A duo of Bulgarian artists – violist Rumen Cvetkov and pianist Ludmila Angelov – will perform virtuoso works during a recital at the National Forum of Music. Starting from those written by the greatest Romantics – Franz Schubert, Robert Schumann and Johannes Brahms – to the works by their fellow Bulgarian artist Pancho Vladigerov and by George Enescu, born in Romania.

The Sonata in A minor “Arpeggione” D 821 by Franz Schubert was written for an instrument that was hugely popular at the beginning of the 19th century. The arpeggione is a six-string instrument invented by Viennese luthiers Johann Georg Stauffer and Peter Teufelsdorfer. Formally resembling something between a guitar and a cello, it intrigued composers with its sound. The sonata was originally dedicated to Vincenz Schusterz, an arpeggione virtuoso, but this evening it will be performed in a version for viola and piano 

“And they all lived happily ever after” – could be the ending of the Märchenbilder op. 113 by Robert Schumann. Composed in 1851, the work is a collection of four fairy-tale images with a charming aura. Although the composer did not suggest any specific titles in the score, the most likely references are to the long-haired Rapunzel, the cunning Rumplestiltskin and the Sleeping Beauty. Not much later, the Violin Sonata in A minor “F-A-E” was created, a joint composition by Schumann, Johannes Brahms and Albert Dietrich, which was supposed to be a tribute to the eminent violinist Joseph Joachim. The first movement was composed by Dietrich, the second in the form of an intermezzo and the finale by Schumann, the third, a scherzo, was assigned to Brahms. However, the common element of each of them is a recurring motif based on the sounds f, a and e, derived from the Romantic motto: “Frei aber einsam” (“free but lonely”). 

The concert will end with the Song from the Bulgarian Suite op. 21 no. 2, a gem of Balkan music, and the Concertstück by George Enescu – a composition with a virtuoso viola part, referencing rhapsody, Impressionism and Romanian folk music.