Dubrovnik is ready to shine in its most impressive cultural attire! Every summer, this beautiful centuries-old city transforms into a grand stage where art, culture, and history intertwine through the world-famous festival – the Dubrovnik Summer Festival. For 47 days this summer, the city will live a festival life. An unforgettable and unique experience that you must witness!
This year’s 75th edition of the Dubrovnik Summer Festival, which will be held from the 10th of July to the 25th of August, brings a plethora of unrepeatable cultural and artistic events, offering the audience over 70 drama, opera, ballet, folklore, and other artistic programs at numerous city locations.
World Music Elite Arrives in Dubrovnik
The highlight of this summer's festival is the spectacular Opera Gala featuring one of today's greatest opera stars, Bulgarian soprano Sonya Yoncheva. Joining her on stage in front of the Cathedral will be Joseph Calleja, the Maltese tenor whose soft tone and emotional style have been compared to Pavarotti and Gigli. They will be accompanied by one of the most sought-after basses on the international scene, Ante Jerkunica, the charismatic Split native who has sung in almost all prestigious European opera houses. The Symphony Orchestra of Croatian Radio Television (HRT) under the baton of renowned conductor Ivan Repušić will enhance this concert with their performance.
This year’s music program is particularly rich and diverse. It opens with the legendary Grammy winner Jordi Savall, one of the most versatile musical artists of his generation and a tireless explorer of early music who has saved many precious works from oblivion. With his ensemble Hespèrion XXI and the program titled Mare Nostrum: Dialogue of Souls, he will present a musical dialogue between works of Christian, Sephardic, Ottoman, and Arab-Andalusian origin, performed by musicians from Greece, Turkey, Israel, Palestine, and various European countries.
The backbone of the music program of the Festival is once again the Dubrovnik Symphony Orchestra. Their first concert of the festival season will feature one of the most sought-after Croatian soloists and winner of the highest awards at numerous international competitions, cellist Monika Leskovar. On this occasion, maestro Sebastian Lang-Lessing, known for his extensive repertoire and having been chief conductor on five continents, will take the conductor's baton.
Also performing will be the famous pianist Pierre-Laurent Aimard, top guitarist Pablo Sáinz-Villegas who will perform with the Dubrovnik Symphony Orchestra under the direction of Valentin Egel, and the world-renowned countertenor Max Emanuel Cencić who will perform with the Greek ensemble Latinitas Nostra. A good time is guaranteed with the performance of the World Youth Jazz Orchestra under the baton of Luis Bonilla or the show program Tarab, performed by the Cristina Aguilera Flamenco Trio with enchanting flamenco rhythms. For ballet lovers, the Croatian National Theatre Ballet in Zagreb will perform Hamlet, directed and choreographed by Leo Mujić, in the beautiful setting of the Gradac Park.
Drama Program – Three Major Premieres, Favorite Revivals, and Dynamic Co-productions and Collaborations
The 75th Dubrovnik Summer Festival brings numerous iconic premieres, attractive guest performances, beloved revivals of last year's successes, and the continuation of innovative co-production and site-specific concepts for drama lovers. The first premiere, already highly anticipated, is Goldoni's Coffee House translated and adapted into Dubrovnik dialect by Frano Čale. It will be staged at Držić's Square as a co-production with the Marin Držić Theatre, directed by Paolo Tišljarić. Then, there's Equinox by Ivo Vojnović, directed by Krešimir Dolenčić, at a completely new festival location, Posat, and The Tempest by William Shakespeare, directed by Vito Taufer, which will be performed in the fairy-tale ambiance of Lokrum Island.
The guest program brings the play Waiting for Orestes by the Croatian National Theatre in Varaždin, based on motifs from Sophocles' Electra, adapted by Lada Kaštelan and directed by Livija Pandur. The revivals include hit plays for which tickets are always in high demand – Mara and Kata, an author project by Saša Božić in collaboration with Nataša Dangubić and Doris Šarić-Kukuljica, and The Melancholy Women of Ragusa by Marijana Fumić, directed by Dora Ruždjak Podolski.
The rich Croatian folklore dance and music heritage will be presented to the audience this year by festival favorites, the Folklore Ensemble Linđo and the Ensemble of Folk Dances and Songs of Croatia, LADO. This year’s festival also offers an artistic and exhibition program, featuring exhibitions by photographer Mara Bratoš, painter and sculptor Josip Ivanović, and the exhibition Mediterranean in Croatian Painting of the 20th and 21st centuries, created in collaboration with the Museum of Modern Art Dubrovnik.