The Sofia Opera stages "The Hermit of Rila" at the "St. Alexander Nevsky" Square – on three consecutive evenings, on 26, 27 and 28 July, the opera told BTA.
The musical poem by Father Kiril Popov is dedicated to the 100th anniversary of the consecration of the St. Alexander Nevsky Patriarchal Cathedral. There is one saint who most embodies the idea of holiness in Orthodox Bulgarians – the Wonderworker of Rila, St. John of Rila. He is the model, the icon for every believer of our country, the opera said.
Director is Plamen Kartaloff. Composer is Father Kiril Popov, orchestration – Georgi Strezov, poetic texts – Tihomir Pavlov, conductors – Metropolitan Cyprian of Stara Zagora and Igor Bogdanov, chorus master – Violeta Dimitrova, stage design – Nela Stoyanova. Consultant, compiler of the synopsis and other texts is Assoc. Prof. Dr. Pavel Pavlov. The consultant is Bishop Polycarp of Belogradchik. The translation from Church Slavonic is by Prof. Dr. Ivan Zhelev. The leader of the children's vocal-theatre formation is Dimitar Konstantsaliev. The costumes are by Marta Mironska.
With the participation of Irinei Konstantinov, Atanas Mladenov, Angel Hristov, Ivan Radev, Dimitar Stanchev, Nikolay Petrov, Veselin Mihaylov, Stefan Vladimirov, Ivan Aleksandrov, Veleslav Ninov, Angel Antonov, Aleksandar Georgiev, Rosen Nenov, Nikolay Pavlov.
The content of the poetic texts is by a famous intellectual of our past. In 1937, the Bulgarian public figure, writer, poet and ethnographer Tihomir Pavlov (1880-1937) created and published his last poetic work, "The Hermit of Rila", based on the life of the All-Bulgarian saint Rev. John of Rila the Wonderworker.
POET, WRITER, PUBLICIST, ETHNOGRAPHER
Aleksandar Aleksandrov Pavlov is the author's birth name, known by the pseudonyms Tihomir Pavlov and Tihomir Toshkov, is a popular writer, poet, publicist, ethnographer of the early 20th century. He graduated in law at the Faculty of Law of Sofia University. He made his debut in 1898, when he was only 18, with the poem "The Orphan". He also published other poems, short stories and novels about contemporary life. The distinctive feature of his work are books with a plot of Bulgarian history or historical journalism. His dramatic poem "Strahil Voyvoda – Patron of the Oppressed" served as the libretto for Petko Naumov's opera of the same name.
The preface to his book "The Bulgarians in Moravia and Timočka Krajina" is by Stefan Mladenov, who points out the importance of this work for the preservation of the Bulgarian identity in Moravia and Timočka Krajina. The book, like most of his other work, is a study of the historical past of Pomerania and Timočka Krajina, supported by an analysis of the language, folklore and lifestyle of the population.
From the dedications in Tihomir Pavlov's books, it is clear that he had close friendships with well-known Bulgarian poets, and the illustrations in his works are the work of well-known Bulgarian artists.
He joined IMORO and briefly led a detachment in Adrianople Thrace. Then he moved to Bitola, where he led a socialist group close to the Bulgarian Workers' Social Democratic Party (narrow socialists). Soon after, however, the authorities got on his trail, he was arrested and externed back to Bulgaria.
Tihomir Pavlov was on the editorial staff of the magazine "Lyudokos", along with the intellectuals Raiko Alexiev and Yordan Slivopolski. His friends were Dimitar Podvarzvachov, Stoyan Chilingirov, Georgi Raichev, Toma Izmirliev. He supported Raiko Alexiev in the publication of his weekly newspaper "Shturets" (1832-1944). Another of his famous associates was Yordan Slivopolsky (1884-1968), a writer and publisher who studied financial sciences in New York. He also worked in the Bulgarian legation in Washington.
Tihomir Pavlov's earthly journey ended at the age of 57 in Sofia.
A NEW LIFE FOR THE POEM
In 2022, our contemporary chaplain, composer, conductor and teacher Father Kiril Popov found Tihomir Pavlov's poem in his personal archive and received musical inspiration.
Dr. Kiril Popov was born on 5 December 1955. He graduated from the Sofia Theological Seminary in 1975 and from the Theological Academy in 1981. In 1982, by decision of the Holy Synod of the BOC, he was sent as a postgraduate student to the Moscow Theological Academy, where he specialized in choral conducting, studied harmony and composition individually with the distinguished Russian composer, musicologist and pedagogue Vladimir Martinov, and defended his doctoral dissertation on "The Development of the Eighth Voice in the Russian and Bulgarian Orthodox Churches".
At the end of 1984, he graduated from the conducting class at the Moscow Theological Academy with a major concert of the mixed choir at the class and was awarded the distinction of "Golden Cameron". After his return to Bulgaria, he taught Eastern Church singing (1985-1989) and Choral singing (1991-2000) at the Sofia Theological Seminary, conducted the choir at the Sveta Nedelya church. In 1989-1990 he worked as a research assistant at the Church Historical and Archives Institute of the Bulgarian Patriarchate.
In 1987-1988 he underwent post-graduate training in choral conducting at the Bulgarian State Conservatory (now the Prof. Pancho Vladigerov National Academy of Music – Sofia) in the conducting class of prof. Vasil Arnaudov. This training culminated in a one-hour exam-concert on 11 November 1988 in the Great Hall of the Conservatory with a performance of church hymns by the mixed choir at the St. Alexander Nevsky Patriarchal Cathedral. Since 17 March 1986, he has been conductor of the Sofia Priests' Choir. In the summer of 2000, he accepted the clerical ministry. Since November 1, 2013 he has been a parish priest at the Metropolitan Cathedral of St. Nicholas Nevsky. He has been a member of the parish council of the Sveta Nedelya Church in Sofia.
As a conductor, he has released recordings on gramophone records and a total of eight CDs with the Sofia Priests' Choir (1992, 1999, 2010, 2012), the Male Choir at the St. Nedelya Church (1999, 2002), the St. John of Rila the Wonderworker (1994) and the St. Cyril and Methodius Equal Apostles Male Choir (1997). He composed and arranged more than 100 church hymns and secular songs. He has given concerts in Bulgaria and abroad with various choirs. He is also engaged in musicological and editorial activities. He has made numerous appearances as a music producer, music arranger and performer in CD and DVD recordings on church themes. The first part of a collection of his compositions, “Orthodox Choral Works”, was published in 2012, and Part two in 2020. He is a laureate of national and international competitions for composers. At the end of 2012 he was accepted as a member of the Union of Bulgarian Composers.
He was awarded the "Reverend Sergius of Radonezh" Order of the Russian Orthodox Church (third degree, 2014) and the St. Kliment Ohridski Order of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church (first degree, 2016).