The Sofia Philharmonic Orchestra was established as an institution and a structure after several transformations. The first orchestra was formed by initiative of Sasha Popov – at the time he was a professor of violin at the Music Academy. At the end of 1928, with the cooperation of the Academy’s rector Dimitar Hadzhigeorgiev, the Academic Symphony Orchestra was founded. The orchestra , consisting of 65 musicians, was approved by the Ministry of Education. There were 32 students, 28 soloists and pedagogues, and 5 outside musicians. The orchestra’s concertmaster was Mihail Balkanski. Its first rehearsal was held on December 18 of the same year; S.Popov was the conductor and its first concerts were given in Plovdiv and Stara Zagora in May 1929. In August the orchestra took part in the Varna Summer Music Celebrations (now known as Varna Summer). Over the years the orchestra has been a cradle for musicians who have later become important figures in Bulgarian music life: Vasil Stefanov, Vasil Chernaev, Petar Hristoskov, Stefan Sugarev, Stefan Magnev, Atanas Margaritov, Phillip Kutev, Dimitar Obreshkov, Marin Goleminov, etc.

 

 

 

 

The Sofia Philharmonic has recorded approximately 25 instrumental concertos by Bach, Telemann, Tessarini, Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven, Liszt, Paganini, Tchaikovski, Brahms, Rachmaninov, Stravinsky, Bartok and Jolivet. These works were performed by Anton Dikov, Nikolai Evrov, Marta Deyanova, Milena Mollova, Zheny Zaharieva, Georgi Badev, Mincho Minchev, Yuri Boukoff, Yoko Sato, Erick Friedemann, and the piano duos of Julia and Konstantin Ganev, and Hans and Kurt Scmidt. Operas include recitals by the Bulgarian singers Nicolai Ghiaurov, Nicola Ghiuselev, Ghena Dimitrova, Anna Tomova-Sintova, Raina Kabaivanska, Alexandrina Milcheva, Stoyan Popov, and Dimiter Petkov. The Sofia Philharmonic has made complete recordings of the operas “Tosca” and “Madam Butterfly” by Puccini commissioned by the “Frequenz” Company- Rome, conducted by Gabriele Bellini with the participation of soloists from ” La Scala”, Milano.