Ivo Papasov - Dance of The Falcon [2008]
 |
Clarinettist Ivo Papasov's return to the world
stage after a lengthy absence in 2004 deservedly won him the
Audience Award at the BBC World Music Awards the following year.
Hailing from Kardzali on the Bulgarian side of the Turkish border,
Papasov is of Roma (gypsy) origin and grew up under Soviet
occupation during which he was largely confined to playing at
weddings. He was soon earning the deserved applause of many and the
underserved attention of a few. In 1982 he was arrested and
sentenced to a term in a labour camp for championing un-Soviet
music, a sentence happily overturned. By the decade's end British
audiences were being introduced to his free-spirited virtuosity with
a two-album spell on Hannibal Records.
Today, Papasov has an international profile, his dazzling technique
the high point of festivals around the globe, having claimed the
main stage at WOMAD in England in 2006.
Dance of the Falcon is a long-treasured project for Papasov, a
collection of pieces each with a particular memory attached to it.
Those memories range from the nostalgic hymnal of Hubava si moya
Goro (Beautiful Forest) to the haunting, jazz-tinged romance of
Sunrise, and even the delightfully bizarre, courtesy of a cover of
The Pink Panther theme spliced through with oriental rhythms.
Papasov is a whirlwind of a musician, a technical virtuoso out of
whom spills a phenomenal approach to the clarinet, one that bubbles
and boils away with volcano-like energy and heat. It might be
stretching things to say you'll find references here to most middle-
and eastern European music traditions, but not by very much.
You don't have to be about to get married to listen to Papasov's
intoxicating collection of wedding songs, but do clear a space on
the nearest available floor and be prepared to get up and dance.
This is one of the essential summer sounds of the year.
Michael Quinn
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Licence. Originally published on BBC World Review.
Send your CD and concert reviews to
info@balkanbrassworld.com
