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68th Dubrovnik Summer Festival
Date From:
10.07.2017
Date To:
25.08.2017
10 July - 25 August 2017
68th Dubrovnik Summer Festival
The bustling walled city of Dubrovnik hosts its spectacular and one of the oldest European festivals – the Dubrovnik Summer Festival – presenting rich and vibrant theatre, ballet, opera, classical music, jazz, fine arts, film and folklore programme. The ambience and the City as a unique meeting place of the world's and Croatia's finest artists remain the basic feature of the forthcoming 68th Festival. Review of top solo artists, chamber ensembles and orchestras from all around the world will be performing this year on remarkable historical squares, palaces, churches, gardens and streets of the Renaissance-Baroque City of Dubrovnik.
This year's theatre premieres will include two plays dealing with an individual's freedom of action within strict limitations of the given social reality: Miroslav Krleža's Messrs Glembay, and a Hrvoje Ivanković dramaturgical adaptation of the biography of- and texts by Marin Držić, Dubrovnik's great supporter of freedom of speech, entitled Marin Držić – Victory over the Enemies. In Messrs Glembay, Krleža lucidly portrays characters who lack freedom defined by the paradoxically liberal capitalism in a way which – if we remove all Germanisms and Hungarianisms – resembles a contemporary portrayal of present-day masters of Croatian market. The 68th Dubrovnik Summer Festival premiere of Messrs Glembay will be directed by Zlatko Sviben. In the second Festival's premiere, Ivanković depicts Držić’s dispute with the Dubrovnik Republic on the basis of numerous existing documents and anecdotes. By combining Držić’s biographical data and fragments from his numerous comedies and pastoral plays, Ivanković creates a special kind of glossary of their present-day meaning. The play commemorating the 450th anniversary of Držić’s death will be directed by Ivica Boban. Hit plays La bottega del caffè and Othello - which enthralled critics and the Festival's audience alike, and for which extra tickets were requested - will be part of this summer's repertoire again. Carlo Goldoni's La bottega del caffè is one of the legendary plays from the Festival's golden age. Last year's staging of this play in the form of a comedy with song and dance, directed by Vinko Brešan and performed by the Festival Drama Ensemble at the main city square, attracted more than 4.000 visitors. An additional performance was shown, and the tickets were sold out many days in advance. William Shakespeare's Othello directed by Ivica Boban and performed by the Festival Drama Ensemble on Fort Lovrjenac – was also warmly received by both audiences and critics, who wrote: „The play worthy of its glory, the present day, and the crowded auditorium“, …„Dubrovnik's Othello was entirely made of unbribable emotions.“ The entire, outstanding ensemble was awarded the Orlando Award for the best play, while  Ivica Boban was awarded the Croatian Theatre Award for the best direction in the current Croatian theatrical season. Theatre guest performances will include the Croatian National Theatre of Zagreb last year's hit play by Tena Štivičić, Three Winters, directed by Ivica Buljan. The play was first performed in London with great success, won the prestigious Susan Smith Blackburn Prize in New York, and became a major hit at the Croatian National Theatre of Zagreb.
The music and stage programme will include a premiere of Handel's Orlando, featuring David Bates, Artistic Director, Janusz Sikora, Director, the Croatian Baroque Ensemble, and the soloists: Owen Willetts, Ivana Lazar, Renata Pokupić, Marija Kuhar Šoša and David Oštrek. Ballet lovers will have the opportunity to enjoy the most popular „white ballet“ of all time and a synonym of classical ballet art, Tchaikovsky's Swan Lake, choreographed by the famous Vladimir Malakhov and produced by the Croatian National Theatre of Zagreb.
Dubrovnik Symphony Orchestra will perform a programme consisting of the standard repertoire and the works by Dubrovnik composers. The performance of the piece Forgotten Music will mark the 80th anniversary of the birth of the major Croatian composer who now resides in Dubrovnik, Dubravko Detoni. Other highlights will include a representative selection of American 20th century music performed under the baton of Maestro Richard Rosenberg, perhaps the leading authority for the repertoire originating from the USA (the country whose freedom and independence were first recognised by the Dubrovnik Republic. The pianist Goran Filipec prepared a recital of Franz Liszt music, choosing works from his late composing period in which Liszt explored the limits of freedom in music, announcing the new époque of Schönberg, Hindemith and Debussy. Particularly attractive are the programmes of the Umberto Giordano Ensemble, whose repertoire comprises Beethoven's arrangements of European folk songs, and Messiaen's Quartet for the End of Time performed by The 1887 Trio. Other recitals at the Rector's Palace include those by the cellist Monika Leskovar and the guitarist Petrit Çeku; the violist Aleksandar Milošev and the pianist Lovro Pogorelić; and the violinist Stefan Milenkovich and the pianist Rohan de Silva. Katarina Livljanić and Danijel Detoni will perform a recital inspired by the theme La belle époque... médiévale.
This year the Festival continues with the program Key to the Future which features young laureates of prestigious music competitions. It will be opened by the finalist of the International Queen Elisabeth Competition pianist Dmitri Shishkin. The last years' winner of The Queen Elizabeth competition pianist Lukáš Vondráček, as guitarist Srđan Bulat will also perform in that program. Together as 4 guitars Zoran Dukić, Petrit Çeku, Tvrtko Sarić and Maroje Brčić will be additional guitarist at the festival.
Guitar music lovers will enjoy the recital of Srđan Bulat, and the 4 guitars concert featuring Zoran Dukić, Petrit Çeku, Tvrtko Sarić and Maroje Brčić. The concerts at the Rector's palace will also include that by the SYNERGIA 6 – violinists Tijana and Ksenija Milošević, violinist Nemanja Radulović, clarinetist Milan Milošević,  bassoonist Žarko Perišić and pianist Dejan Sinadinović. The authorial project of electronic installations called Dialogue by the multi-award winning young musicians, percussionists Filip Merčep and Nicolas Sinković will be held in a Medieval foundry under Minčeta Fort. The Closing Concert, taking place on 25 August in front of St Blaise's Church, will feature the Croatian Radio and Television Symphony Orchestra and the violinist Aleksey Semenenko, last year's Orlando Award winner.
In addition to the traditional performances of Linđo Folklore Ensemble, the accompanying programme will present a selection of the best films from the Pula Film Festival and art exhibitions. Tickets for the Festival may be obtained online at the site www.dubrovnik-festival.hr or at Festival box offices in the Old City of Dubrovnik.

Programme

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