Bulgaria Concert Hall
Interwar modernist concert hall in central Sofia, home of the Sofia Philharmonic and its Schuke organ.
The Bulgaria complex was built between 1934 and 1937 to designs by Stancho Belkovski and Ivan Danchov, combining a hotel, a cafe and a concert hall on a city block behind Tsar Osvoboditel Boulevard. It is among the clearest statements of the interwar Modern Movement in Bulgaria, with four separate facades responding to the streets around it and a restrained treatment of stone and glass. The great hall has long been prized for its acoustics.
Since 1946 it has been the permanent home of the Sofia Philharmonic, the national symphony orchestra founded in 1892. A Schuke organ from Potsdam was installed in 1974 and remains the largest instrument of its kind in the country. A thorough restoration carried out from 2011 modernised the building and left the great hall with just under 1,100 seats; a chamber hall, a recording studio and a gallery occupy the rest of the complex.
Highlights
- Interwar modernist complex by Belkovski and Danchov, 1937
- Permanent home of the Sofia Philharmonic Orchestra
- Schuke organ of 1974, the largest in Bulgaria
- Chamber hall, recording studio and gallery in the same block
