Beethoven, by Way of Bulgaria : Music: Emil Tabakov brings the Sofia Philharmonic to Costa Mesa tonight. It’s been a bumpy road for the group.

There may be no exact Bulgarian equivalent for the expression, “When the going gets tough, the tough get going,” but Emil Tabakov seems to understand the theory, particularly in its more literal implications.

“It’s a bad time for musicians in Bulgaria,” he says. “We try to survive, of course, but I don’t know how long this period will last. One way of surviving is making more tours and more records.”

The music director and principal conductor of the Sofia Philharmonic, Tabakov is speaking by phone from a motel in Las Vegas, where he and the orchestra have stopped on a U.S. tour that began in Wooster, Mass. They play tonight for the Orange County Philharmonic Society at the Orange County Performing Arts Center, then double back to Ohio for the final concerts of the trip.

Tabakov appreciates the positive elements of the many changes that have overtaken his country, but says that for the orchestra, the switch from state support to private sponsorship is not easy.

“It’s a big problem. There is not enough support from the government now, which has no time or money for culture,” Tabakov says. “We don’t have the experience in Bulgaria with seeking out (private) sponsors, and the salary given by the Bulgarian government is not enough now.”

Tough times, however, have never been necessary for the Sofia Philharmonic to hit the road. Founded in 1928, the orchestra made its first foreign tour 11 years later. The current trip is its fifth in the United States.

The 120-member orchestra is Bulgaria’s oldest and is part of an organization that also includes a chorus of 100 singers and some chamber groups made up of musicians from the orchestra.

Unlike some other Eastern European orchestras we have seen here in the past, the Sofia Philharmonic includes many women. Ironically, the unsettled economy and social situation seem to have created new opportunities for women.

“Three to five years ago, there were only a few women in the orchestra,” Tabakov notes. “The reason why there are more now is because the job is not so popular in recent years.

“Also, a lot of good musicians have left Bulgaria. Almost every orchestra in Germany has a couple of Bulgarians now. A lot of the women are quite good, but they are inexperienced. Many are just out of college.”

Born in 1949, Tabakov himself came to music relatively late.

“I was 10 years old, which is too late for beginners,” he says. “I began on the violin, but in the college of music I graduated (with majors) in double bass, composition and conducting.”

Tabakov likes composing in the big forms, with three symphonies and several concertos to his credit. Of late, he and the orchestra have been recording for Elan, a U.S. label, which will release some of his compositions, paired with Rachmaninoff and others.

In June, Tabakov will lead the premiere of his Requiem in Sofia. It is a rare treatment of a traditional Latin Roman Catholic text in an Orthodox country. The chance to do such things is one of the cultural benefits of the political changes.

“It was not possible to do many things before, during the Socialist regime,” he says. “My style is quite contemporary, but not avant garde. I have tried to mix the Orthodox and Latin flavors in this Requiem.”

Don’t expect anything so esoteric tonight, however. Tabakov and company have come all the way from Bulgaria with a Beethoven program, featuring the Violin Concerto--with soloist Masuko Ushioda--and the Symphony No. 3, “Eroica.”

Tabakov appreciates the irony.

“We have two programs on this tour. Unfortunately, in Costa Mesa we will play the second, which I think is not quite as nice as the first, which includes Rachmaninoff’s Second Symphony, Mussorgsky’s “Night on Bald Mountain” and Wienawski’s Violin Concerto No. 2.

“A lot of managers want more popular programs, and Beethoven is popular everywhere,” the conductor acknowledges pragmatically. “For me, as a musician, Rachmaninoff is more attractive, more representative of us.”

* Emil Tabakov conducts the Sofia Philharmonic in Beethoven’s Violin Concerto in D and Symphony No. 3 in E-flat, “Eroica” at 8 p.m. at the Orange County Performing Arts Center, 600 Town Center Drive, Costa Mesa. $11 to $32. Sponsored by the Orange County Philharmonic Society. (714) 553-2422.