Dubrovnik Symphony Orchestra | Valentin Egel, Conductor | Dubravka Šeparović Mušović, mezzo - soprano

Dubrovnik Symphony Orchestra 

Valentin Egel, Conductor

Dubravka Šeparović Mušović, mezzo-soprano

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Seductresses, Avengers, Heroines 

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National Champion of the Croatian National Theatre in Zagreb, Dubravka Šeparović Mušović, in collaboration with conductor Valentin Egel, has created a program called 'Seductresses, Avengers, Heroines' in which she will present the strong female characters she has portrayed throughout her rich career. We will experience the entire program with the Dubrovnik Symphony Orchestra, whose 100th anniversary we are celebrating this season.

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PROGRAMME: 

Georges Bizet: Carmen

       - Overture
       - aria Carmen, "Habanera"

       – aria Carmen, "Seguidilla"
       – entráct Act four

Camille Saint-Saëns: Samson and Delilah - aria Delilah, "Mon cœur..."

Giuseppe Verdi: Nabucco – Overture

Giuseppe Verdi: Troubadour - aria Azucena, "Stride la vampa"

Pietro Mascagni: Cavalleria rusticana

       – Intermezzo

       - Romanca Santuzze, "Voi lo sapete"

Christoph Willibald Gluck: Orpheus and Eurydice - aria Orpheus, "Che farò senza Euridice"

Antonín Dvořák: Slavonic dance, op. 72, No. 2

Antonín Dvořák: Rusalka - aria Ježibaba, "Čury mury fuk"

Ivan Brkanović: Equinox - monologue of Jele

Jakov Gotovac: Mila Gojsalića - Ode to the Country

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Opera and fashion

This concert is dedicated to the prominent international fashion designers who designed costumes for opera productions, with a special focus on Croatian costume designer Ika Škomrlj.

In three parts, each with a different theme, we celebrate the connection between music, theatre and high fashion – from Paris and Milan to Zagreb.

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Temptresses and the French

In this section, we perform the most famous arias by French composers, such as Georges Bizet and Camille Saint-Saëns – the unforgettable musical portraits of Carmen and Delilah.

The sensuality and charm conveyed through the music are mirrored in costume design, the work of designers such as Christian Lacroix and Jean-Paul Gaultier, whose designs have enriched many opera stages.

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Revenge-seekers and the Italians

The second part brings music filled with passion and dramatic climaxes – typical of Italian opera.

In fashion, this corresponds to intense colours, a deep connection to history and tradition, but also refined eroticism. We find inspiration in the work of Giorgio Armani, Valentino Garavani and Dolce & Gabbana, who enriched the opera with their own fashion language.

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Heroines and the Slavs – Homage to Ika Škomrlj

The third part is dedicated to Slavic musical and cultural heritage and the great heroines from our operatic tradition.

The music of Brkanović’s Jele and Gotovac’s Mila Gojsalić conveys the spirit of struggle, blood, fierceness, but also sincere love – elements that are also essential to the costume design of Ika Škomrlj, to whom this part is dedicated.

⸻

Bow as a symbol

All these musical and fashion parts are connected with the bow – a symbol of elegance, tenderness, refinement, eroticism, but also nostalgia, vulnerability, emotional complexity and inner struggle.

As a visual detail, the bow becomes a link between fashion and opera, past and present.

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Concept and performance

The concept of this thematic fusion of opera and fashion was conceived by Dubravka Šeparović Mušović, who was joined by the costume designer Dženisa Pecotić.

Together, they created homage not only to music and fashion, but also to the strong female personalities that shape and present them.

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Fashion designers in opera (a selection)

Giorgio Armani

• Lucia di Lammermoor (2003, Teatro alla Scala)

• His minimalist and elegant costumes introduced modernity to classical opera.

Karl Lagerfeld

• Platée (1980s, Opéra national de Paris)

• He added theatricality and baroque splendour to the stage.

Jean Paul Gaultier

• The Marriage of Figaro and other contemporary productions

• His extravagant, provocative designs perfectly suited opera characters.

Valentino Garavani

• La Traviata (2016, Teatro dell’Opera di Roma)

• Lavish, romantic dresses in his signature style.

Christian Lacroix

• Collaborations with Opéra de Paris and Comédie-Française

• Known for his historically inspired, lavishly ornamented costumes.

Miuccia Prada

• The Great Gatsby (ballet and opera collaborations)

• She combines modern sensibility with classical motifs.

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MORE ABOUT THE PROGRAMME:

Notes by Dina Puhovski

Temptresses, Revenge-Seekers, Heroines – in short: strong women – are the characters who have marked the career of Dubravka Šeparović Mušović. With this concert, she pays special tribute to them: She is the author of the concept, a thematic fusion of opera and fashion, in which she was joined by the costume designer Dženisa Pecotić. Together, they created this evening’s homage not only to music and fashion, but also to the strong female personalities that shape and present them. The authors also point out: ‘The concert is dedicated to the prominent international fashion designers who designed costumes for opera productions, with a special focus on Croatian costume designer Ika Škomrlj. In three parts, each with a different theme, we celebrate the connection between music, theatre and high fashion – from Paris and Milan to Zagreb.’

Witches, female dissenters and leaders in opera are often interpreted by mezzos and altos, the voices that are sometimes on the margins of that operatic formula: ‘the tenor wants to sleep with the soprano, but the baritone will not allow it.’ Thus they often sing the roles of ‘others’, but also unusual, varied roles, while the sopranos are more often gentle, naive, innocent, and get the crown and the man. Of course, there are instances in which a mezzo-soprano is the main character, such as the role of Carmen, a well-known, but inadequate example, because it is also sung by sopranos; besides, women of all types of voices rarely survive until the end of the opera. The strength that defines these characters – and the performer – is celebrated today as an important female trait, although women still encounter resistance if they show ‘a little too much strength’. It is also important to remember that strength sometimes emerged because women had no choice: it was either strength or ruin.

The first part of the concert is dedicated to French opera (and fashion), the second to Italian, and the third to Slavic. The first, entitled Temptresses and the French, is described by Šeparović Mušović as follows: ‘In this part, we perform the most famous arias by French composers, such as Georges Bizet and Camille Saint-Saëns – the unforgettable musical portraits of Carmen and Delilah. The sensuality and charm conveyed through the music are mirrored in costume design, the work of designers such as Christian Lacroix and Jean-Paul Gaultier, whose designs have enriched many opera stages.’

A temptress, a rebel, a member of a rebel group, but also a loner, in love and dangerous, intelligent, and enterprising, Carmen remains one of the most striking opera characters of all time. Georges Bizet (Paris, 1838 – 1875) wrote Carmen to a libretto by Henri Meilhac and Ludovic Halévy, based on the novella by Prosper Mérimée. It is one of the most popular operas in history, but its composer only lived to see an unsuccessful (!) premiere in Paris in 1875, after which he passed away three months later. Five months after the premiere, the opera saw great success in Vienna, later also in London. The initial shock caused by ‘immoral’ themes wore off, and the incredible melodies spiced up with the French version of Spanish folk music became a mainstream cultural phenomenon. The story takes place in and around Seville around 1830. The strong-willed and irresistible Gypsy Carmen, who works in a tobacco factory, seduces a soldier, joins a gang of smugglers, falls in love with a toreador, and the seduced soldier kills her. It is a story about passion and freedom, but also about constant struggle in the lives of the lower class.

Habanera, from Act 1 of the opera, is marked by rhythmic and melodic elements of the titular dance, which we first hear performed by the cellos. The dance may not have originated in Havana, this is still a matter of dispute; Bizet was inspired by a tune he believed to be Spanish traditional, when it was in fact a song El Arreglito by the Basque composer Sebastián Yradier. As an exception, Bizet, not the librettists, wrote the text for this aria; he changed the usual male perspective of the habanera: here, a woman shows who she is and what she thinks: On the square, in front of everyone, she speaks about love, which she considers ‘a rebellious bird’ and generally untameable. In the end, she throws a flower to Don José, who thus far has been ignoring her, and he will sing about this later.

Seguidilla is a diminutive of seguida, an old Castilian dance form in triple time. In this scene, Carmen is in prison for stabbing a co-worker. In the aria, she is trying to convince José to release her and in many stagings she dances around him with her hands tied. She also tells him what will happen when he releases her: together they will go to her friend, Lillas Pastia, and she presents it all with a confidence of a woman who knows she is already one step away from freedom. José indeed releases her and ends up in prison himself, after which he goes looking for her; the ramparts Carmen sings about (‘près de ramparts’ – near the ramparts) will be the first of many images of freedom, which seems to be just around the corner, but Carmen understands that the search for it might not end well.

Delilah, a Philistine woman, is another sensual and dangerous operatic character, from the opera Samson and Delilah by Camille Saint-Saëns (Paris, 1835 – Algiers, 1921), composed to a libretto by Ferdinand Lemaire, inspired by a story from the Old Testament. Delilah seduces her old flame again, the Hebrew hero Samson, and tries to get him to reveal the secret of his incredible strength. In the Old Testament version, she did it for money, in opera, out of affection for ‘her people’ and the High Priest of Dagon. In the aria ‘Mon cœur...’, Saint-Saëns wrote for her one of the most beautiful melodies, of long breath – both literally and figuratively – which makes listeners wonder whether this woman is pretending or she is truly in love.

The setting of this ancient story brings us back to modern-day tragedies: the story is set in – Gaza.

The second part of the concert is dedicated to the Italian revenge-seekers. Dubravka Šeparović Mušović writes that this chapter ‘brings music filled with passion and dramatic climaxes – typical of Italian opera. In fashion, this corresponds to intense colours, deep connection to history and tradition, but also refined eroticism. We find inspiration in the work of Giorgio Armani, Valentino Garavani and Dolce & Gabbana, who enriched the opera with their own fashion language.’

We join the Italians with the overture to Nabucco (1841), the third opera by Giuseppe Verdi (Le Roncole, 1813 – Milan, 1901). It is a well-known fact that the opera’s story about the Jews, who were exiled by the Babylonians, was used by Verdi, or was interpreted, as a metaphor for the struggle for freedom of his own people. Verdi wrote Il trovatore, first performed in 1853, to a libretto by Salvadore Cammarano and Leone Emanuele Bardare, based on the play El trovador by Antonio García Gutierrez. In Il trovatore, a Gypsy woman Azucena swears revenge on the Luna family for the death of her mother, accused of witchcraft. Azucena’s life is filled with rage and desire to revenge, but Verdi also portrays her as a loving mother in the scenes with her son Manrico, leader of the rebels. He is the troubadour from the title, who is trying to win Leonora’s love, and the one who wants to prevent him from succeeding is, of course – the baritone, Count Luna. He is Manrico’s opponent both in the matters of love and politics, as well as his brother, which he is unaware of. It was believed that Azucena, the daughter of the woman who was burned at the stake, kidnapped the Count’s brother out of revenge and threw him into the fire, but she raised him as her own son, Manrico.

In the aria ‘Stride la vampa’, Azucena recalls the ‘roaring fire’ in which her mother died – with all the details, the eerie rising of the flame and its reflection on the murderers’ faces. Verdi gave Azucena long, sustained tones, with which she brings out the most terrible memories, and then a gradual musical build-up as the fire grows stronger. Her plan for revenge will unfold in a way she never wanted, when Manrico is killed by his own brother.

Tragic passions unravel quite differently in the verismo opera Cavalleria rusticana, from 1890. Pietro Mascagni (Livorno, 1863 – Rome, 1945) composed it to a libretto by Giovanni Targioni-Tozzetti and Guido Menasci, based on a short story by Giovanni Verga. The verismo approach meant more realism: passions and hopeless situations in the lives of impoverished southerners, on a Catholic holiday, with a love triangle – Turiddu loved Lola, but when he joined the army, she married Alfio. Disappointed Turiddu seduced Santuzza, but then returned to Lola. In the dramatic aria ‘Voi lo sapete’, Santuzza reveals that she knows everything, explaining her situation to Turiddu’s mother (‘You know... He loved me, I loved him... But she, envious of my only delight... Burned with jealousy’). Santuzza tries praying to God and begging Turiddu, and then reveals everything to Alfio, who challenges Turiddu to a knife duel.

Before moving on to the third, Slavic part of the programme, a sort of intermezzo is brought by one of the most performed arias for mezzo-soprano, which is, as an exception, sung not by the heroine, but the hero-poet. Christoph Willibald Gluck (Erasbach, 1714 – Vienna, 1787) wrote Orfeo ed Euridice in 1762 to a libretto by Ranieri de Calzabigi, based on a Greek myth. Orfeo, devastated by the death of his beloved Euridice, who was bitten by a snake, gets the chance to get her back from the underworld, but under one condition: he must not tell her what is happening, nor turn around when she calls him. As it is well known – he did turn around. However, unlike the Greek myth, in Gluck’s version, Amore returns Euridice to life again, showing that, sometimes, there are happy endings in opera.

In the aria ‘Che farò senza Euridice’, Orfeo is still without Euridice, wondering how he is going to survive that (‘What will I do without Euridice?’); he concludes that life has no meaning, and here the composer uses typical techniques for conveying sorrow – descending sequences, simple melody with short phrases-sighs, static harmony.

Here is what Dubravka Šeparović Mušović wrote about the part entitled Heroines and the Slavs: ‘The third part is dedicated to Slavic musical and cultural heritage and the great heroines from our operatic tradition. The music of Brkanović’s Jele and Gotovac’s Mila Gojsalić conveys the spirit of struggle, blood, fierceness, but also sincere love – the elements that are also essential to the costume design of Ika Škomrlj’, to whom this part is dedicated.’

Ježibaba is the witch from the opera Rusalka by Antonín Dvořák (Nelahozeves, 1841 – Prague, 1904), written to a libretto by Jaroslav Kvapil, based on the novella Undine by Friedrich de la Motte Fouqué and The Little Mermaid by Hans Christian Andersen. She is also a ubiquitous figure in Slavic folklore, the Czech version of Baba Yaga. In Rusalka, Ježibaba is a sorceress who will grant the water fairy Rusalka a wish – she will turn her into a mortal, all out of love for the Prince. Before the spell is cast, she warns her that the price is high, that she would lose her voice and no one would ever hear her speak, but Rusalka agrees to this sacrifice. In ‘Čury mury fuk’, Ježibaba performs magic incantations, repeating musical patterns resembling a nursery rhyme. This year’s production of Rusalka at the Croatian National Theatre in Zagreb showed that Ježibaba can also be interpreted as – an experienced woman who has lived through everything and who is trying to advise the young fairy (at the same time aware that it is hard to change the minds of those who are in love). Dvořák also wrote 16 Slavonic Dances, and the dances in Op. 72 are from 1886.

The programme is concluded with two arias by Croatian composers. Ivan Brkanović (Škaljari, 1906 – Zagreb, 1987) wrote the opera Equinox in 1945 (first performed in 1950) based on the work of the Dubrovnik author Ivo Vojnović. Vojnović wrote: ‘I leave it to the composer’s genius to transpose to the theatre the secret of the equinox storm. It is the source of this drama, and yet, it finds its symbolic meaning in it. What better than music could bring to life the wild, majestic poetry of the struggle between life and death, be it in nature, or in a tormented soul?’ Brkanović’s and Vojnović’s Jele is a complex character, an abandoned woman, mother, fighter, fearing for her son, especially because of his potential confrontation with his father.

Musicologist Eva Sedak wrote that Ivan Brkanović freed himself from the Central European musical tradition by turning to the sphere of folklore, myth and ritual; in his vocal-instrumental works ‘emotionality that marks Brkanović’s relationship with the archaic and folklore points to the roots in the expressionist spheres of Modernism.’

Mila Gojsalića is a heroine from the Poljica region, who sacrificed herself in to prevent the occupation of her homeland the 16th century – according to legend, a Turkish pasha kidnapped and raped her, after which she set fire to a gunpowder magazine; the people of Poljica knew her plan and were ready, while the unprepared Turks could only escape fire by jumping off the cliff or running straight to the people of Poljica. Jakov Gotovac (Split, 1895 – Zagreb, 1982), a prominent representative of the national movement in Croatian music, is probably best known for his operas, especially Ero the Joker. His 1951 opera is a large-scale work composed to the verses of Danko Anđelinović, inspired by ‘Judith of Poljica’. In this work, Gotovac continued, according to Eva Sedak, to implement his ‘heroic-representative concept’, but with ‘less radicalism’ than in his youth. Mila’s ‘Ode to the Land’ is often included in the programmes of national celebrations because of its clear patriotic message – ‘O, our beloved and dear land, in difficult times we’ve grown to love you deeply, you have no treasure but freedom, and your pride is our bright sun.’ – ‘O, native land, mother of your people! O, my land, may God protect you!’

In her description of this evening’s fusion of opera and fashion, Dubravka Šeparović Mušović also wrote that ‘all parts of this concert are connected with the bow – a symbol of elegance, tenderness, refinement, eroticism, but also nostalgia, vulnerability, emotional complexity and inner struggle. As a visual detail, the bow becomes a link between fashion and opera, past and present.’

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