Vocalise for Viola and Mixed Choir

In the current concert, Tabakov presents relatively short works to accompany the composition of large-scale and difficult opuses. Vocalise for solo viola and mixed choir was written in 2012, and three years later the composer reworked the choral parts for string orchestra. In 2016, during the guest appearance of Yuri Bashmet and the Soloists of Moscow at the Varna Summer International Music Festival, Tabakov provided the score, which was prepared in a few hours and performed as the "encore" of the concert. Tabakov, who was among the audience, was invited on stage to conduct the premiere of the revised version. The music is constructed from the effect of the orchestral groups successively joining in as if in a spiral, gravitating around a melodised core played by the viola. In the preliminary conception, today's performance of Vocalise was to be the premiere of the original version for viola and chorus. But the first performance took place on 14 September by the Gabrovo Chamber Orchestra under the baton of Ivan Stoyanov with the choir and soloist Maria Valchanova.