Albena Petrovic | Akateeminen Kirjakauppa

When a CD album bears the title SANCTUARY, it is almost obvious that it is in the spirit of the sacred; yes, it is, but not sacred merely in the religious sense; rather sacred and humanist, sacred and pacifist, sacred and pantheist. So sacred and so profane at the same time. Prayers are expressed in all religions – to remain human, to remain in peace, love and peace. This is the one favour that everyone asks from their respective god. And that’s the message of all 12 tracks on the album. Because our time demands it of us – to share the values that are most important to human beings. The 12 poems set in music and which are the source of inspiration, mainly come from the beginning of the 20th century, but all reflect expressionism and result from the crucial problems of the last century, which are very relevant today. The music is often inspired by expressionist aesthetics, without borrowing expressionist musical language; I work with stylistic elements that are specific to me. Prayer and the humanist idea are the common thread – always present in my way of constructing programs and my albums, in this case global in nature and universal before becoming intimate; a call from the bottom of the heart like a cry to the gods (plural), to all the gods on earth, so that they can save and preserve us from the abyss of our sins. Albena Petrovic Vratchanska is a Luxembourgish composer of Bulgarian origin and Knight of the Order of Merit of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg (2013). She is also honoured with the Silver Medal of Merit from the Union Grand-Duc Adolphe (2017), the Silver Medal from the Union Saint Pie X (2018) and the “2007 Cultural Prize” from the municipality of Hesperange. Anna Bineta Diouf is a German-Senegalese Mezzo-Soprano. On piano we hear the Austrian pianist Eugenia Radoslava. Her CD recordings in the series "Piano-Piano" were among the ten best-selling classical CDs in Germany in 2009.