Critic's Review
Bruno Deschênes , All Music Guide
In the 1990s, it was discovered that the Bulgarian and the Tuvan people have the same roots, both originally inhabiting Central Asia. Because of great migrations more than 1,500 years ago, the original Tuvan somehow split in two groups; a group ended in what is now known as Bulgaria and the other in what is today Tuva. Because of numerous assimilations, Bulgarian people got assimilated to the Slav of the Balkan and the Tuvan to Mongolian tribes. As is obvious, the music of both groups evolved quite differently, yet both are fascinating. It was Mikhail Alperin who had the original idea of bringing together a Bulgarian choir with a Tuvan group. Here they are: the Bulgarian Choir Angelite and Huun-Huur-Tu -- two distant "cousins" meeting again after more than a thousand years, but this time through music. Alperin wrote all of the compositions, based on Bulgarian, Tuvan, and Russian traditions. The results are absolutely mesmerizing. This CD is a vocal meditation of the most divine spirituality, deeply grounded in more than 1,000-year-old traditions.
