Srđan Bulatović and Darko Nikčević on the stage between the churches - dedicated the concert to Dragoljub Đuričić

The musical program of the XXXVI Grad Teatar festival continued on August 2, on the stage between the churches, with the Mediterranean Guitars concert held by internationally known Montenegrin guitarists Srđan Bulatović and Darko Nikčević.

At the all-night concert in front of the Budva audience, Bulatović and Nikčević played 20 original compositions, a large number of which were inspired by Montenegrin folklore. Some of the compositions were premiered live, such as "Travelling".

The audience in Budva accompanied all the other compositions with enthusiasm and applause, especially "Inner Bauty" which opened the concert and "Evening at home" from their latest album "Feel the moment" which was released in April this year for Naxos records.

Before this album, Bulatović and Nikčević released nine albums together: "Duo" (2001), "Nostalgija" (2005), "Touch of Montenegro" (2011), "Sinergija" (2012), "Ritmico" (Radio-television of Montenegro, 2015), "The Best of Montenegro" (2016), "Balkan, Mediterranean, Orient" (PGP RTS, 2017), "The Sea" (Naxos Records, 2018) and "Peninsula" ( Naxos Records, 2020). Srđan Bulatović said after the concert that he was satisfied with the reaction of the audience, but above all he was delighted with the invitation to perform at the Grad Teatar festival.

"This is the only festival that invited us to perform this year and I am very grateful to the director Milena Lubarda Marojević for the invitation. I enjoyed the stage tonight, the whole Old Town is one beautiful stage where artistic programs are performed. I have to praise the orchestra that played with us and was up to the task", said Bulatović and explained why he singled out the composition "Travelling" during the concert.

"It's the only composition I've written so far that has the form of a waltz. It was released four years ago for Naxos records, but this is the first time we perform it on the concert stage. It sounds much nicer when played with a string orchestra than when performed by just two guitars."

The scene between the churches reminded Bulatović and Nikčević of the concert they had in 2013 together with the late Dragoljub Đuričić, with whom they performed countless times and had a great collaboration. Darko Nikčević said that some people leave and forget themselves, but they don't want Dragoljub Đuričić to be forgotten.

"Dragoljub was a man full of life, energy, a top musician and drummer, someone who was full of movement in everyday life and conversation. I still can't believe that such a man left too soon because he really did leave too soon. We play a lot at concerts more energetic music, but when we planned this concert we wanted to do it in memory of our friend. We decided to calm down this concert, to play more emotional compositions. It's no coincidence that we performed the composition "Tears" as an encore, even though I said no I would like it to bring tears to the audience rather than a smile. For us, the memory of Dragoljub Đuričić, despite all the sadness we have, is always a memory of beautiful things, good concerts and the humor that graced him," said Nikćević.

Bulatović said that Đuričić knew how to complete their music the most beautifully.

"He knew how to make new melodies out of the rhythm that further strengthened our compositions. This space inspired us to dedicate this evening's concert to him, and this is a kind of memory of him and an indication that his work still lives and will live," said Bulatović. Nikčević and Bulatović were accompanied during the concert by Vili Ferdinandi (violin), Milena Vuković (violin), Boris Nikčević (flute), Nevila Klakor (violin), Bobana Tešić (violin), Jelena Perović (viola), Ilijana Blagojević Zvicer (viola), Mladen Popović (cello), Slaven Turusković (double bass) and Miloš Knežević ( percussion) while two compositions were accompanied by Fernanda Florentino Fernandez Jankov, a ballerina.