I am a big fan of these qualities too, it is what I enjoy most about the pop-folk the ability to modernize the music for a new danceable era using traditional tones even if it is unfortunately using synth. The modernization of traditional music, electrifying traditional instruments and modernizing the music for todays generation is key but synth is cool to. I like both styles, both the synth and the band instrument type but of course nothing beats real instruments if done properly.
Actually, thanks to you I am getting into chalga lately. I haven't been the biggest fan of Chalga due to the high pitchness you mentioned. It sounds contrary to my like to the extreme falsetta mugham style but you mentioned as well that there is something going on there with the Chalga but like we said its cultural.
In saying that I will be going to Bulgaria this year with the family, if your into Chalga advice me on something I might like. Definitely be going to a folk club. Tsvetelina is actually great, enjoyed many of her vids let me know if you have any others you recommend.
I've never actually been anywhere near Bulgaria, or any of the European continent for that matter. But there are quite a few artists in the genre that I would like to have seen perform live, including some of the artists I've posted here and in similar topics on some other forums (including another popular headphone forum, called head-fi).
These are some of the more mainstream chalga artists, and groups of performers that have probably been the most influential in shaping my interest and appreciation for the genre. And I believe most are still active, except where noted.
Adriana
*Andrea (and Costi)
*Anelia
Azis
Boni
Boris Dali
Djena (or Dzhena)
*Emilia
Esil Duran
*Galena
Galin
Gloria
Iliyan
Ivena
*Kamelia
*Kristiana
Liyana
Lorena
Malina
Maria Petrova (haven't seen anything from her in a long time, so she may be retired)
*Preslava
*Sasha Rico & Rico Band
*Tatyana
*Tedi Alexandrova
Teodora
*Toni Storaro
*Vanya
Most of the above have only moderately high-pitched vocals (except for Toni Storaro, Galin, Boris Dali and Iliyan who sing in more baritone voices). These are some of the female artists with the highest pitched voices though. So use/listen to them at your own peril...
*Alisia
Ani Hoang
Debora
*Desi Slava
*Emanuela
Kali
Maria
*Mira
*Rayna
*Roksana
*Sonya Nemska
*Tsvetelina Yaneva
Vanesa (aka Malkata)
There are many other good ones as well. So the above list probably only scratches the surface. And there are some newbies I'd like to see as well, like Lidia, Diona, and a few others.
The traditional folk music in Bulgaria is also quite fun, btw, and definitely also worth checking out. And employs alot of crazy asymmetric time signatures, and alot of line-dancing from the videos I've seen. And that might be more kid/family-friendly than the more adult-oriented nightclub acts. Some of the vocals of the folk performers can also get up there into the higher registers though. And the sound systems at such events may not always be the best, just FYI.
There are undoubtedly also many good bands (or "orks" as they're called, which is short for orchestra) that also play a mix of folk and pop-folk, which are probably also worth checking out. Sasha Rico & Rico Band is probably one of the more well-known of these kinds of groups. But there are many others that I'm less well acquainted with, that will also perform with some of the above list of artists.
There may also be some day festivals were you can also hear some of the above performers, that might also be a little more kid/family-friendly. I don't know if they are still going on now, but Payner/Planeta used to have derby days, where many of the performers on their label would perform live for larger crowds of listeners. (It would've been fun to see some of the above artists performing live for some of those events, esp. back in their heyday in the 2000's and 2010's.)
I've put an asterisk by the names of some of the artists that I think might be the most interesting or possibly funnest to see imo. But I think just about any of the above would probably be fairly good. And some of the newer artists (who are not listed above) might also be fun to check out.
There are also some other artists from the very early days of chalga, like Sofi Marinova, Ivana, and Slavi Trifonov who's work is not quite as interesting or appealing to me personally, but who are also highly regarded by other fans of the genre, and still also performing I think.