"Every prelude by Debussy is a perfect musical world" - this is how young Bulgrian pianist Emanuil Ivanov answers the question about his favorite part of the musical program that he prepares for the audience in Sofia. He has been working on Claude Debussy's preludes since he was a child, and now he is presenting them for the first time in a concert - on November 18, part of the autumn edition of the "Culturama at the Museum - 2025" festival.

Emanuil Ivanov studied piano first in his hometown of Pazardzhik, then - with the famous Bulgarian pianist and pedagogue Prof. Atanas Kurtev. He graduated from the Royal Conservatory in Birmingham with a full scholarship. He has given concerts in France, Japan, Italy, Germany, Austria, Cyprus, South Africa, Great Britain, Poland. He is a winner of awards from the international competitions "Alessandro Casagrande", "Scriabin – Rachmaninoff", "Liszt – Bartok", "Young Virtuosi", "Dinu Lipati", the distinctions "Musicians’ Company Silver Medal" and "Carnwath Piano Scholarship" (Great Britain), as well as the national awards of Bulgaria "Crystal Lyre" and "Young Musician of the Year".

"I started learning them around the age of 12. I have always had a special affinity for Debussy. I feel very comfortable in his music. I don't know what it is due to - whether it is the way he writes for the piano, or his harmonic language. Maybe it is a combination of many factors. But these pieces have been with me for a long time. I have played a lot of them in different projects, but never the entire cycle, so for me this is a personal premiere. Each piece brings its own world, atmosphere and character. I am not sure if I have a favorite prelude, because all 24 are absolutely priceless masterpieces. Each one of them contains a complete, ideal musical world. If I had to choose, it would probably be "The Hills of Anacapri" from the first volume, which is extremely beautiful, with such a bright and impressive freshness in itself. Every time I play Debussy I discover something new. It is simply his innovation in the harmonies, in the "texture" of the music, cannot fail to surprise. There is always something that makes you say to yourself: "This was written at the very beginning of the 20th century, and it still sounds modern today!"

Photos: sofiaphilharmonic.com, private archive (Teodor Sokolov), concorsobusoni.it

Author: Teodor Sokolov, student at Music Journalist course at Lyubomir Pipkov National School of Music in Sofia 

Edited by Elena Karkalanova
English publication: R. Petkova