A pavilion near the Palace of Versailles, which served as the summer residence of three French kings - Henry IV, Louis XIV and Charles X, and today the private property of the family of a French philanthropist, is becoming the stage for several inspiring concerts with the participation of Bulgarian pianist Dilyana Hristova. The occasion for them is her personal charitable causes, for which she received the support of Charles-Eric Hoffmann from France. The two met quite by chance, the pianist tells Radio Bulgaria:

"I had the good fortune to meet Mr. Hoffman at the Easter church service in the resort town of Villars-sur-Ollon, where at that time I was playing a forgotten work by Pancho Vladigerov called Confession. He spontaneously invited me to a conversation in which he suggested that I join one of the projects of his foundation. Our negotiations lasted 6-7 months and in the end we decided to start a one-year project which is to support the cultural revival of my hometown of Samokov."

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The creation of a museum dedicated to icon painter Nikola Obrazopisov, the restoration of the monastery in Samokov, a donation to the local hospital are the goals for which the funds provided by Mr. Hoffman and collected during the concerts will be spent. The first concert is on Friday – March 21.

"On stage I will be accompanied by the young virtuoso clarinetist Piotr Dec from Poland, whom we met in Kuwait, where we played for the first time,” the pianist recalls. “A musical connection was instantly born between us. It is not easy when two people have to play together, but the truth is that with him, and with Svetlin Rusev /with whom she has a concert coming up on 17.10 this year/ everything comes absolutely naturally. The program that we will perform includes virtuoso works for both piano and clarinet, modern pieces and two, composed especially for our duo by contemporary French composer Sylvain Guinet."

Dilyana hopes that other Bulgarian musicians will also be included in the concerts planned for the end of the season:

"It is much more difficult to explain the cause that we support to a foreigner. In the case of Piotr, it is easy, since he has already been to Samokov twice," Dilyana Hristova says and specifies why the restoration of the monastery in Samokov is so important to her:

"It dates back to the time of Ottoman rule. It is very interesting that its bell tower is made of wood. About ten years ago, there was a donation that helped restore the iconostasis, but there is still much to be done on this 300-year-old building. A wonderful Sunday school could be built at the back. However, it must be in harmony and have the same appearance as the other buildings."

As for the idea of  ​​a museum dedicated to Nikola Obrazopisov (1827-1915), it is also not accidental, as the name is emblematic of Samokov:

"Samokov is the city of Zahari Zograf, Stanislav Dospevski, Nikola Obrazopisov - famous icon painters from the National Revival period who left a lasting mark on Orthodox icon painting. Some time ago I found out that there are icons of his left behind in the Samokov repositories and after their restoration, we have the idea to exhibit them. It is best for this to happen in Belyova Church /2 km. from the city/, as the murals there are also his work. It was built during the Ottoman period, which is why it is dug into the ground. The temple has already been restored several times. Behind it there is a room that could easily be turned into a museum."

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Once it is ready, Dilyana Hristova will add to the museum collection a small number of paintings and icons created by her father Asen Gitsov, who was also an icon painter and zealously observed his tradition of painting only in the temple of God. His work includes the frescoes of the churches "St. Sedmochislenitsi", "St. Simeon" in the Simeonovo quarter of Sofia, a small Orthodox temple-chapel "To All Bulgarian Martyrs", located in the park of the National Palace of Culture, the small chapel in the Troyan Monastery and others.

Publication in English: Al. Markov

Photos: personal archive of Dilyana Hristova, BTA