Great success for Classic FM Radio’s choir and orchestra under the baton of Ennio Morricone

The famous Italian Maestro and the Bulgarian musicians were called back for three encores

December 11, 2013, Sofia
The Bulgarian debut concert of great Italian composer Ennio Morricone was held last night at Arena Armeets. The Maestro demonstrated his amazing energy and stamena, as he worked all afternoon monitoring the progress of the sound engineers in the hall, in addition to leading the dress rehearsal of the orchestra and choir. The concert began later than announced. At 8:30PM, a hall of some 9,000 listeners heard some of the most beautiful and timeless melodies, composed by Morricone. His musical images came to life through the moving interpretations of the Classic FM Radio orchestra and choir. Unforgettable moments from film masterpieces, such as The Untouchables, Once Upon a Time in America, The Legend of 1900, The Good, The Bad, And The Ugly, Once Upon a Time in the West, Cinema Paradiso, and Malena, among others, sounded one right after the other.
Italian soloists – soprano Susanna Rigacci, pianist Gilda Butta, and guitarist Rocco Zifarelli – brought a wonderful flavor to the concert. Kaval player Theodosii Spassov was featured with a kaval solo from the film, Nostromo, to which he recorded the soundtrack in the early 90’s. The concert’s triumphant finale included three scenes from the film, The Mission, in which both the Classic FM Radio orchestra and choir demonstrated their high professionalism. The continued applause brought back the Italian Maestro for three encores, the first one being the catchy Abolisson from the film, Queimada, followed by two of the best pieces of the concert – Ecstasy of the Gold from The Good, The Bad, And The Ugly, and the Finale from The Mission.
With this event, the musicians from the Classic FM Radio orchestra added another great name – that of Ennio Morricone – to their impressive list of classical music stars, with whom they have performed in recent years, such as Joshua Bel, Nigel Kennedy, Pinchas Zukerman, and Shlomo Mintz, to name a few.