Bulgarian Soul (Dig) [Import]

"Oh dear--an hour of Bulgarian folk songs," you may be saying to yourself faced with this program, but you can be sure that the diversity of the arrangements, and Kasarova's total involvement and beautiful, colorful mezzo-soprano, make it not only worthwhile but enchanting. Some of the songs are backed up by a chamber orchestra, some by piano, some are a cappella, some feature a chorus. This latter, a group of women's voices singing in typical Bulgarian fashion, takes some getting used to--it's not operatic singing at all, tending to be spicy and a bit harsh, but it's fascinating. And Kasarova (who also provides the program notes, which amount to a history of Bulgaria) sings with honesty and directness, whether in a touching, sweet song about missing one's homeland ("Give Me, Oh God, the Wings of a Swan"), or a strange song, nominally about planting pepper seedlings, but really an excuse to dance merrily, full of dissonances from the chorus ("Dilmano, Dilbero"), a lament by a girl too young to be pregnant ("Se ma yad, mamo"), and many more. The composer and folklorist Krassimir Kyurchiyski has arranged the songs (and written one of them, based on a folk melody). It's impossible to get bored listening to this; the combination of Kasarova's many vocal faces and the moods the songs take us through--and, of course, that odd, mesmerizing choral sound--keeps the attention level high. Try this, you'll like it--and Kasarova, as noted, brings the same musicality and richness to these songs as she does to her performances of music by Mozart, Massenet, and Rossini. --Robert Levine