Dobrinka Tabakova was born in Bulgaria in 1980 but was raised in London. Her music is richly melodic, very emotional and transcendental, and full of sensual textures. She successfully combines her origins and her upbringing in her music, which is full of connectedness and compassion.

The Concerto for Cello and Strings was written in 2008 for Kristine Blaumane and the Amsterdam Sinfonietta. It includes a lot of the duality we find in Dobrinka’s personal story. The work is technically demanding but very emotional and empathetic at the same time. It involves folk and traditional elements with a wonderful sensation of modernity.

The first movement is a strong dialogue between turbulent and angular themes of great rhythmic intensity and immense lyricism through a distinctive eastern tone. It resolves in a beautiful chorale which leads to the ecstatic second movement. The second movement is a very human movement full of a longing sensation; melancholic and nostalgic, it’s one of the most beautiful and soaring pieces for cello and strings I have personally ever encountered. The concerto concludes with a very lively movement, reminiscent of the opening of the piece, with angular and accented rhythms, but this time, ends in a wonderfully joyful resolution.

By Zoe Zeniodi