August the 29th, 2024 – The incredible 75th Dubrovnik Summer Festival draws to a close following an amazing few weeks of art and culture in the Pearl of the Adriatic.
The 75th Dubrovnik Summer Festival has successfully brought another exciting season to an end. Held over 47 days (more specifically from July the 10th to August the 25th) a total of 78 performances full of drama, music, ballet, folklore, film and children’s programmes were enjoyed by audiences at fifteen different ambient locations across Dubrovnik.
In the atrium of the impressive Sponza Palace, the final press conference on the occasion of the closing of the 75th Dubrovnik Summer Festival was held. Alongside the management of the festival, the director Ivana Medo Bogdanović, artistic director Martina Filjak and director of the drama programme Senka Bulić were all present. In addition, the Minister of Culture and Media, Nina Obuljen Koržinek, Dubrovnik Mayor Mato Franković and Dubrovnik-Neretva County Prefect Nikola Dobroslavić also attended.
four drama premieres took place at the 75th dubrovnik summer festival
With a total of nine drama titles, this summer’s drama programme was marked by as many as four drama premieres. The first premiere drama title, Kafetarija, was based on the work of Carlo Goldoni and was directed by Paolo Tišljarić. It was co-produced by the Dubrovnik Summer Festival and the Marin Držić Theatre, under the auspices of Studenac.
It was followed by Ivo Vojnović’s Equinox directed by Krešimir Dolenčić at the new festival location – Posat. The performance of Jimmy Ćorak by Matija Čigir, Ivana Vuković and Ivan Plazibat was the third drama premiere this summer, co-produced by the Dubrovnik Summer Festival, the Punctum art organisation, Kuća Klajn and KunstTeatra. Towards the end of the 75th Dubrovnik Summer Festival, the fourth drama premiere took place on the beautiful island of Lokrum. That was the one and only William Shakespeare’s The Tempest, directed and adapted by Vito Taufer under the auspices of Hrvatska elektroprivreda.
a visit from the croatian national theatre in Varaždin and much more
In the visiting part of the programme this summer, the Croatian National Theatre in Varaždin presented itself to waiting audiences with the play Waiting for Orestes. The programme also included hits from previous festival seasons, such as Marijana Fumić’s popular play The Melancholy Women of Ragusa, directed by Dora Ruždjak Podolski and performed by the Festival Drama Ensemble. It initially premiered at the 74th Dubrovnik Summer Festival and returned to Gradac Park once again this summer.
Then came the excellent musical stage piece The Enchanted Forest by Sunčana Škrinjarić and directed by Lea Anastazija Fleger. It premiered back during the 73rd summer festival and much to the delight of the youngest in the audience this year, it took place once again at Fort Lovrijenac. The success of Mara and Kata, a project by Saša Božić realised in collaboration with drama artists Nataša Dangubić and Doris Šarić-Kukuljica, made the audience laugh and smile for the fifth season in a row this summer.
The traditional participant of the Dubrovnik Summer Festival was also Lero Student Theatre, which performed its recent theatrical work, So Much For The Birds directed by Davor Mojaš, twice this summer.
the music programme
The music programme of the 75th Dubrovnik Summer Festival presented those gathered with some impressive domestic and international names. It was opened by the performance of the Hespèrion XXI Ensemble under the direction of Wead Bouhassoun. This was followed by a spectacular concert by the one and only Dubrovnik Symphony Orchestra conducted by Sebastian Lang Lessing and Monika Leskovar, a renowned Croatian cellist who returned to the festival after a significant break.
Under the guidance of the charismatic conductor Valentin Egel, DSO shared the festival stage with sensational guitarist Pablo Sáinz-Villegas. Then, under the energetic leadership of maestro Ivan Hut and pianist Ivan Jelač, the 290th anniversary of Luka Sorkočević’s birth was marked.
Then came one of the world’s best countertenors, the amazing Max Emanuel Cencić with the Greek ensemble Latinitas Nostra. The 75th Dubrovnik Summer Festival also played host to the fabulous musicians of the Antiphonus Ensemble with acclaimed guitarist Petrit Čeku. Then came the world-renowned tenor Krešimir Špicer with multiple award-winning pianist Lovro Marušić, pianist Marija Grazio and violist Marko Genero, and that goes without mentioning the amazing Zagreb Quartet with pianist Ivan Krpan.
The Arod Quartet, the Papandopulo Quartet, famous pianist Pierre-Laurent Aimard, the Bach Consort Wien Ensemble, the virtuoso French violinist Renaud Capuçon with the pianist Guillaume Bellom and the Rijeka Piano Trio all contributed to this summer’s rich musical programme. The music programme in the Rector’s Palace concluded with a donation concert by Youth for Youth.
A jazz pop-up concert was also held at Trg oruža, where the incredibly talented Ivan Bonačić trio performed.
With the aim of attracting new audiences and enriching the concert offer modelled after some global classical music festivals, the World Music and Jazz Cycle was launched as part of the 75th Dubrovnik Summer Festival. In it, the World Jazz Orchestra of Musical Youth, the legendary Dubrovnik chanson player Ibrica Jusić, and then the duo Dina e Mel all performed, while at the end, the flamenco show programme Tarab, performed by the Cristina Aguilera Flamenco Trio, set the atmosphere well and truly alight.
the one and only Linđo delighted the crowds
The iconic Linđo Folklore Ensemble held four performances as part of the 75th Dubrovnik Summer Festival, and the ballet ensemble of the Croatian National Theatre in Zagreb performed Shakespeare’s Hamlet on two consecutive nights in gorgeous Gradac Park. The ensemble of folk dances and songs of LADO, which celebrated its own 75th anniversary of artistic activity this year, also delighted the audience with a performance at the same stunning location.
an exhibition’s premiere
The first exhibition at the 75th Dubrovnik Summer Festival, Lopud Portraits by photographer Mara Bratoš was presented to the festival audience in July in the Sponza Palace atrium. Later on in early August, an exhibition from painter Josip Ivanović From Car to Chaos was also set up at the same location. An enticing exhibition entitled “The Mediterranean in 20th and 21st Century Croatian Painting” by Iva Körbler, was opened within the Dubrovnik Art Gallery.
As part of the accompanying programme of the 75th Dubrovnik Summer Festival in the Sponza Palace’s atrium, Hrvoje Juvančić’s book Conversations about Jupa was presented, as was Srđan Gjivoje’s charming book The Story of a Boy from Iza Roka Street. Petra Jelača, a theatre critic who has been following the Dubrovnik Summer Festival’s rich drama programme for two decades now, gave an interesting lecture at the same place entitled “Through the History of Dubrovnik’s Site-Specific Theatre”.
happy birthday, Luka Sorkočević!
The 75th Dubrovnik Summer Festival celebrated the 290th anniversary of the birth of composer Luka Sorkočević by presenting a picture book bearing his name. It was written by one of the most prolific contemporary Croatian writers, academician Luko Paljetak, and created in cooperation with the Matica Hrvatska branch in the City of Dubrovnik.
the 70th pula film festival and the 75th dubrovnik summer festival
The traditional collaboration between two cities at two ends of the country continued, more specifically with the 70th Pula Film Festival. That meant that Dubrovnik audiences this year had the opportunity to watch the screening of the winner of the Great Golden Arena, the film Celebration directed by Bruno Anković.
The director of the Dubrovnik Summer Festival, Ivana Medo Bogdanović, thanked the main financiers, the Ministry of Culture and Media, the City of Dubrovnik, Dubrovnik-Neretva County, numerous sponsors led by Dubrovnik Airport, ACI, Studenac, Mastercard, Croatian Lottery (Hrvatska Lutrija), Euroherc, Adriatic Luxury Hotels, HEP, Kraš, Croatia Airlines, MG, Coca Cola, and the Croatian National Tourist Board.
She also thanked the festival’s donors: OTP Banka, Atlantska plovidba, its always large audience, and especially the citizens of Dubrovnik for their endless support from the auditorium, the media for providing correct monitoring, all of the festival’s hard-working employees, numerous external collaborators, students and pupils who participated in the organisation of the 75th Dubrovnik Summer Festival. The total budget for the festival stood at a whopping 2,047,000 euros, which is a 17% increase compared last year thanks to increased support from the aforementioned ministry, as well as a 30% increase in the sale of tickets and souvenirs compared to 2023.
the jewel in the crown of the 75th dubrovnik summer festival…
The proverbial jewel in the already sparkling crown of the 75th Dubrovnik Summer Festival was the spectacular Opera Gala. This traditional concert was led by the Symphony Orchestra of the Croatian Radio and Television (HRT) under the direction of maestro Ivan Repušić, with one of today’s biggest opera stars, Bulgarian soprano Sonya Yoncheva, Maltese tenor Joseph Calleja and one of the most sought-after basses on the international scene, Ante Jerkunica, It wowed the audience on August the 25th in front of the Cathedral, officially closing the 75th Dubrovnik Summer Festival. With the beautiful song La musica di notte, the actors of the Festival Drama Ensemble and musicians took down the famous Libertas flag until the next summer, when it will fly once again.
For more information on the 75th Dubrovnik Summer Festival, click here.
