In memory of the conductor Miroslava Mira Homena Kotorana, who marked the music scene of the region in the second half of the 20th and the beginning of the 21st century, the KotorArt International Festival Don Branko's days of music was officially opened.
Traditionally, and its 23rd edition in a row, the Festival started on National Day, July 13, in front of the Cathedral of St. Tripuna. After singing the national anthem, the general director of KotorArt, Univ. prof. War and peace Martinovic, the mayor of Kotor Vladimir Jokic, ambassador of the European Union in Montenegro Oana Kristina Popa, and the Minister of Culture and Media Tamara Vujovic. Everyone, from their own perspective, pointed out the significance that KotorArt has not only in the city but also in the wider area, the high artistic level of the festival programs and the cultural values it cherishes.
Putting the cantata "Karmina burana" in the repertoire Karla Orfa, KotorArt accentuated the work that certainly marked the rich conducting career of Mir Homen, not only in Sarajevo, where he was engaged in business for decades, but also more widely, on the music scenes of the region. Before the music program, the audience had the opportunity to premiere a documentary film produced by Radio Television of Montenegro, which shed light on the character and work of maestro Homen through the presentation of archival materials - newspaper articles, photographs, video recordings of musical interpretations and interviews with the conductor, as well as through living testimonies of his contemporaries. In particular, the factually valuable observations and emotionally inspiring impressions of Miroslav's son - Robert Homen, also a conductor, who took over the leadership of the musical ensembles in the rest of the evening.
The work, which in performing practice often exceeds a concert interpretation - the composer himself imagined it as a stage cantata - and turns into a kind of spectacle, was performed by the Symphony Orchestra and Choir of the National Theater of Opera and Ballet of Albania with the participation of the local children's choir of the National Hero of Savo Elementary School Ilić" from Kotor.
Although, taking the interpretation as a whole, suggestions can be made for the improvement of the vocal technique of the opera choir, especially in the treatment of melismatic melodies and the way of imposing soprano pitches, the impression of grandiosity achieved by the interpretation of the opening and closing vocal-instrumental number "O, Fortuna" (Fortuna - the Roman goddess of luck). As the rhythmic component pieces were often the primary musical element for Orf, the percussion section whose members provided rhythmic support and stability to the interpretation, but also often provided encouragement to other orchestral sections during the gradation of the musical flow, should be praised. Respecting the author's idea that the composition be performed without pauses/stops, therefore without applause between tracks, the conductor Robert Homen built constructive units, taking into account the culminations within them, as well as anticlimaxes.
When it comes to soloists, their participation varied both in quantity and quality. While, quantitatively speaking, the baritone performed the most numbers Armand Ljikaj, he had a much smaller role Matijas Dželji, a tenor with a beautiful color and a well-built voice, although not with a strong enough falsetto, which tenors (usually) use in the interpretation of this work in order to realize the author's idea of irony. She performed brilliantly Rowena Dželjilji, soprano, who confidently ruled the highs and very subtly dynamically nuanced the parts.
Karmin Buran's cantata was based on texts from a manuscript collection of the same name from the High Middle Ages. Through her four units/scenes (Spring, On the pasture, In the inn, Ljubano udvaranje) she presents poems in medieval variants of the Latin, French and German languages, which depict the spectrum of topics current in the 12th and 13th centuries. However, these themes are also recognized in today's world: fickleness of wealth, transience of life, joy at the return of spring, human pleasures, vicious life, etc...
That the wheel of fortune and/or fate turns inexorably, regardless of the historical moment or the social context, this work by Karl Orff reminds us again and again. It warns us and reminds us of numerous weaknesses of modern man and social anomalies on the one hand, and social prosperity and joys of life on the other; that wheel reminds us that the life of a great man and a great artist does not end with death, but that his (artistic) spirit continues to spin in a timeless cycle. All these ideas and phenomena through Orff's cantata itself and through the interpretive context were re-actualized by KotorArt at the opening of its twenty-third edition dedicated to Miroslav Mir Homen, a conductor and artist who, by luck and/or fate, remains connected to Kotor, art and music.
When it comes to soloists, their participation varied both in quantity and quality. While, quantitatively speaking, the baritone Armand Ljikaj performed the most numbers, a much smaller role was played by Matijas Dželji, a tenor with a beautiful color and a well-built voice, although not with a strong enough falsetto, which tenors (usually) use in the interpretation of this work in order to achieve the author's the idea of irony. Rovena Dželjilji, the soprano, showed herself brilliantly, confidently commanding the heights and very subtly dynamically nuanced the parts
Bonus video:
