Sofia, January 21 (BTA) - On January 27, the Sofia Philharmonic, together with virtuoso pianist Georgii Cherkin and Romanian maestro Cristian Mandeal are celebrating the birthday of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. The programme of the evening includes some of Mozart's most popular works: an overture to the opera "Abduction from the Seraglio", Piano Concerto No. 21 and Symphony No. 35 "Hafner", the Philharmonic said on Friday.    

Georgii Cherkin's active concert activities include recitals in Sofia, Rome, Berlin, Warsaw, Paris, Prague, Bratislava, as well as performances with the Sofia Philharmonic, BNR Symphony Orchestra, Classic FM, Bilkent Symphony Orchestra in Ankara, and the Santa Cecilia Orchestra in Rome among others.  

The talented pianist went through training at the National Music School in Sofia in the class of Antonina Boneva and the National Academy of Music in Sofia in the class of Atanas Kurtev. From 1997 to 1999 he specialized at the Santa Cecilia Academy in Rome under one of the most famous professors, Sergio Perticaroli, graduating with great success.

Maestro Cristian Mandeal is recognized as the most significant Romanian conductor today, with 40 years of artistic activity. He was nominated among the 10 most influential people in Romania and has received the highest awards for cultural activities. He is a student of Herbert von Karajan in Berlin and of Sergiu Celibidache in Munich. Between 1987 and 2010 he was principal conductor and music director of the Bucharest Philharmonic, and artistic director of the North Israeli Orchestra, Haifa (1999-2002), Basque National Orchestra Euskadi Symphony, San Sebastian (2001-2008), permanent conductor of Haydn Orchestra of Bolzano and Trento (2000-2003), Chief Guest Conductor of the Halle Orchestra, Manchester (2005-2010 - the first to achieve this status in the 150-year history of the orchestra), the philharmonic orchestras of Belgrade (2006-2007) and Copenhagen (2006-2013).  

He has conducted world-famous ensembles such as the London and Royal Philharmonic Orchestras, the symphony orchestras of BBC, Bavarian Radio, RAI - Milan, Birmingham, Bournemouth, Liverpool, Dresden, Berlin, the Vienna and Berlin Operas, the National Orchestras of the Czech Republic, Israel, Belgium, Hungary, Iceland, Catalonia, Rome's Academy of Santa Cecilia, the Philharmonic Orchestras in Munich, Prague, Dublin, Ljubljana, Sao Paulo, Mexico, and others.     

A devout promoter of George Enescu's work around the world, Mandeal was the first to present the opera "Oedipus" in Great Britain (Edinburgh Festival, 2002) and Italy (Cagliari, 2005). Since 2008 he has been President of the London Enescu Society.
 
RY/MT