/ world today news/ Bulgarian culture needs not only finances, but also serious media support
I cannot understand the cultural politics of most of our media after the change. Before 1989, they were stiff, censored, but still, there was something good in them – they respected serious art, valued high achievements, valuable artists and events. He adhered to professionalism and self-activity / in the bad sense of the word/ was not glorified as it is today. And that cannot be denied. They primarily covered major musical and theatrical events, important books, exhibitions, performances, and concerts. Predominance was given to serious art, to artistic music, to great cinema and theater. The audience was educated. Authoritative critics reviewed and commented and their word was heard. And the creators and institutes themselves always need the word of criticism. Because without criticism there is simply no normal development. I remember that, although very rarely, there were some occasional artists as well. For example, Venko Markovski’s daughter, Sultana, made her debut with the Ruse Philharmonic, and after a rather bad start, at one point she stopped, scattered the sheet music on the podium and could not continue. The next day the case was commented on in the press and the career of this pianist ended before it had begun. The well-known Alipi Naydenov conducted the Sofia Philharmonic Orchestra unsuccessfully. A negative review appeared in the press, and he was no longer allowed to the desk of our first orchestra. And now? Now there is simply no criticism, no one to assess the cultural facts for real.
The media has completely given up on critics. Especially in recent years, things have radically changed. Serious and significant publications disappeared – the state simply did not support them. “Literary Forum”, “Century 21”, “Culture”, “Bulgarian Music”, “Cinematic Art”, “LIC”, “Chronicles” and dozens of other publications are gone. The Gerber mayors of Varna, Burgas, Ruse and Plovdiv liquidated the magazines “Prostori”, “Trakia”, “More” and “Brod”. Very few publications remained, many electronic sites appeared. Unfortunately, in most of them, although they claim to be “cultural”, there is a preponderance of mass culture, Hollywood, foreign artists and writers, low genres, even marginal phenomena, and they are often declared to be “events” , and people with dubious qualities – for “stars”. There are already quite a few “legends”, “celebrities”, “phenomena”. Many reporters and editors cannot distinguish the real from the fake, they are able to define, for example, the conductor X. with two purchased diplomas, who has proven his talentlessness, as the “new Emil Chakarov” or the “Bulgarian Karayan”. Some of them are so ignorant that they confuse “staging” with “performance”, “opera” with “operetta”, misspell the names of composers and world-famous artists and musicians – and this is a regular practice.
For most media, great art is “boring work“. They don’t reflect it, or if they do, they do it in a distorted way. Well, there are exceptions, but they are too few..” Some time ago, in “Trud” I read an article about a performance of the ballet “Don Quixote” in Sofia with a great ballerina of ours after her triumphant tours around the world. At this performance she momentarily tripped and fell, but immediately continued as she had begun: brilliantly. However, the article focuses not on her magnificent performance, but on the moment of her fall: “With a bloody nose, Masha Ilieva danced the performance.” That was the title and not a word about her great art, about her world successes, about the role of Kitri… All the events of our cultural life are presented in this distorted and supposedly sensational way. The scandal, the gossip, the intimate detail is sought, and this replaces the real, the big, the significant. Because, according to some, this should have had an “interesting” effect. Interesting or boring?!
And one more thing: in most media it is reversed too much attention to only one group of artists and musicians, at the expense of the others. If one writes about opera, it is mainly about Kabaivanska and a few other names: Kaludi Kaludov, Veselina Katsarova and two or three others. The others are simply out of the media’s view. The fact that the Sofia Opera has a whole group of first-class singers is not at all interesting. The same goes for the theater. Kurkinski, Kamen Donev, Stefan Danailov, Lolova, Mutafova and several others are constantly under the lens of the media. The rest are neither written nor spoken about. Not to mention those who are not in Sofia, but in the big cities. Almost nothing is written about them, and about cultural life even in our largest centers. Even the absurd expression “non-capital theaters and orchestras” came out. Yes, with our abnormal development, everything is “metropolitan” and “extra-metropolitan”. An absurdity, unknown in the world! The writer of these lines, with efforts, publishes texts for the most serious, on a European level, festival “March Music Days”. With difficulty, I convinced some editors to cover the great cultural event of 2018 – the production of the classic Bulgarian opera “Ioannina’s Nine Brothers” by Lyubomir Pipkov, brilliantly directed by Acad. Kartalov. Thus, the only opera forum, the one in Stara Zagora, is also hardly written or spoken about. More important are: Azis, Gloria, Hilda, Maria, Ketsa, Lily, Crisco. We already know their molars! But not the wonderful opera prima donnas: Radostina Nikolaeva, Tsvetana Bandalovska, Gabriela Georgieva, the tenors Kamen Chanev, Daniel Damyanov, Kosta Andreev, Martin Iliev, the bass Martin Tsonev, the baritones Biser Georgiev, Atanas Mladenov… The whole world should know about them today Bulgaria, as you used to know who Julia Viner, Nadia Afeyan, Lyubomir Bodurov or Asen Selimski is. Moreover, everyone in Bulgaria had heard the names of even Penka Marinova, Kiril Krastev and Nikolay Zdravkov, not from the capital, but from the Ruse Opera, because Radio Sofia presented all our good singers, opera houses and orchestras. Yes, before 1989, the media presented every soloist, director, conductor, every good artist, not only from the capital, but also from the country. And now even the national radio, which is called to present the Bulgarian culture, is being staged. Even his cultural program “Hristo Botev” already broadcasts much less classical music than colorful hits.
Recently, two Bulgarians – the artist Theo Ushev and the actor Dimitar Marinov – were successful in Hollywood. The first with an Oscar nomination for his animated film, and the second – as a participant with a small role in a not particularly brilliant feature film that received this award. Both deserve congratulations. But there was too much media hype about it. Our inferiority complex came calling. It was as if it was an incredible, extraordinary success, more significant than the successes of the diva of La Scala and the Metropolitan Opera, New York, Sonia Yoncheva, or the performances of the violinist Svetlin Rusev and the pianist Evgeni Bojanov on the world’s concert podiums. But we are talking about Hollywood – that means it was the pinnacle of art! And the fact that dozens of our first-class singers sing on all the world’s stages, that there is almost no large orchestra without our musicians / in quite large orchestras, such as those in Hamburg, Vienna or New York, we have Bulgarian concertmasters!/, yes, this is “second-hand” news for our media, if it is any news at all. Not to mention successful productions, concerts and festivals in Varna, Ruse, Pleven, Pazardzhik, Stara Zagora, Plovdiv, Burgas, Dobrich, Balchik – they are simply out of sight. And even the Sofia Music Weeks. Even BNT does not notice them. Hollywood, jazz, pop, rock and above all chalga are important. Cultural pages and sections begin and end with them. Here I can’t ignore the bad role of the Slavi Show, which is watched by the youth and instead of educating them and offering them culture, it simplifies them with cynical skits and ugly music.
But why wonder? Our policy is already like that. After a music textbook we see a portrait of Itso Stoichkov next to Verdi, and for Mozart there are two lines and whatnot: “German/ not Austrian!/ composer who wrote symphonies.” Just that. Opry did not write, although he left us 26 – out of a total of 600 opuses…What are we talking about?!
Lubomir Pipkov’s masterpiece “Yoanni’s Nine Brothers” –
on the Sofia stage – the cultural event of 2018
Two eminent Bulgarians with worldwide fame
at the Ruse festival Svetlin Rusev and Emil Tabakov – 2018
A theatrical event from this month – the premiere of the play “Bread in the Pocket” with young artists – by Matei Vishniek on the stage of the centennial theater Sliven, currently one of the best in our country
#media #real #values
