site.btaQuarto Quartet Brings Chamber Performance to Yambol’s Golden Diana Festival

Festivals like the Golden Diana in Yambol are immensely significant not just for the city, but for Bulgaria’s cultural landscape as a whole, members of the Quarto Quartet from the Sofia Philharmonic told BTA’s Mira Bezus on Wednesday.

The Quarto Quartet performed a chamber concert in the city as part of the 39th edition of the Golden Diana Music Days, running from April 7 to 10. Violinists Ivan Penchev and Svetlana Stancheva, violist Tatyana Todorova, and cellist Dimitar Tenchev took the stage in the Modernity Hall of the Bezisten Cultural and Information Centre to a warm reception. Their programme included Albéniz’s Asturias, Vaughan Williams’s The Lark Ascending, Monti’s Csárdás, works by Marin Goleminov, Bartók’s Romanian Folk Dances, Brahms’s Hungarian Dances, and more.

“It is extremely important to preserve festivals like this, despite all the challenges,” Stancheva said. “People should not live just for day-to-day tasks—shopping, going home, and simply getting by. Your soul needs nourishment, and only art can provide that in all its forms.”

“Without this kind of culture, and consequently without events like the Golden Diana Music Days, many towns have lost their identity,” Penchev added. “Such festivals also matter to us as musicians—otherwise, I might never have come to Yambol to discover this lovely city.”

Todorova said they did not hesitate to accept the invitation to perform. “For me, it doesn’t matter whether we play in Switzerland, Italy, Oslo, Sofia, or Yambol—the audience is always the same in that people respond positively when something is presented well.”

Tenchev noted that whether on a large stage or a small one, the performer’s responsibility is equally great. “A stage is not just a place—it is brought to life by artists and audiences together. That exchange is what truly matters in a concert,” he said.