Review from RootsWorld

For the past 25 years producer Lauren Brody has been studying the development of Bulgarian music both inside and outside the country. In 1990, Brody spent a year in Bulgaria doing historical research and transferring material from original 78's with funding from a Fulbright grant. This CD covers quite an array of music, featuring performances of traditional vocal and instrumental folk music from urban and rural Bulgaria. Mita Stoicheva with the Ivan Kavaldzhiev orchestra, gives a stunning vocal performance of "Trima bratya dyulgeri," well-known as the ballad of the walled-in bride. Solo pieces on this recording, like the very staccato kaval (flute) piece played by Tsvyatko Blagoev, have a very powerful presence in the solo setting. The rough recording quality gives the music extra character and a feeling of truly listening to something of the past. The extensive liner notes are a treasure, helping to make this a fine package. - Trevor Healy

and Stacy Phillips adds:
This is a collection of traditional Bulgarian music recorded from 1927-42. Since this is pre-Soviet state programmed "socialist art-folk", it is a chance to hear the real thing (even if heavily tilted toward urban folk performers). It is produced by Lauren Brody, ace accordionist in the klezmer scene, and an expert in Bulgarian music. She contributes informed notes about the history of the music, song lyrics and short biographies of some of the performers.

You will hear a potpourri of bagpipes, accordions, clarinets, oboe-like reeds, trumpets, end-blown flutes, heart-tugging rubato ballads, seizure-inducing crooked meters, and even a straight-ahead waltz and 2/4 dance. Forget Les Mystere de Voix Bulgare, this is the real McCoy. . . Er, the real Boris. - Stacy Phillips

See also:

Outsinging the Nightingale Lost Treasures of Bulgarian Music 1905-1950 The Sound of the Balkans Remastered from Original 78s "JSP77134"

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