The London Bulgarian Choir - Prema Arts Centre, Uley

Tuesday 21st April 2009

Crackerjack rating: 9 / 10.

Well this was something different.

Led by their dynamic native Bulgarian singer, Dessislava Stefanova, the 15 men and women in the choir presented a colourful sight in their national costumes.

And from the start the sounds we heard were in striking contrast with those of most English choirs.

No faces were buried in scores for every singer acted out each song’s story with facial and bodily gestures, not least the director who was energy personified throughout the evening. Every song was sung in Bulgarian or in a dialect.

It was good to see a full house in Uley’s converted chapel which is now a thriving arts centre.

The audience has a close relationship with the performers helped by the hexagonal shape of the performing area.

We quickly became engaged with these likeable performers who performed with gusto, obvious enjoyment and considerable exuberance throughout a taxing show.

To my Western ears there were times when the sounds produced were rather on the strident side but doubtless these were in the cause of authenticity for who knows in Gloucestershire what sounds the Bulgarian peasants make when singing their rich collection of folk songs?

There was no printed programme so we depended on Miss Stefanova’s introductions. There was a wedding song with the bride bidding farewell to her mother, which veered on the raucous; a young woman lamenting that her parents were urging marriage before she was ready; two songs were about hand-knitted socks – apparently a sign of true love in Bulgaria.

And there were many other colourful and arresting songs. Interspersed in all the energetic music-making were two lovely (and welcome) chants, one by a Bulgarian monk in the 13th century on Mount Athos which was sung movingly by the six men. There was even a freedom fighters’ song in which the Turks were the foes.

The evening ended with many in the audience enthusiastically joining these indefatigable performers in a Bulgarian dance. Nobody wanted to go home.

Donald Hollins