A spectacular concert was held last night, July 20 by The Dubrovnik Symphony Orchestra and the virtuoso trumpeter Håkan Hardenberger, in the jam-packed atrium of the Rector’s Palace. The distinguished maestro Franz Anton Krager conducted the evening’s programme, comprised of Aaron Copland’s Music for the Movies, Johann Nepomuk Hummel’s Trumpet Concerto in E Major, Zoltán Kodály’s Summer Evening, Le Tombeau de Couperin by Maurice Ravel and, finally, Robert Nelson’s arrangement of The Lone Star Pageant.

A superstar trumpeter, the Swede Håkan Hardenberger is one of the world's leading soloists thanks to his unparalleled skill and ingenuity. Though Hardenberger, often called the “the greatest trumpeter on earth,” and his masterful solo performance were definitely the highlight of the evening, the Dubrovnik Symphony Orchestra was not overshadowed – playing lively and energetically, then skilfully switching to a more dramatic and fierce mood, but in every moment their performance had been unfalteringly magnificent - as led by the renowned American conductor Krager - delighting the audience. After the first part, the performance of Hummel’s Concerto, and a deserved thundering ovation, Hardenberger addressed the audience, reminiscing of his first visit to Dubrovnik 32 years ago. The overjoyed crowd received was then given a musical encore by Hardenberger.

The next Dubrovnik Symphony Orchestra concert at the Festival is scheduled for 12 August, also in the Rector’s Palace Atrium, when they will be accompanied by violinist Katarina Kutnar and led by maestro Ivo Lipanović. The concert will premiere the Ivan Violić Ciklus.mp3 composition for strings, along with Tchaikovsky’s Violin concerto and Beethoven’s Eroica. Tickets for this concert and others on the Festival’s music programme are available for purchase at the Dubrovnik Summer Festival website www.dubrovnik-festival.hr or via www.ulaznice.hr ticketing service and at the box office of the Festival Palace (Od Sigurate 1) every day from 9am to 9.30pm. All residents of Dubrovnik-neretva county are offered a 30% discount on all tickets. Purchases made with Mastercard® and Maestro® cards receive a 10% discount while all purchases and orders over 500 kuna receive a 30% discount voucher for Festival souvenirs.