Search - Ivan Spassov :: Aishinka

Better than Le Mystere

Dean Georgiev | Berlin | 02/02/2003

(5 out of 5 stars)

"After Le Mystere des Voix Bulgares made a Bulgarian
a capella woman's choir an international favorite
"sound" about fifteen years ago, it has been hard to sift through all of the sequels and imitations. Luckily, this CD is neither. "Aishinka" features two female choirs, one a folk choir and the other a classical choir, performing original songs by Ivan Spassov, one of Bulgaria's most important composers of the 2nd half of the 20th century. The sound is recognizably Bulgarian and the music is very close in spirit and content to the arranged Bulgarian folk music of the "Le Mystere" collections. But these are songs found on no other CD, and the choirs both worked closely with the composer at the Plovdiv academy to make this definitive CD of his most hauntingly beautiful music."