Lachezar Kostov, cello
Viktor Valkov, piano
Saturday, November 3, 2018 at 4:00 pm
Ticket: $50
In a rare opportunity to experience the virtuosic artistry of Baltimore Symphony Orchestra’s Associate Principal cellist, Lachezar Kostov, along with acclaimed pianist Viktor Valkov, comes to Silo Hill with a dynamic program for cello and piano. The award-winning Kostov-Valkov Duo performs selections by Boccherini, Beethoven, Liszt, and more.
Kostov-Valkov. . .. impressively gutsy and virtuoso. . .
American Record Guide
As though unleashed, both cellist and pianist gave it their all. . . such deep, thunderous sounds from the cello and exuberant expression from the piano seemed unimaginable.
Rhein-Neckar Zeitung
One could hardly imagine a more inspiring and compelling performance. . .
Bad Saeckinger Sudkurier
Kostov-Valkov Duo
Photo: Sarah Shatz
Cellist Lachezar Kostov and pianist Viktor Valkov have performed together for more than 15 years and have appeared at concert venues in the USA, Germany, Italy, and Bulgaria. In 2002 they were named winners of the “Grand Prix of the Music and Earth Competition” in Sofia, Bulgaria. After their early success the Duo performed a series of thematic concerts devoted to the music of Hungary, France, Germany, and Russia. Prior to establishing themselves in the USA Kostov and Valkov appeared in several European festivals, such as “Russian Music Days” in Dortmund, Germany.
The Duo’s first major performance in New York City was sponsored by the “Bulgarian Treasures” foundation and took place in Weill Recital Hall in 2008. Following their critically acclaimed debut at New York’s Zankel Hall at Carnegie Hall in 2009, the Duo has received high accolades for their inspired and unique performances. Critic Harris Goldsmith described them as “prodigiously skilled protagonists” and praised their “formidable virtuosity”. Devoted to rediscovering rarely performed works from the cello and piano repertoire, they perform compositions by Dmitri Kabalevsky, Camille Saint-Saens and Nikolay Roslavets, as well as many arrangements and transcriptions from the violin, viola, and piano repertoire. Some of the most successful arrangements performed by the Kostov-Valkov duo are Robert Schumann’s Violin Sonata in A minor, the Hungarian Dance No.5 by Brahms, Roslavets’ Viola Sonata, and the famous Hungarian Rhapsody No.2 by Franz Liszt. In 2010 Mr. Kostov and Mr. Valkov toured several German cities including Hasselburg, Waldorf, and Bad Saeckingen, performing to sold-out halls in celebration of the 200th birth anniversaries of Chopin and Schumann.
In October 2011 the duo entered the Fifth Liszt-Garrison International Piano and Duo Competition of the American Liszt Society at Baltimore-Washington, USA. The Kostov-Valkov duo was unanimously awarded the First Prize, as well as Best Interpretation Awards for the Performance of a Work by an American composer for John Corigliano’s “Phantasmagoria”, and for the Performance of a Work by Franz Liszt for their own arrangement of the composer’s “Hungarian Rhapsody No. 2”. In addition to several concert engagements, the Lachezar Kostov & Viktor Valkov duo received the event’s special 2011 FRANZ LISZT AWARD for “Exceptional Performance on the Franz Liszt Bicentennial Year Celebration”.
In 2013 the Kostov-Valkov Duo made appearances in several US states, including Maryland, Washington, and Texas. A Japanese tour in 2014 took them to Tokyo, Kanaya, and Okayama.
The Kostov-Valkov Duo have so far released two recordings. The first one, published by NAXOS in 2010, received favorable reviews by the American Record Guide, Strad Magazine, and others, and features the complete music for cello and piano of Nikolay Roslavets. Their second recording came out of Navona Records in 2015, and includes their own transcriptions virtuosic piano pieces by Franz Liszt.
In Germany the duo is represented by the Pro-Piano Management.
Lachezar Kostov
Photo: Sarah Shatz
Newly appointed Associate Principal Cellist with the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, Lachezar Kostov has appeared as a soloist in some of the world's leading concert venues such as Carnegie Hall, The Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, Gewandhaus in Leipzig, and Oji Hall in Tokyo. He was the National Winner at the 2006 MTNA Young Artists Competition and has won numerous prizes including the Cello Award at the Kingsville Competition in 2005, the Grand Prix at the International Music and Earth Competition in Bulgaria, and the concerto competitions at the University of North Carolina School of the Arts, and Rice University. In October 2011 Lachezar Kostov and pianist Viktor Valkov won the First Prize and all the special prizes at the Third International Liszt-Garrison Piano and Duo Competition in Baltimore, MD.
Mr. Kostov has appeared as a guest soloist and chamber musician throughout the United States, Japan, Italy, Germany, the United Kingdom and Bulgaria. Mr. Kostov is represented as a member of the Kostov-Valkov Duo by Pro-Piano Management. Hailed by European and American critics for “the awesome purity of his playing”, and described as “prodigiously skilled protagonist”, he made his official debut at Carnegie Hall’s Zankel Hall in 2009, performing rarely heard works for cello and piano by Ellen Zwilich, Nikolay Roslavets, and Dimitri Kabalevsky. In 2012, following his participation at the Texas Music Festival, he performed the Second Cello Concerto by C. Saint-Saens, under the baton of Carl St. Clair, and in 2013 he performed Dvorak's famed cello concerto in the legendary Gewandhaus in Leipzig, accompanied by the Academic Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Horst Forster. Mr. Kostov’s first commercial CD was released by NAXOS in 2011 and was immediately featured in “The Strad Magazine”, and “American Record Guide”. In 2016 he released a second CD, containing award-winning transcriptions by the Kostov-Valkov Duo of works by Franz Liszt, as well as virtuoso arrangements from the operas Carmen, and The Barber of Seville.
Lachezar Kostov has appeared as a guest artist at the Orcas Island Chamber Music Festival, La Jolla Summer Fest, Cactus Pear Music Festival, and is also a guest faculty at the Texas Music Festival in Houston. He has performed alongside musicians such as Jon Kimura Parker, the Tokyo String Quartet, Martin Chalifour, Cho-Liang Lin, Stephanie Sant'Ambrodgio, Lucy Robert, Aloysia Friedmann, James Dunham, and Desmond Hoebig. Mr. Kostov plays on a modern cello made by his friend, luthier Sam Matthews in Houston. Prior to his appointment with the Baltimore Symphony he was a tenured member of the San Antonio Symphony, and also performed regularly with the Houston Symphony. His major teachers include Bogomil Karakonov, Aldo Parisot, Norman Fischer, and David Grigorian; he has appeared in master-classes with Yo-Yo Ma, Steven Isserlis, and Bernard Greenhouse.
Lachezar is an avid single-malt Scotch whisky collector, an aspiring runner, conductor, and pianist, and has flown as a co-pilot to General William “Bill” Anders (Astronaut Bill Anders from Apollo 8), on Mr. Anders' private plane. A passionate Pickleball player, Lachezar has garnered two gold medals in Pickleball tournaments in the Baltimore area.
Viktor Valkov
Winner of the 2015 Astral Artists National Auditions, and Gold medalist at the 2012 New Orleans International Piano Competition, Viktor Valkov has been highly acclaimed by the critics as “lion of the keyboard” and “sensational”. Among numerous chamber music and solo appearances, during the last few concert seasons Mr.Valkov also performed with the Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra, Baton Rouge Symphony Orchestra, Acadiana Symphony Orchestra, and West Virginia Symphony Orchestra.
Since 2002 Valkov has given a number of recitals in USA, Japan, China, England, Germany, Italy, Greece, Bulgaria, and Macedonia. A Japanese tour in 2002 took him to Tokyo, Toyama, Yokohama and Okinawa. In Bulgaria, Viktor Valkov appeared in performances with most of the major orchestras and at most of the important music festivals. In 2003, he received an invitation from the New Symphony Orchestra, and conductor Rossen Milanov, to perform Dimitar Nenov’s Grande Piano Concerto.
Thus he became the fifth pianist to perform that concerto and the only one to do the entire version. In 2007, Mr.Valkov made his debut with the Sofia Philharmonic Orchestra.
Mr.Valkov’s concert activities reflect a vast interest in the chamber music repertoire, as well as lesser known piano music. He frequently performs with the Bulgarian cellist, Lachezar Kostov, in a cello and piano duo. Both being deeply interested in broadening the repertoire for that medium, they often include in their programs composers like Kabalevsky, Roslavetz, Schnittke, Saint-Saens (the Second cello Sonata), and others. Their close friendship and professional collaboration began in 2000. In 2009, the Kostov-Valkov Duo gave their Carnegie Hall debut at Zankel Hall. In 2011 they won the Liszt-Garisson International Competition, where they were awarded First Prize, the overall Liszt Prize as well as all the special prizes in the collaborative artists category.
As a solo performer one of Mr.Valkov’s latest projects featured Busoni’s Fantasia Contrappuntistica as the focal point of his concert programs. During the 2011-2012 Viktor Valkov presented a program of music from the 1600’s including composers like Froberger, L Couperin, Frescobaldi, Buxtehude and selections from the Fitzwilliam Virginal Book.
Mr.Valkov has made a number of recordings for the Bulgarian National Radio archive, many of which have been broadcast. He has also recorded for Bulgarian National Television and Macedonian Radio and Television. In 2008 he recorded the entire music for cello and piano by Nikolay Roslavets in collaboration with the cellist Lachezar Kostov. In 2013 he recorded the piano music of Dimitar Nenov. Both CD were released by NAXOS. A new CD released by Navona Records in 2015, also recorded with cellist Lachezar Kostov, features the duo’s own transcriptions of virtuosic piano pieces by Franz Liszt.
Viktor Valkov is currently a Visiting Professor of Piano at the University of Utah in Salt Lake City.
