Musical Evenings in St. Donat (Glazbene Večeri u Sv. Donatu)

Photos Credit: Vladimir Ivanov
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Festival Story:

“The creation of the Evenings was inspired by two long-standing wishes of mine: that the churches of St Donat and St Dimitrij become concert venues and that Zadar gets its own orchestra once again.” (Pavlje Despalj, conductor and founder of Musical Evenings in St Donat)
Since the initial idea of Zadar’s conductor Pavle Despalj and its realization 46 festival years have already passed, making the Musical Evenings in St Donat one of the oldest Croatian festivals. Its quality as well as the ingenuity and concept of its programmes keep refreshing the hot Zadar summer nights each year.
During almost half a century of its existence, Musical Evenings in St Donat as a musical manifestation has undergone many conceptual changes, all of which were successful, as we might say. During the first festival summers the aim was to bring to Zadar prominent performing artists from all over the world as well as Croatia but also to strengthen local performing forces, allowing them to equally participate in the programme. A radical change was made in 1975 lasting until 1990. The programme focus began relying more intensively and systematically on earlier centuries of music, following novel trends but also starting new ones under the watchful eye of the audience, which either thrillingly accepted the new concept or openly attacked it.
After the dramatic interruption of the festival in 1991 and the even more dramatic festival held under the fire of bombshells in 1992, the Evenings were finally renewed with a fresh concept in 1994. In those days efforts were made to come up with new things under the circumstances and on the basis of what the past festival years had defined as the true values of the programme.
The selected themes presented their content along accepted lines of music as a unique and wholesome term. The theme content ceased to be oriented towards the rigidly drawn boundaries between old and new music; it was accompanied by a musical stage, contemporary Croatian work and Zadar’s performing artists. The 46th Musical Evenings in St Donat are characterized by fresh impetus and driven by the justified ambition to permanently make our Evenings the most important musical event of the entire Croatian Adriatic.
“All the known and unknown concert venues, squares, parks, atriums, hideaways, waterfronts and walls will come to life, those which hadn’t even suspected that pure music would overflow them. The music will pour out of old sleeping tanks and wells, rising from the churches like holy smoke. Fireworks will crackle over Fosa and in the end the Sea Organ will swell as well, accompanied by the thunderous booming of trumpets and horns.” (Tomislav Facˇini, the Artistic Director of Musical Evenings in St Donat)
For one whole month Zadar’s residents and their guests will have the opportunity to enjoy the performances of the greatest names of every music genre—The Hilliard Ensemble, Herbert Lippert, Pro Cantione Antiqua, Amandinda, Šostakovič Quartet, Salome Kammer, also of our own artists Pavle Dešpalj, Tomislav Mužek, Vjekoslav Šutej, Ivan Repušić, Vedran Kocelj, Zadar Chamber Orchestra, Alen Kopunović-Legetin, The Soloists of St Marco and of course of the Glagolitic priests, preservers of our national heritage.
This years Evenings will unite and reconcile all the ideas that have fermented to this day and also implement them in various unusual and magical town locations—just as appealing now as they were forty years ago. And to those who come across their threshold it will present a challenge, because of its long underlying tradition of superb music-making, its rich history, present and hopefully future…

Festival Events:

48th MUSICAL EVENINGS IN ST DONAT — International Summer Festival of Music & Architecture 2008:

• SUNDAY, July 6th, at THE ROMAN FORUM, 9:30pm OPENING CEREMONY
  
  • Georges Bizet: CARMEN
    Concert performance of the most beautiful opera melodies
    Carmen, A Gypsy Girl
    SANJA ANASTASIA, mezzo-soprano
    Don José, Corporal
    MIRO SOLMAN, tenor
    Escamillo, Toreador
    MATIJA MEIĆ, baritone
    FESTIVAL ORCHESTRA
    Conductor: TOMISLAV FAČINI
• TUESDAY, July 8th, at ST FRANCIS’ CLOISTER, 9:00pm, BALTIC VOICES
  
  • ESTONIAN PHILHARMONIC CHAMBER CHOIR
    Conductor: PAUL HILLIER (UK)
    N. Kedrov, U. Sisask, A. Pärt, S. Rachmaninov (All-Night Vigil)
• WEDNESDAY, July 9th, ST DONAT’S CHURCH, 9:00pm, ORPHEUSES OF THE ITALIAN MADRIGAL
  
  • LA VENEXIANA (Italy), Female vocal ensembles of Ferrara, Mantova and Florence
• FRIDAY, July 11th, at ST DONAT’S CHURCH, 9:00pm, CELTIC VOICES
  
  • CATRÍONA O’LEARY & DÚLRA (Ireland)
    We brought the summer along with us/Irish songs and dances from the 17th and 18th century and traditional sources
• TUESDAY, July 15th, at GRAND CAPTAIN’S PALACE, 9:00pm, SPLIT CHAMBER ORCHESTRA
  
  • MARIO IVELJA & OLEG GURSKI, double-basses
    Conductor: PAVLE DEŠPALJ
    K. Odak, A. Klobučar, J. Brahms
• SATURDAY, July 19th, at HAZU INSTITUTE, 9:00pm, FROM SAMBA TO TANGO
  
  • ZAGREB GUITAR QUARTET
    KLASJA MODRUŠAN, soprano
    A. Piazzolla, H. Villa-Lobos, A. Ginastera, C. Machado, J. L. Merlin, I. Josipović
• TUESDAY, July 22nd, at GRISOGONO’S PALACE-VOVO, 9:00pm
  
  • RALITSA TCHOLAKOVA, violin (Bulgaria-Canada)
    J. S. Bach, F. Kreisler, Chan Ka Nin, P. Hristoskov, J. Corigliano
• FRIDAY, July 25th, at UNIVERSITY HALL, 9:00pm, PEARLS OF CHAMBER MUSIC
  
  • KATJA MARKOTIĆ, mezzo-soprano
    MASATOSHI HIRANO, viola alta (Japan)
    MARIA MIKULIĆ-ŠTIMAC, piano
    M. M. Olbersleben, J. Brahms, H. Reutter, T. Narita, D. Pejačević, A. S. Dargomižski, A. Piazzolla, C. M. Loeffler
• SUNDAY, July 27th, at UNIVERSITY HALL, 9:00pm, YOUNG TALENTS
  
  • JAVOR BRAČIĆ, piano
    J. S. Bach, L. van Beethoven, F. Liszt
• TUESDAY, July 29th, at GRAND CAPTAIN’S PALACE, 9:00pm, VARAŽDIN CHAMBER ORCHESTRA
  
  • Program to be announced
• THURSDAY, July 31st, at ST FRANCIS’ CLOISTER, 9:00pm
  GRUBERT THE VIRTUOSO
  
  • ILJA GRUBERT, violin (Russia-The Netherlands)
    KREŠIMIR BEDEK, guitar
    N. Paganini, F. Schubert, M. de Falla, I. Josipović
• SATURDAY, August 2nd, at ST FRANCIS’ CLOISTER, 9:00pm, YOUNG TALENTS
  
  • ANA KAHRIMAN, violin
    ZADAR CHAMBER ORCHESTRA
    Conductor: IVAN REPUŠIĆ
    W. A. Mozart, P. de Sarasate
• MONDAY, August 4th, at ST. FRANCIS’ CLOISTER, 9:00pm, REMEKDJELA KVARTETSKE GLAZBE/MASTERPIECES OF QUARTET MUSIC
  
  • MERIDIAN QUARTET (USA)
    W. A. Mozart, L. van Beethoven, A. Dvořák
• TUESDAY, August 5th, at ST ANASTASIA’S CATHEDRAL, 9:00pm, VICTORY AND HOMELAND THANKSGIVING DAY
  
  • Johann Sebastian Bach
    MAGNIFICAT IN D MAJOR, BWV 243
    Gabriel Fauré
    REQUIEM IN D MINOR, Op. 48
    Vocal soloists
    ST MARK’S CHURCH ORATORIO CHOIR - Zagreb
    ZORANIĆ CROATIAN SINGING MUSICAL SOCIETY - Zadar
    ZADAR CHAMBER ORCHESTRA
    Conductor: IVAN REPUSˇIĆ
• SATURDAY, August 9th, at ST DOMINIC’S CHURCH, 9:00pm
  LA CRÈME DE LA TROMPETTE
  
  • STANKO ARNOLD (Slovenia), VEDRAN KOCELJ, KRESˇIMIR FABIJANIC´, JURE GRADIŠNIK (Slovenia), MARIN ZOKIĆ, DARIO TESKERA
    CAPPELLA ISTROPOLITANA (Slovakia)
    Conductor: TOMISLAV FAČINI
    J. E. Altenburg, G. Tartini, J. Pachelbel, A. Vivaldi, G. Ph. Telemann, H. I. F. von Biber, L. Sorkočević, G. F. Händel

ADDITIONAL PROGRAMMING 2008:

• THURSDAY, August 14th, at ARSENAL, 10:00pm
  
  • Free entry concert for friends, sponsors and VIP guests of the Musical Evenings in St Donat
• RICARDO LUQUE & FRIENDS
  
  • Special guest star: JACQUELINE CASTELLANOS, vocal (Cuba)

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