During 47 festival days, from 10 July to 25 August, the 67th Dubrovnik Summer Festival gathered nearly 2000 artists from all over the world who took part in 93 theatrical, musical, dance, folklore, film and visual arts programs at 17 site-specific venues, before an audience of 60.000 local and foreign visitors, according to the announcement from the Press Conference held at the Sponza Palace on this year’s final Festival day. The participants included Ph.D. Zlatko Hasanbegović, Minister of Culture, Andro Vlahušić, Mayor of Dubrovnik, Nikola Dobroslavić, Prefect of the Dubrovnik-Neretva County, Siniša Kovačić, CRT Deputy Director as well as the leadership of the Dubrovnik Summer Festival, Mladen Tarbuk, Artistic Director and Paulina Njirić, Executive Director’s Authorised Representative.
At the beginning of the Press Conference, this year's winners of Orlando Award for the best artistic achievement in drama and in music program of 67th Festival were announced: the play Othello and young virtuosos Aleksey Semenenko and Inna Firsova. Ballet from the Slovenian National Theatre Maribor will be awarded with special recognition due to high artistic achievements during their multi-year performances at the Festival.
Artistic Director, Mladen Tarbuk, emphasized the strong synergy of Croatian and international art in this year's program as the Dubrovnik Summer Festival is and should be local, national and world festival.
The premiere drama program thrilled critics as well as the festival audiences. Carlo Goldoni's La bottega del caffè, translated and adapted by Frano Čale is one of cult plays from the Festival’s golden age. This year's La bottega del caffè was staged as a comedy with song and dance, directed by Vinko Brešan, performed by the Festival Drama Ensemble in front of Sponza Palace. The play attracted more than 4,000 spectators which resulted in sold out tickets days in advance and a subsequently added performance.
The Dubrovnik Summer Festival dedicated the second drama premiere to 400th anniversary of the death of William Shakespeare. Othello, translated by Vladimir Gerić, directed by Ivica Boban and performed by the Festival Drama Ensemble at Fort Lovrjenac, was greeted with an outstanding ovation by the audience and also critics who wrote: "The show is worthy its brilliance, this time and a full auditorium" and "Dubrovnik's Othello is all made of incorruptible emotions" adding great compliments to drama ensemble, especially to Dragan Despot in the role of Othello, to Rakan Rushaidat as Iago and to Anja Đurinović as Desdemona.
Last year’s premiere of Ivo Vojnović’s Dubrovnik Trilogy, directed by Staša Zurovac, was shown this year as well as other guest performances. Zagreb Youth Theatre played a contemporary piece #workingtitleantigone, written by Argentine team of authors Jazmín Sequeira and Luciano Delprato and directed by Renata Carola Gatica. In the Art School Park, Molière’s Le malade imaginaire was played, directed by Krešimir Dolenčić in a production of the Gavella City Theatre. Co-production with the Ulysses Theatre and MESS Sarajevo brought Antigone 2000 Years After, directed by Lenka Udovički and premiered on the island of Mali Brijun in August 2015, a widely acclaimed play aiming at comparing Sophocles’ heroine and the events taking place in our region twenty years after the war.
Professor and director Mira Muhoberac and students of the University of Zagreb staged Uncle Maroje as they imagined Držić himself could originally stage in 1551 in the Hall of the Dubrovnik Republic. Lero Students Theatre has brought traditionally their latest drama. Cotton shortage, directed by Davor Mojaš was written according to records of forgotten Dubrovnik poet, playwright and satirist of the late 17th century, Antun Gleđević.
On the Island of Lokrum, ballet lovers had the opportunity to enjoy the ballet diptych C. Debussy’s Prélude à l'apr ès-midi d'un faun, choreographed by Edward Clug, and R. Shchedrin’s Carmen, choreographed by Valentina Turcu, in a co-production of the Dubrovnik Summer Festival and the Slovenian National Theatre of Maribor.
Zagreb Dance Ensemble brought contemporary Croatian dance - the work of the renowned Spanish choreographer and dancer Daniela Abreu, Anything, performed by six dancers. The performance was realized through Croatian Dance Network. Contemporary performance practices were shown by an art collective BADco. with the project Stranger premiered in June 2015 as part of the Perforations Festival.
Staged on the Island of Lokrum, as part of this year’s The Festival Features Writers, Milana Vuković Runjić and Daniel Rafaelić told the untold story of the unfortunate and brave Archduke Maximilian and his restless and sensitive wife Carlota and dreams they had. Igor Zidić's evening of poetry Midsummer Night's Dream was held in the newly renovated church of St. Stephen in Pustijerna and evening of a versatile artist - playwrighter, screenwriter, composer and musician - Mate Matišić in the Rector's Palace. Under the same program, in summer residence Skočibuha at Boninovo for two nights performed Seven pages from the G. G. Marquez novel One Hundred Years of Solitude, staged and adapted by Mani Gotovac.
This season's music program counted as many as 21 concert. It began with great performance of tenor José Cura at the Opening Ceremony, directed by Ivan Miladinov. Cura also performed on July 11 in front of St. Blaise's church on a gala concert with soprano Linda Ballova and the Croatian Radio Television Symphony Orchestra conducted by Mladen Tarbuk.
The piano recitals dominated the rich music program with the most prestigious national and international pianists of all ages such as Ivo Pogorelić, Philippe Entremont, Michele Campanella, as well as young Andrew Tyson and Aljoša Jurinić.
Matija Dedić dedicated one recital to his father Arsen Dedić and also performed as a part of the project entitled The Three Pianos and Vivaldi alongside Matej Meštrović and Hakan Ali Toker, the renowned Turkish pianist, composer and music pedagogue, in front of the Rector’s Palace. This was the world premiere of Vivaldi's Four Seasons for 3 Pianos by Matej Mestrovic, which delighted the Festival audience.
The world-famous violinist and concertmaster of the London Symphony Orchestra, Roman Simović appeared with pianist Ratimir Martinović, and violinist Davide Alogna with pianist Alexander Frey. Among the chamber concerts stood out performances by the Nordic Chamber Orchestra with one of the world's greatest horn player Radovan Vlatković and performance of the Vienna Philharmonic Ensemble in the atrium of the Rector's Palace.
Dubrovnik Symphony Orchestra at the 67th Dubrovnik Summer Festival performed with the renowned conductors Amos Talmon andErtuğ Korkmaz, clarinetist Marija Pavlović, bassoonist Pieter Nuytten, violinist Stephen Waarts and cellist Jelena Očić.
At the second concert, in August, dedicated to the maestro Ivo Dražinić, Dubrovnik Symphony Orchestra premiered Fran Đurović's Symphony. Tonight, starting at 10:00 PM, Croatian Radio Television Symphony Orchestra conducted by Ivo Lipanović, with mezzo-soprano Dubravka Šeparović Mušović, soprano Valentina Fijačko Kobić and last year's winners of the Orlando Award Henschel Quartet will close the 67th Festival in front of St. Blaise's Church.
Thinking about the future of the festival and wanting to promote young artists on their way to the world's biggest stages, Festival presented a new program called Key to the future. During the six festival nights laureates of prestigious international competitions were presented - great American pianist, the initiator of this project - Andrew Tyson, Croatian pianist Aljoša Jurinić, American violinist Stephen Waarts, Russian pianist Andrey Gugnin, Ukrainian violinist Alexey Semenenko, pianist Inna Firsova and another talented Russian pianist Yury Favorin.
This season has brought two new festival venues in Konavle - great Mexican pianist and conductor Enrique Bátiz held a piano recital in front of the St. Blaise's Franciscan Monastery in Pridvorje, while the Henschel Quartet performed last night at the St Nicholas' Church Pinacotheca in Cavtat. St Stephen's Church at Pustijerna and former warehouse in Komolac were also new venues of the Festival.
With regular drama, music and ballet program, festival audience enjoyed the dance and music of Croatian folk heritage performed by Folklore Ensemble Linđo from Dubrovnik, which in addition to their regular appearances on the Fort Revelin terrace, held a gala concert in front of St Blaise's Church celebrating fifty years of performance at the Festival. The most prominent Croatian folk ensemble LADO also performed at 67th Festival. Indian dancer and choreographer Sneha Bharadwaj performed classical dances and took the audience on a trip to ancient and mystic India.
Film program in the summer cinemas Jadran and Slavica, realized in collaboration with Dubrovnik cinemas, included a total of seven titles as well as the screenings of domestic films awarded at the Pula Film Festival and a selection of recent international films.
Thanks to the rich archive of CRT, regarding 40th anniversary of Orlando Award, in the cinema Slavica for three nights the audience had an opportunity to recall artistic peaks achieved during the long history of the Festival. Sponza Palace Atrium and Lazareti were transformed into art and photographic galleries for the exhibitions of José Cura, Tihomir Lončar, Jagoda Buić, Mara Bratoš and Dejan Stokić. The monography of the painter Ivo Dulčić, written by Igor Zidić and Pavo Urban's War Diary by editor Dubravka Vrgoč were also presented.
In relation to last year, 67th Festival had increased online ticket sales by 6%, as well as agency sales. The great interest of local and foreign media resulted in nearly 2,000 media reports, while the press office accredited 223 representatives of local and foreign media. From July 1 to August 24, the recognized methodology Google Analytics recorded nearly 40,000 unique visitors the website of the Festival.
Director's assignee Paulina Njirić warmly thanked everyone for their understanding and trust shown to the whole team of Dubrovnik Summer Festival. As has been repeatedly pointed out, this year's Festival could not be successful without the support of the Ministry of Culture, the City of Dubrovnik, Dubrovnik-Neretva County, the Croatian Tourist Bord, the Dubrovnik Tourist Board and numerous sponsors: Croatia osiguranje, Hrvatska elektroprivreda, Croatia Airlines, Ford – Grand Auto, Adriatic Luxury Hotels, Hilton, Valamar, Petka, Esplanade Zagreb, Gulliver Travel, Clara Stones, Viva water, Lenovo, Kraš – Bajadera, Lavazza and Restorant 360. OTP Bank, Dubrovnik Airport and Atlanska plovidba supported the Festival with their donations.