The premiere of the comedy ballet 'Fair in Sofia'

This is the premiere of 'Fair in Sofia', a comedy ballet by me. It took place in the State Musical Theater in 1968, but its next performance was in Bucharest. The libretto was by Bogdan Kovachev, the man wearing glasses, standing on the right. Set designer was Mariana Popova, wearing a black jacket, first on the left. I?m bowing to the audience. This photo was taken in 1968 in Sofia. I never had problems at my work for being a Jew. On the contrary, I have always been respected. I was declared an Honored Artist. I was given the rank of colonel, head of the Army Ensemble. I first met my future wife Sabina Diankova when she was performing with the State Musical Theater. That happened in the 1950s when I was still young and went often to the opera or musical theater. One day I noticed a young girl playing wonderfully in a Soviet musical composed by Nikita Bogoslovski. Sabina made everyone happy when they were around her. I said to myself, 'That is a new phenomenon!' Later, I continued to go and see her play some minor parts. At the same time I was invited to compose some ballet scenes for 'Circus Princess' by Imre Kalman for the Music Theater. The young circus dancer, Miss Maydel Gypsun, was played by Sabina. She impressed me with her dancing and her resourcefulness, her immaculate diction. At that time I had worked for five years as a composer in the Theater of Satire. Shortly after my work in the Musical Theater we started rehearsing for the first Bulgarian musical: 'The Girl I Loved' by Nikolay Parushev. I did the music and the conducting. That was in fall 1963. Sabina played the role of Palechko. I was once again impressed by her. Shortly after that we started going out. We got married in 1963.