The end of summer in Cavtat is traditionally reserved for the Epidaurus Cavtat Festival, an international festival of music and arts. Under the motto 'Living Cavtat With Arts', it welcomes its 17th edition, starting this Sunday, August 27th.
On that day, celebrating one art through another, the exhibition 'The Power of Music' by the Dubrovnik Association for Visual Arts will open at the Cultural Centre Cavtat at 8PM. The fantastic prelude program, named 'Together for World Peace', continues the same evening at 8:30 PM, when the Ukrainian virtuoso Danylo Sayenko will hold a piano concert. Despite being affected by the ravages of war and the horrors in his country, this internationally recognized Ukrainian pianist is fully dedicated to his work. In Croatia, in Cavtat, he will perform for the first time. The gifted, virtuoso, and fully established thirty-two-year-old musician from Lviv will give a recital that will dignify the opening of the 17th concert season of the beloved Cavtat international festival.
The following Thursday, at the magical terrace of Villa Banac, the Opening Gala Concert 'Stars Under the Stars' will take place at 8.30PM. The gala concert features performances by Radojka Šverko and Vladimir Babin on the piano, along with Meri Cetinić - vocals and piano. The powerful voices of our divas will be accompanied by our renowned Klapa Ragusa: Gordana Bonačić, alto, Krunoslav Težak, 2nd tenor, guitar, Pero Franić, baritone, guitar, Borislav Banić, 1st bass, double bass, Đuro Bratičević, baritone, and 1st mandolin, klapa's leader, Josip Greguš, 2nd bass, 2nd mandolin will complete this musical journey.
The evening after, on the first day of September, the Epidaurus Cavtat Festival brings a theatrical treat - at the Cultural Centre Cavtat, actors Ksenija Prohaska and Marjan Nejašmić Banić will perform the comedy 'Where Are You From, Madam?' an original play by Ksenija Prohaska, directed by Krešimir Dolenčić, at 8.30PM.
Saturday, September 2nd, could be described as an unprecedented evening at the Epidaurus Cavtat Festival, a unique fusion of history and art spanning thousands of years, also an 'exclusive' event. At the archaeological site of Sustjepan, beneath the Hotel Croatia, starting at 7 PM, the program 'De Epidauro' will take place. The site will be presented to the audience by Helena Puhara, curator of the Museum and Galleries of Konavle. The evening will continue in a superb tone - that of the accordion. 'De Natura Sonorum' - Accoladies duo magics, featuring accordion virtuosos Danijela Gazdić Kljajić and Azra Halitović.
Friday, September 8th, brings another exceptional program to the festival - a nostalgic tribute to the great maestro and musicologist, the custodian of musical heritage, Don Miho Demović. The evening will be held in the frontyard of the Rector's Palace in Cavtat, starting at 8.30 PM, featuring Franica Krampus Vidović, Ivana Marija Vidović, Božo Lasić, Mladen Tarbuk, Zlatko Pavetić, Denis Ajduković, Nena Ćorak, Krunoslav Težak, Nika Ružarija Orepić, Jakov Sekula, Slavka Jurić, Alena Shapochka, and Martina Vuletić.
Renowned Italian pianist and composer Edoardo Bruni will perform a piano recital titled 'Marvelous Goldberg Variations' on Sunday, September 10th, at the Cultural Centre Cavtat at 8.30PM. This is an opportunity to meet an artist of unique expression, with his own aesthetic vision and compositional technique of 'pan-modality,' aiming to synthesize and transcend the duality between tonality and atonality. Professor Bruni has been performing his programs and techniques across Europe and the world for decades, delighting audiences with refined tastes.
The lecture 'Parade, Tribute to Picasso and His Muses' will be presented by Marijke Brekelmans, art historian and curator of the Pianola Museum in Amsterdam, at the Cultural Centre Cavtat on Tuesday, September 12th, at 8 PM, followed by a piano recital by the renowned Italian duo Aventaggiato Matarrese at 8.30 PM.
In memory of the Dubrovnik pedagogue and guitarist Ante Skaramuca, the Epidaurus Cavtat Festival presents the program 'Equilibrium Sonorum' on September 14th at 8.30PM at the Cultural Centre Cavtat.
The Italian duo Rospigliosi - Lapo Vanucci on the guitar and Luca Torrigiani on the piano will perform. Duo Rospigliosi emerged from a deep friendship and is characterized by exploring new areas of music for guitar and piano, especially in the realm of contemporary music. Their incredible stage communication is hailed by critics worldwide as exceptional and highly successful.
An evening of chamber music in memory of Dora Pejačević and Maria Callas, titled 'Camerata Epidaurus - Dora & Maria', will take place on September 16th at 8 PM at the Cultural Centre Cavtat. This exceptional evening will be an opportunity to listen to outstanding artists from Albania - Ramazan Peku and Miron Peku on the violin, Etleva Katroshi on the viola, Jona Bodinaku on the cello. Joining the intriguing Albanian virtuosos as a soloist is our recognized double bassist Frano Kakarigi, and the founder and director, the driving force of the Epidaurus Cavtat Festival, pianist Ivana Marija Vidović.
The closing gala concert, an artistic farewell until the next summer and the coming of age of this unique event, will take place on September 17th at the Cavtat Open Air Cinema at 8 PM. It will be a true musical journey - 'Epidaurus Tango Embrace - Tango Scugnizzo' brings us Neapolitan song meeting Argentine Tango. Performers are Diego Lemmi Moreno on guitar, charango & vocals (Argentina), Davide Ferrante on drums & percussion (Italy), Bruno Salicone on piano & programming (Italy), Domenico Guastafierro on flute (Italy). The special guest of the evening is our double bassist Frano Kakarigi. The evening will be enhanced by the tango dance pair Lucas Boock & Bianca Vrcan from the Rojo y Negro dance studio.
With this exceptional program, this year's 17th Epidaurus Cavtat Festival concludes under the baton of the artistic and conceptual director, pianist Ivana Marija Vidović. In her words: 'Epidaurus Cavtat Festival could be called a small empire of all arts united over three weeks. It is symbiotic and unites quality, innovation, good people, professionalism, as well as the connection of both artists and audiences and many local and Croatian entities, various cultures, and nations in the paradisiacal embrace of Cavtat', emphasized Ivana Marija Vidović on the eve of the seventeenth edition of the Festival.
Epidaurus Festival warmly thanks all sponsors, donors, performers, and audiences, noting that alternative locations in case of bad weather are the Cultural Centre in Cavtat and Čilipi.
Information about the Epidaurus Cavtat Festival can also be found at www.epidaurusfestival.com and on the Festival's social media.
