XXI KOTORART DON BRANKO’S MUSIC DAYS OPENED WITH A GALA CONCERT

The twenty-first edition of KotorArt Don Branko's Music Days opened with a gala concert of the Symphony Orchestra of the National Theater of Opera and Ballet of Albania, under the baton of maestro Mladen Tarbuk. After two previous editions held in specific circumstances, when, despite the limiting technical conditions due to the pandemic, it was one of the rare oases of art and performance in the country and beyond – this year’s festival, in its full glory, realizes its program with carefully selected top performers in Kotor and other ancient Boka venues.

On the square the St. Tryphon Cathedral, in the official part of the event, the anthems of Montenegro and the European Union were performed by the Symphony Orchestra of the National Theater of Opera and Ballet of Albania, under the direction of conductor Mladen Tarbuk. This was followed by the speeches of the officials. The mayor of Kotor, Mr. Vladimir Jokić, was the first to speak, saying that “on your way to this event, you could see palaces, such as Buća, Drago, Beskuća and Vrakjen. We are surrounded and guarded by ramparts of which only those on Rhodes were longer, which protected and were guarded by Colossus. It must be that even our ramparts were guarding something colossal, something that we sense tonight. That is why tonight, when Europe has returned to us again, let us take the opportunity to go back to the past together, not to stay in it, but to understand the present and do everything so that tomorrow does not happen without us, but to be participants and masters of our common future”. Then followed the speech of the ambassador of France, Mr. Cristian Thimonier, who, among other things, said that “in these moments of tension and destruction, let us find in this opera something that will nourish our courage and our spirit of resistance, strengthen our faith in the virtues of dialogue and, when the time comes, reconciliation”. The Ambassador of the Czech Republic, Ms. Janina Hrebickova, emphasized in her speech that “together, we share this common aim: to ensure that Europe, including Montenegro and the region, becomes a symbol of hope, opportunity, fairness, prosperity and achievement, of a better future for all”. On the occasion of the beginning of the Czech Republic’s presidency of the Council of the European Union, those present also heard excerpts from the speech of the former president of the Czech Republic, one of the most prominent intellectuals of Europe, Václav Havel, in which he concluded that he is “convinced that the European Union has a chance to inspire the rest of the world with something much more meaningful rather than its model of international cooperation. By this I mean the constant aspiration to solve all the issues that Europe has predetermined, or influenced, the entire character of modern civilization. I have in mind, above all, a shift away from the cult of profit at any cost, regardless of its long-term and irreversible consequences; moving away from the cult of quantitative growth and ‘growth of its growth’ and senseless plundering of the planet’, without thinking about the environment or the interests of future generations”. The Head of the EU Delegation to Montenegro, Ms. Cristina Oana Popa said that “music brings us together even when we are happy, just like this evening. Tonight, symbolically on the day France passes the baton of the EU presidency to the Czech Republic, music will unite Montenegro and Europe through two forgotten operas: Les Montenegrins and Černohorci”. The last speaker in the series of speakers was the Minister of Culture and Media in the Government of Montenegro, Ms. Maša Vlaović, who said that “the concept of this year’s program titled Montenegro and Europe: The Music of Unity is not only a reminder of the cultural ties between our regions and Europe, but it also shows the cultural orientation of contemporary Montenegro. We are particularly pleased that within this program we will be able to hear almost unknown musical works written by foreign composers inspired by Montenegro, especially since, after more than a century, they will be premiered in Kotor”.

The festival was traditionally opened with the bells of the St. Tryphon Cathedral, which was followed by the premiere of a documentary film produced by Radio and Television of Montenegro, edited by Branka Banović and directed by Senad Šahmanović.

Then, the Symphony Orchestra of the National Theater of Opera and Ballet of Albania, under the direction of conductor Mladen Tarbuk, performed the works of European composers, who made a significant mark in the history of music. Some of them sought their artistic inspiration in the southern regions, that is, in the Mediterranean, the Bay of Boka, and Montenegrin areas. In this regard, KotorArt introduced the audience to the operas written years ago, by the French-Belgian composer Armand Limnander de Nieuwenhove and the Czech composer Karel Bendl. Both authors were active at a similar time, and in the space of three decades wrote operas with the same title – the Montenegrins, reflecting in an artistic and poetic way, in the spirit of romanticism, events and personalities from Montenegrin history.

Limnander de Nieuwenhove based the opera Les Montenegrins on a libretto by de Nerval, inspired by stories of Montenegrin heroism and scenes from everyday life. The opera premiered in 1849 in Paris. Thirty years later, Karel Bendl’s opera of the same name was performed in Prague, which was inspired by the libretto of Jozef Veselý, who is believed to have been born in Herceg Novi. The Kotor audience had the opportunity to get acquainted with the music of these authors for the first time, listening to the overture, Regina’s aria and the duet of Béatrix and Sergy from the opera Les Montenegrins by Armand Limnander de Nieuwenhove, as well as the overture, Zajma’s aria and the duet of Zajma and Miloš from the opera Černohorci by Karel Bendl. The soloist roles were performed by Montenegrin soprano Olivera Tičević and tenor Ermin Asćerić from Bosnia and Herzegovina. In addition to numbers from these operas, the musical program of the opening ceremony of KotorArt Don Branko’s Music Days was completed by arias from the opera Carmen by Georges Bizet and the opera Rusalka by Antonín Dvořák, as well as the Symphonic poem Vltava by Bedřich Smetana.

By performing excerpts from the operas of Limnander de Nieuwenhove and Bendl, another detail came to light at KotorArt regarding the richness of Montenegrin cultural heritage and Montenegro as an inspiration woven into those goods – works of art – whose value goes beyond ephemerality and leaves an eternal mark in the history of civilization.

The gala opening of KotorArt, along with the patrons of the festival, the Ministry of Culture and Media and the Municipality of Kotor, was also supported by the EU Delegation to Montenegro, the Embassy of France, the Embassy of the Czech Republic, the Ministry of Culture, the French Institute in Montenegro, the Embassy of Albania and the Valgo Company, while the entire festival is supported by over a hundred national and international friends, partners and sponsors.