Ninth
Rovinj Summer Festival Opened
Symphony Orchestra of Croatian Radio Television (HRT)
Two nights ago, an all-evening concert by the Symphony Orchestra of Croatian Radio Television, directed by conductor Mladen tarbuk, was ended by the famous Symphony No. 104 London in D-major by Franz Joseph Hayden with ovations from the audience – the concert was held within the opening ceremony of Rovinj Summer Festival. The festival is being held for the ninth time, under patronage of the Town of Rovinj and artistic guidance by Katja Mrkotić; it has become a custom to open the festival evenings with an orchestra performance.
HRT’s Symphony Orchestra is a frequent guest on Istrian stages this summer, and local and foreign audiences have already had the opportunity to hear the quality of their music. After accompanying the mega concert spectacle featuring Luciano Pavarotti, performing at the opening ceremony of the ATP tournament last week and participating in the “Best from Us” campaign where the orchestra accompanied popular music stars, the symphonists from Zagreb performed in front of a numerous audience gathered in St. Euphemia’s church two nights ago.
The summer program that was pleasant in every way began with performance of the Symphony No. 3 in D-major (Allegro-Andante-Presto), composed by Luka Sorkočević, a composer from Dubrovnik, which was also an attempt at paying homage to the Croatian music milieu. Although fitted into the profile of the entire program, Sorkočević’s symphony was adapted according to a score revised by Stjepan Šulek in 1960s, and it cannot render the real image of this pre-classical author. Šulek’s adaptations done without knowing the style characteristics of the pre-classical era are really unacceptable today in the from presented by this orchestra two nights ago, which is actually confirmed by musicologists who have dealt with the matter.
Symphonies written by Luka Sorkočević are true gems of our music heritage, deserving a more serious approach and more appropriate valorization, to the extent possible within our boundaries, regarding the composer’s contribution to Croatian instrumental music.
Performance of Mozart’s youthful Motet for soprano and orchestra KV165 also fitted into the profile of the entire program in terms of style; Aleksandra Golojka, a musician from Rovinj, joined the orchestra on the organ. It is quite interesting that they have chosen a piece containing the organ in its instrumental corps for this performance, considering the location of the event.
As it happens, the original church organ at the Rovinj church is not in function, so even though it was represented as an accompaniment to the recitative, the replacement electric organ could not evoke the original authentic sound, befitting a serious festival.
Klasja Modrušan beautifully expressed this virtuosic motet, consisting of two arias and a recitative and finishing with the famous Hallelujah, with her colored, sonorous voice, earning a big applause from the audience and approvals from the crowd present. Modrušan completely dominated the performance of this young Mozart, a typical Italian score, with a somewhat rigid orchestra whose music, despite the conductor’s efforts, lacked lightness and breeziness found in a first-class interpretation of the Salzburg genius’ work. Quality of the symphony orchestra became apparent after all, which pleased the lovers of orchestral music who were able to enjoy a mature and inspired performance of the abovementioned Haydn’s London Symphoy in D-major.
Namely, conductor Mladen Tarbuk fantastically directed these pages, which are among the biggest Haydn’s symphonic achievements. As befits its reputation, the orchestra managed to completely evoke the melodious elegance of the first two movements, the characteristic Haydn’s minuet and an impressive finale. Interesting instrumentation and attention paid to respective orchestral sections resulted in a first-class performance that the numerous audience delightedly awarded with a deserved big applause and ovations, to which the orchestra replied with an addition - a repeated performance of the last movement of Haydn’s symphony.
Domagoj TERZIĆ, Glas Istre - July 18th 2004
