The full title of this album is ‘Nikolo Kotzev’s Nostradamus The Rock Opera – Live In Sofia’, and somewhat surprisingly it was not recorded at the premiere in 2016 but instead was recorded the following year, on May 27th , 2017 in the hall of the State Opera – Rousse, Bulgaria. The only person involved in the original recording who was also involved in this performance is Kotzev himself, with the main characters being portrayed by Alexander Atanasov (Bulgaria) – Nostradamus, Zvezdi Keremidchiev (Bulgaria) – The Inquisitor, Amalia Nenova (Bulgaria) – Anne Gemelle, Björn Lodin (Sweden) – The Storyteller, Thomas Vikström (Sweden) – Soldier / Ghost, Mehmet Kaya (Turkey) – King Henry II, Nora Karaivanova (Bulgaria) – Catherine de Medici, Ben Cross (Chariots of Fire, First Knight, Star Trek etc.) – The Narrator. The music was performed by Kotzev’s band, Kikimora, which features Kotzev (guitars), Angel Dyulgerov (guitars), Anthony Georgiev (keyboards), Radoslav Todorov (keyboards), Nikolay Todorov (drums) and Nikolai Tsvetkov (bass). Plus on top of that there is an orchestra and choir, meaning there was a cast of more than 120.
I only have the audio, but this is available as 2CD/DVD or Blu-ray and if the visual performance is as stunning as the music, then this must be well worth seeing indeed. I thoroughly enjoyed the original album when it was released more than 20 years ago, but the power of a rock band combined with a mass choir and orchestra takes this to a whole new level. I cannot help but wonder if Kotzev had not been Bulgarian but British/American and this had been performed in London or New York whether there would be more knowledge of this rock opera, but even though I have not seen it, it is wonderful to have the performance available in this format. It is something which captures the imagination, with some wonderful melodies, and hopefully this release will gain publicity for music which fans of this genre (and lovers of Clive Nolan in particular) will surely enjoy. Well worth investigating.
Rating: 9/10
