On the 1st of August, in front of the “St. Alexander Nevsky” cathedral, the musical poem “The Hermit of Rila” by Father Kiril Popov will be performed. Conductor: Zhorzh Dimitrov.
The 1150th anniversary of St. John of Rila, the Miracle Worker’s birth and the 1080th anniversary of his assumption will be solemnly celebrated.
“I congratulate maestro Plamen Kartaloff for his boldness. He has succeeded and the “Opera at the Square” summer festival performances will ultimately take place, till the 9th of August. “The Hermit of Rila” glorifies St. John of Rila, the Miracle Worker. This is a sacred musical poem”, Father Kiril shared on the “Bulgaria sutrin” show.
According to him, there are no coincidences in Christianity.
“God also cares for us, sinners. I discover a booklet titled “The Hermit of Rila” in my personal archive: holy texts written by Tihomir Pavlov in 1937. He had the desire for these texts to be dressed in music”, Father Kiril shared for Bulgaria ON AIR.
He noted this will be the third year in a row where the poem will be presented, both on a closed and an open stage.
“These are timeless messages: there is no fiction in this poem. Tihomir Pavlov strictly adhered to St. John of Rila’s passionary. The messages are very important, timeless and relevant to our times. We must draw inspiration from these texts and from St. John of Rila’s feat”, Father Kiril added.
He underlined that artists who write church chants don’t have full creative freedom.
“This isn’t just a secular piece where you have complete freedom, we’re talking about a sacred musical poem”, Father Kiril emphasized.