Carmina Burana," and it truly is epic.

You realise this the moment you try to take in the vast orchestra on stage and then feel with every fiber of your being the sound created by these 240 musicians.

"Since Bulgaria and North Macedonia, North Macedonia and Greece, Bulgaria and Greece have always had special relations, we, the conductors of the three orchestras, decided to show that we can actually work wonderfully together. We need to show that something coming from the Balkans can serve as an example for all of Europe, that we can work together, that we can rebuild the bridges that seem to have disappeared, and that we can reverse a very frightening process—the process of division," said Nayden Todorov.

The initial choice for the piece was Gustav Mahler's second symphony, but then another message turned out to be more fitting.

"Carmina Burana has another idea, which is very important to us—namely, the wheel of fate. What is down today is up tomorrow, what is up today may be down tomorrow. And this is our message. We should not break apart, because the wheel continues to turn," added Nayden Todorov.

This will be the first time that Nayden Todorov conducts three orchestras. He challenges himself but builds on the successful experience left by a great conductor.

"After World War II, the building of the Philharmonie in Berlin was destroyed, with only one wall remaining. At the suggestion of the next conductor of the orchestra, Herbert von Karajan, a new building for the Berlin Philharmonic was constructed, much larger both in terms of the hall and stage. As a result, Herbert von Karajan, for decades, doubled the size of the orchestra for most of the works performed. We have taken advantage of this know-how from the Berlin Philharmonic and Herbert von Karajan. At the moment, everything written in the score is being performed absolutely exactly, but doubled," said Nayden Todorov.

After the epic concert in Sofia, the performance will continue in Skopje and Thessaloniki.