The winners of the Orlando Award for the best achievements in the theatre and music programme of the 74th Dubrovnik Summer Festival and of the Grand Prix were announced today, 25 August at the award ceremony in the Sponza Palace atrium.
After seeing all the performances of the 74th Dubrovnik Summer Festival theatre programme, the Orlando Award jury, consisting of: Željka Turčinović – president, and Petra Jelača and Davor Mojaš – members, unanimously decided to award the Orlando for the best artistic achievement in the theatre programme of the 74th Dubrovnik Summer Festival to Nataša Dangubić, for the role of Marija Gučetić, in the Marijana Fumić’s play The Melancholy Women of Ragusa directed by Dora Ruždjak Podolski, which premiered on 17 August 2023 in Gradac Park and was performed by the Festival Drama Ensemble. In the explanation, among other things, it is stated that "After a series of roles played at the Dubrovnik Summer Festival, Nataša Dangubić, interpreting Marija Gučetić, showed the maturity and sovereignty in commanding the stage and the gradual construction of the character through which the complex layers of personality, love, silence, sadness and pain built her Marija Gučetić. Confident in her performance, creative in interpretation, Nataša Dangubić, with her inspired, distinguished, and vehement creation, becomes the forerunner of the female-led ensemble of Melancholy Women of Ragusa and prima inter pares of the performances. In addition to her role in Melancholy Women of Ragusa, Nataša Dangubić deserved the Orlando award for her contribution to the overall drama and theatre repertoire of the Dubrovnik Summer Festival this year. In the role of a Dubrovnik lady, representing all the citizens of Dubrovnik at the opening ceremony, she dominated the entire performance, showing her talent and acting skills, as well as her creativity as a co-author of the script, along with the director Saša Božić. With that role and performance, Nataša Dangubić showed her specific acting nerve based on popular expression; as a child of Dubrovnik, she opened the hearts of her fellow citizens, the people she represented, and proved that she is an actress with multiple capabilities, stage challenge and appeal..."
The Orlando Award for the best artistic achievement in the musical programme of the 74th Dubrovnik Summer Festival went to bass-baritone Marko Mimica for his performance on 28 July in the Rector's Palace atrium with pianist Marcos Madrigal, "due to his maturity, deep consideration in the selection and presentation of the musical evening, exceptional diction, a singer who begins his interpretation from the very structure of the musical sentence, making music both beautifully and seriously, while performing all the compositions by heart", was written in the explanation of the jury, which included Diana Hilje – president, and Alberto Frka and Matija Novaković – members.
By decision of the Council of the Orlando Award, and at the suggestion of the Dubrovnik Summer Festival, the Grand Prix Orlando for special artistic contribution to the entire programme of the Dubrovnik Summer Festival in one or more festival seasons was awarded to Dubravka Tomšič Srebotnjak, a musician of worldwide fame and once-in-a-lifetime brilliance. "Dubravka Tomšič Srebotnjak is always happy to return to Dubrovnik, where she was born, maintaining the cultural ties between Slovenia and Croatia, enriching the Croatian musical scene with a series of exceptional interpretations of works for piano from the Baroque to the 21st century, including more than 50 piano concerts in her repertoire... This matchless artist enriched the Dubrovnik Summer Festival with her refined musicianship with as many as 28 festival performances, starting her concerts in Dubrovnik in 1959, and furthering the Festival with her masterful skill, superb technique and artistic inspiration during the 6 decades of the Festival's duration," the Festival’s Artistic Director Dora Ruždjak Podolski wrote in her explanation.
Tonight, 25 August at 9:00 p.m. on the Third Programme of the Croatian Television, the Orlando show will bring interviews with the laureates and a dash of the award ceremony atmosphere.
