Donald's Encyclopedia of Popular Music

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TRIO BULGARKA

(Earlier known as 'Bulgarka Folk Trio') Bulgarian vocal ensemble, aka 'Three Golden Coins'. Personnel: Stoyanka Boneva from Pirin in southwest Bulgaria, Yanka Rupkina from Strandja in the southeast and Eva Georgieva from Dobroudja in the northeast. All three had earlier sung with the Radio Sofia Choir; the music rings with the sonorities of Eastern European Orthodox Christianity and their country's folk music. Unlike some other notable vocal ensembles (e.g. the Bisserov Sisters) who restricted their repertoires to their home regions, their varied regional backgrounds helped build a repertoire of great diversity yet uncompromised integrity. They recorded for the Bulgarian Balkanton label; Rupkina made LPs for Yanka Roupkina label (an alternative transliteration of her name) and Strandzha Mountain Folk Songs as a solo act. Albums on Hannibal drew on this repertoire: several tracks by the trio appeared on the excellent anthology Balkana -- The Music Of Bulgaria on Hannibal '87. The Forest Is Crying (Lament for Indj Voivode) for the same label '88 consisted mainly of tracks recorded that year in Radio Sofia's studios but also incl. two archive tracks. On that album they were accompanied by a six- piece band playing ethnic and other instruments. Kate Bush used them on her The Sensual World '89; the collaboration also on film in BBC TV's Rhythms of the World series, which also featured Ivan Papasov; Bush also attended Bulgarian concerts in London, her presence whetting interest. Members of the trio can be heard on anthologies by MystŠre des Voix Bulgaires on the English 4AD and the German Jaro labels; this was the name under which the Radio Sofia Choir, formed by the remarkable visionary Philip Koutev (1903--82), released magnificent recordings. Although Rupkina was a featured soloist on A Cathedral Concert on Jaro '88, in many cases such groups, which regularly go under names such as the Philip Koutev National Folk Ensemble, do not specify personnel; thus some of the greatest Bulgarian singers are often detected only by their faces in cover photographs or if they take a solo. Trio Bulgarka continues to re-form for concert appearances but also record under individuals' names on various labels.