An unexpected bonus in Hvar Town today, as an open door revealed a world of 400 years of history and captivating music.
Hvar Town was looking majestic this morning despite the light rain. The 400 years of Hvar theatre celebrations are here, and the town was awash with flags with the stylish anniversary logo.
I had never been inside the theatre, as it has been closed for renovations for as long as I have been working on this website, and I was curious to see how it looked in real life. As luck would have it, I walked past this morning and noticed an open door.
I climbed up the steps to the terrace which really does have one of the best panoramas of downtown Hvar, with the flags giving it an additional elegance.
From the cathedral to the waterfont, the main square – the biggest in Dalmatia at 4,700m2 – is simply majestic.
As I approached the open door, excited to finally see this special building on the inside, I was further drawn in by the sound of music – a combination of a stunning opera voice and gentle piano playing.
The sources were soon revealed, and I stood enchanted by the site of this gentleman gently playing away in the oldest municipal theatre in Europe, without a care in the world, oblivious to a fat Englishman with a camera, who was taking care not to fall through the floorboards.
The theatre is CUTE, very very unique and well worthy of the current level of interest on its 400th anniversary, which includes a special postage stamp, new book by Mirjana Kolumbic (due out in a month) and national television programme tonight.
The stunning vocals came from behind the theatre, as one singer was obviously practising for her performance tonight. I took out the video camera and recorded them both, and hope it comes out well. If so, I will post it on the site tomorrow.
An open door into a secret world. That is what I love about Hvar. As I gazed up to the theatre an hour before from the city council meeting at the Hvar Loggia, I had no concept of the living magic ongoing in one of Dalmatia’s most special buildings.
