No sooner than it was founded, the Dimov Quartet made a name for itself with its punctilious musical style, earning the admiration of audiences in Bulgaria and abroad. Over sixty whole years the Dimov Quartet has won numerous awards at prestigious international competitions and has toured more than 25 countries on four continents. Prof. Dimo Dimov:
“At the Bulgarian National Radio I was presented a collection of titles, recordings we had made at the BNR and the list had more than 500 works in it. I couldn't believe it at first. More than 500 recordings! A fact that speaks eloquently enough of the BNR's interest in our work through the years, of the interest Bulgarian composers have in our quartet - I counted no less than 30 works composed exclusively for us. Interestingly enough, these works are performed to this day. And record-holder in this respect is Marin Goleminov's “Microquartet” which he wrote especially for us. To my mind he chose the format well - every part is no more than two minutes long, synthesized, featuring many Bulgarian motifs without giving any literal citations. And each part is dedicated to one of us. This is something unique. I shall never forget when we performed his concert for quartet and chamber orchestra and when we said to him: “Prof. Goleminov, you wanted to put together two string orchestras with no percussion or brass?” he said: “I tried to paint a picture of white on white.” His 8th Quartet is, again, dedicated to the formation and it is truly magnificent.”
Besides being the central figure in the quartet, Dimo Dimov has also lectured at the Music Academy, of which he later became rector, he has been minister of culture, member of parliament, ambassador to the Kingdom of Denmark. But playing with the quartet is “a way of life” for him, so in 2006 he put it together again with new members - Emil Boshev - violin, Ognyan Konstantinov - viola and Hristo Tanev - cello. But after all these years devoted to music, Prof. Dimov is skeptical about the future of music in Bulgaria:
“Bulgaria still has two professional quartets, but I am not optimistic about the future of chamber music in the country. Economic conditions are dire, and even if there was a minister of culture wanting to render substantial financial support to a given orchestra, that would not be possible. Still, the young must love their art, they must play chamber music. To my mind chamber music is the most distinguished form of musicianship, it is the apex which they must endeavor to reach!”
The audio features the following works performed by the Dimov Quartet:
- Beethoven, Op. 18 No. 3, Allegro;
- Marin Goleminov, String Quartet No. 8 Allegro Moderato;
- Verdi, String Quartet in E Minor, Part 3.
English version: Milena Daynova
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