Alexandru Draghici: There is a distance between Bulgarians and Romanians, but for centuries our cultures were closely linked

Vladimir Mitev

Summary

Romanian philologist and folk musician Alexandru Drăghici, who speaks excellent Bulgarian, shares his journey toward discovering Balkan culture and building a “bridge of friendship” between Bulgarians and Romanians. He also speaks about the existence of a distance between Bulgarians and Romanians, who cultures are however historically connected.

Main points from the interview:

• Education and Music: He graduated in Philology (Greek and Romanian) in Bucharest, but his primary activity is music. He started with Romanian folk music and discovered many links between the rural cultures of the Balkans, which helped him better understand Balkan culture as a whole.
• Collaboration with “Divertis”: He collaborates as a musician with the cult Romanian group “Divertis,” contributing songs and parodies.
• Interest in Bulgaria: He began studying Bulgarian seriously about two years ago. He discovered a link between Romanian and Bulgarian music, especially in accordion technique, and notes that admiration for Bulgarian music in Romania dates back to the socialist era when Bulgarian television was watched there. He has recordings of Bulgarian folk songs, particularly from the Rhodope region, which suit his voice.
• Romanian-Bulgarian Relations: He admits there is a distance between Bulgarians and Romanians and a lack of interest between their cultures, with the main obstacles being the language (Bulgarian having a different origin than Romanian) and the recent past. However, he emphasizes that over the centuries, the cultures have had very strong bridges.
• Future Plans: He dreams of a large-scale musical project, similar to those of Bregović, that combines Romanian music (from Wallachia and Moldova) with Bulgarian music to demonstrate their strong links and similarities.

Introduction

Alexandru Drăghici is a Romanian philologist and musician with a deep interest in Balkan folk music, which drives him to develop his own bridge toward Bulgarians and other peoples of Southeast Europe. “The Bridge of Friendship” spoke with him about his personal and professional path, which brought him to the same stage as the cult troupe Divertis and motivated him to record folk songs that he sings in Bulgarian.

Bulgarian music performed by Alexandru Draghici:

Interview

Alexandru, you are a guest on “The Bridge of Friendship” because you have interesting pursuits—you speak Bulgarian excellently, you know Bulgarian folk music, you travel to Bulgaria often, and in general, you are very active in the Romanian-Bulgarian space. But I would like to start with an introductory question: tell us about your activity from the beginning. I see that you were first a performer of folk music, specifically Romanian, and your studies were in another field, not the Bulgarian language. Can you tell us what your activity was before you became involved with Bulgaria?

Yes, thank you for the invitation. My first activity was music, starting from my first years of school. I studied at a music high school in my city, which is called Pitești and is located right in the middle of Wallachia. I started with Romanian folk music, but meanwhile, “on paper,” I am a philologist—I finished my higher education in Bucharest, specializing in “Greek and Romanian Philology.” This helped me see that there are many bridges between our cultures.

I was born in Pitești, but a large part of my childhood was spent in a village located a little south of the city. When I discovered Bulgarian customs and expressions, it was a great surprise for me to discover the links that exist between our rural cultures. For me, this activity means that I can better understand Balkan culture, not just Romanian culture.

Another interesting thing about you is that, in appearance, you closely resemble a cult figure—a personality, an actor, and musician who was part of the famous “Divertis” troupe, the equivalent of the Bulgarian comedy troupe “Club UFO” from the ’90s. Interestingly, you collaborate with “Divertis” following his departure and death. I am talking about Ioan Gyuri Pascu. What can you tell us about this relationship with “Divertis” and to what extent do people see in you and recognize you as someone who resembles him facially?

Yes, it is true that I collaborate with the “Divertis” group, but there is a very important clarification—unfortunately, I am not an actor, but only a musician. I cannot do the things that Ioan Gyuri Pascu did, and I help the “Divertis” troupe only as a musician—if they have parodies or songs for me to perform on stage or on television.

Well, and at some point—perhaps because of that village you mentioned or through another path—you discover Bulgarian folklore and develop your interest in Bulgaria. Can you tell us about this stage of your life? What did you discover, what attracted you first, and what did you develop later?

If we talk about this, the discussion can become a bit more musical. The most obvious link between Romanian and Bulgarian music, in my opinion, is the accordion technique—the ornamentation, which probably has its origin in the bagpipe (cimpoi/gayda) technique. I don’t know exactly, because in Romania too there are bagpipes near the border, for example in the area where the city of Craiova is located. This is the most obvious link.

By the way, I know many accordionists in Romania who have a great admiration for Bulgarian music and for the Bulgarian accordion technique. I don’t know how they know about it—perhaps from the radio stations that were received in Bucharest. I myself listen to live news from Bulgaria in my car every day. But maybe it’s not just that—these accordionists probably know Bulgarian music from the socialist years. I don’t know if the Bulgarian audience knows that in Romania, during Ceaușescu’s socialism, there were only two hours of TV programming, and people, using old antennas, caught Bulgarian television. There were films, there was music, and since then this great admiration has existed, because the accordion techniques from Romania and Bulgaria are somewhat similar. I don’t know if the reverse is also true.

Alright, but ultimately you learn to play Bulgarian folklore and even to sing—you have tracks that we will add to the interview. At the same time, it seems you have learned the Bulgarian language quite well. How did that happen?

As I said, I studied Greek at university. Yes, Greek is very different from Bulgarian, but I started studying Bulgarian seriously about two years ago. With books, movies, grammar, and so on. I like grammar a lot in general; it wasn’t that hard for me. And regarding the singing—it seems to me that there is a part of Bulgarian folklore that suits my voice. For example, songs from the Rhodope region. I have already made recordings for two tracks that I think you know.

We met in Ruse when you had come to a concert by the Romanian dance group K not K. Talking later, I learned that you have been to many places in Bulgaria and that, over time, you developed a very interesting passion and curiosity for everything Bulgarian. How does this activity related to Bulgaria translate? What are your discoveries about Bulgarians?

For me, it is important not only to understand Romanian music and culture. For example, when I was in school and decided to pursue higher education in Bucharest with the Greek language, I did it because I had a great interest in Balkan music. I thought the Greek language was at the foundation. And now I am learning Bulgarian, after that maybe Albanian—I don’t know. For me, the Balkan world has great significance and is extremely interesting. In my opinion, Wallachia is a part of the Balkan regions.

After the concert: K not K at Block 14 (Ruse), a cross-border rave in a hall filled with soap bubbles

Bulgarians and Romanians—how do you see the relations between them? Don’t you think that in Romania very few people are deeply interested in Bulgaria the way you are? Maybe even in Bulgaria there aren’t that many people who are durably linked to Romania and interested in it. Don’t you think there is a certain distance between Bulgarians and Romanians? Or maybe I’m wrong? Perhaps you, in fact, show that it is not so and that very interesting things are happening at a human level, which we simply don’t see in the mass media?

Yes, that is exactly how it is. It seems to me that there is a great distance between Bulgarians and Romanians and there is a lack of interest between our cultures, which, as I said, are quite similar. I think the main obstacle is the language. It is hard; you have to have patience, a lot of patience, to learn a language which, beyond many common words, has a different origin than Romanian. I think this stops Romanians from learning Bulgarian—about the reverse, I don’t know exactly. We are also separated by this recent past—the socialist years, the wars, and all the rest. But, to be honest, it is felt even today that for many centuries, these two cultures had many bridges.

How will you develop your bridge between Bulgarians and Romanians? Do you have plans—for concerts or more travels? I’m just improvising. What plans do you have for the development of your personal bridge toward Bulgarians?

Yes, I dream. For now, I can only dream. This was supposed to be a secret, but since the question came up… I dream of a musical project where both Romanian and Bulgarian music are played, with many instruments. Something big, something immense—like Bregović’s projects, for example. It should contain Bulgarian and Romanian music—Romanian from Wallachia and Moldova. In this way, I will be able to show and demonstrate that they are very similar and that these links are very strong.

Photo: Alexandru Draghici (source: Alexandru Draghici)

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