Eva Quartet and Dalinda concert

In the series „Between Vocal Ranges” of the House of Music Hungary, after the Corsican-Hungarian meeting (the concert of the Ensemble Tavagna and the St. Ephrem Men's Choir), there is now a Bulgarian-Hungarian alignment, in which the Eva Quartet and Dalinda perform in a joint concert. The Bulgarian, South Slavic and Hungarian folk melodies are performed in a repertoire in which the two singing traditions reflect on each other, the two ensembles respond to each other. A unique evening is to be expected, a single occasion not to be missed.

The Eva Quartet is the most famous ensemble in the Bulgarian singing tradition today, and its members are also known from the legendary choir Le Mystere des Voix Bulgares. The choir was a real star in the eighties, working with Kate Bush on three records as three leading singers called Trio Bulgarka. The membership of Le Mystere des Voix Bulgares, of course, evolved with the change in the TV choir, with four other soloists receiving solo songs on their fourth major album in 1998, and these four other soloists became known as Eva Quartet. So well-known that over the past quarter century, the four virtuoso singers have worked with countless significant formations from many parts of the world. The quartet, which brings to life the tradition of Bulgarian polyphony in a variety and without modern forms, is now teaming up with Dalinda for a one-time concert. Dalinda may not need much presentation in Hungary, as they are a fresh group in the Hungarian world music scene, where they can be classified as performers shaping the traditional in their own image. The singers of the a cappella trio - Fanni Nádasdy, Julianna Paár and Sára Tímár - are, of course, all devotees of Hungarian folk music, yet in their music they strive to modernize the authentic, instinctive singing style required for folk songs into a modern form, polyphonically and sensitively adapted tot he stage.

In this evening, therefore, the two ensembles perform smaller blocks several times in a row, but in such a way that these units reflect each other according to melody types and themes, and even combine the two singing traditions by singing together. Although the South Slavic and Bulgarian singing styles differ significantly from the Hungarian ones in terms of performance and polyphony, there are still many musical elements and themes (mainly the milestones of human life) that are strongly connected to each other – and which the two ensembles will weave into one.

As Julianna Paár from Dalinda says about the concert: “Hungarian folk music is a monophonic singing practice, and Bulgarian is basically polyphonic. However, with Dalinda, we are experimenting with how we can make this monophonic method polyphonic so that authenticity is compromised as little as possible. The Eva Quartet doesn't work with completely authentic materials either, and several composers are making adaptations for them, so the meeting between the two worlds is really exciting.”