Music from the Pirin Mountains (1990)
26 tracks, 70 minutes
Spotify · iTunes
The first line of the AllMusic review for this album says ‘The Bisserov Sisters are to Le Mystère de Voix Bulgares as the New York Dolls are to Blink-182,’ and...I don’t really get the rock music references, sorry. And to be honest, I don’t know all that much about Bulgarian music either, so we’re off to a good start. But I do know that the Bisserov Sisters know their stuff, and I know they made a great record here.
The Bisserovs and their instrumentalists, the Trio Karadzovska, present traditional folkloric music from the south-west corner of Bulgaria, and especially their small village of Pirin. Their music provides a fascinating snapshot of all the historical pathways and cultural connections of their region. Bits and pieces of their music reveal shared heritage with the Balkans and Russia, Greece, Italy and Turkey; the bulgars of klezmer obviously owe a lot too.
They manage to cram in 26 tracks into just 70 minutes of CD, including an epic eight-minute medley at the end, so a lot of the pieces are quite short – right down to 29 seconds at the shortest. This many pieces means that the ensemble get to show off many different types of repertoire, from the iconic tight vocal polyphony to all-instrumental dances and special showcases of individual instruments – my favourites are the two solo performances by Krastjo Dimov on kaval flute and some kind of bagpipe or double-clarinet (Bulgarians, please get in touch!). The whole album was recorded live in concert at the Paradiso in Amsterdam, although the quality of recording is high enough that you wouldn’t really know it until the rapturous applause at the end. What a concert that must have been.
Music from the Pirin Mountains is a great introduction to the wide variety of traditional musical styles that exist within Bulgaria, even if it does present the merest glimpse of that range. It’s beautifully performed, interesting and intriguing right until the end, and it makes me want to listen and learn more and more!
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