A unique musical event, the Opera Selecta, took place on a warm August evening in the beautiful ambiance of the centuries-old Kamerlengo Tower in Trogir. It was organized by the St. James Association, which is led by Vinko Buble, Natalija Vukelić and Dr. Petar Žuljević. The Russian opera diva, mezzo-soprano Elena Zaremba, appeared for the first time in Croatia.
She was joined by leading Russian bass Alexei Tanovitski, one of the most brilliant representatives of his generation and the winner of many prestigious awards at international singing competitions. Elena Zaremba has performed with, among others, Luciano Pavarotti, Placido Domingo and Jose Carreras, and in 1991 she was nominated for a Grammy Award. The accompanist at the concert in Trogir was Olga Cinkoburova, an assistant professor of piano at UMAS. The mood at the concert was complemented by the reciting of Russian poems by Joško Ševo.
In the first part of the concert the audience enjoyed listening to the Russian romances arranged by great composers such as Tchaikovsky, Korsakov, Rubinstein and Rachmaninov, and the second part of the program featured arias from the operas by Eugene Onegin, P.I. Tchaikovsky, Verdi’s Macbeth, Rossini’s Barber of Seville, Mozart’s La Betulia Liberata, Saint-Saens’ opera Samson et Dalila, and others.
The organizers of the concert from the St. James Association thanked the heads of the city and the Tourism Board, as well as the numerous sponsors for their great help in organizing this memorable evening at which the audience enjoyed listening to two top world artists.
They also showed their gratitude to professor Olga Cinkoburova who superbly accompanied the artists on the piano. The numerous citizens of Trogir and their guests thanked the artists for the pleasant evening and concert to remember with a long and spontaneous applause.
The St. James Association will donate all of the proceeds from the concert tickets to the Ana Rukavina Foundation.
SLOBODNA DALMACIJA, 8.8.2012
AUTHOR: JOŠKO BREŠAN
PHOTOS: ZVONIMIR BARIŠIN /CROPIX