Tivat Music Festival
2024

July 25 2024, 9 p.m.

Partners of the program:

EVENING OF OPERATIC ARIAS

Festival Orchestra
Petra Radulović, soprano
Sava Vemić, bass
Mladen Tarbuk, conductor

Guests of the concert:
Nina van Essen, mezzo-soprano
Benjamin (Ben) Bliss, tenor

PROGRAM

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756–1791)
Selection form the opera Die Entführung aus dem Serail
Overture

Hier soll ich dich denn sehen, Belmonte’s aria
Solo: Ben Bliss

Wer ein Liebchen hat gefunden, Belmonte’s and Osmin’s duet
Solo: Ben Bliss and Sava Vemić

Welcher Wechsel herrscht in meiner Seele – Traurigkeit ward mir zum Loose, recitative and Konstanze’s aria
Solo: Petra Radulović

Ha! Wie will ich triumphieren, Osman’s aria
Solo: Sava Vemić

Selection form the opera Le nozze di Figaro
Overture


Cinque…dieci…, Susanna’s and Figaro’s duet
Solo: Petra Radulović and Sava Vemić

Voi che sapete, Cherubino’s canzona
Solo: Nina van Essen

Tutto è disposto – Aprite un po’ quegli occhi, recitative and Figaro’s aria
Solo: Sava Vemić

Giunse alfin il momento – Deh, vieni, non tardar, recitative and Suasnna’s aria
Solo: Petra Radulović

 

Gioachino Rossini (1972–1868)
Il barbiere di Siviglia
Overture

Ecco ridente in cielo, Count Almaviva’s cavatina
Solo: Ben Bliss

Una voce poco fa, Rosina’s cavatina
Solo: Nina van Essen

Il vecchiotto cerca moglie, Berta’s aria
Solo: Petra Radulović

La calunnia, Don Basilio’s aria
Solo: Sava Vemić

Artists

The Festival Orchestra consists of young artists—professional musicians from Montenegro. Many of the members were KotorArt talents. During the Festival, musicians prepare and perform programs at various venues – from churches to squares. Nurturing the idea of unity, this seasonal orchestra has shown an outstanding and keen sense of music from a variety of musical periods, styles, and genres. In selecting the orchestra repertoire, special emphasis has been placed on the contemporary music of those countries from which guest conductors hail, as well as on premiere performances of pieces by national and foreign authors. All these activities enable young orchestral musicians to regularly scale the concert podium, gain new experiences in working with different conductors and soloists, expand their repertoire, and develop a sense of confidence and comfort on stage. In this way, the orchestra embodies the message—the celebration of tolerance, unity, and cultural diversity through music.

Petra Radulović, soprano, served as a soloist at the State Opera in Hanover, where she portrayed various roles: Alma in the German premiere of L. Evers’ Humanoid, Janthe in H. Marschner’s Der Vampyr, Barbarina in W. A. Mozart’s Le nozze di Figaro, Kammerjungfrau in Schiphorst’s Die Gänsemagd and Johana in S. Sondheim’s Sweeney Todd, among others. She has also taken on the roles of La contessa di Ceprano and Un paggio della Duchessa in Giuseppe Verdi’s Rigoletto. In the 2022/23 season, Petra Radulović performed as Flora in Benjamin Britten’s opera The Turn of the Screw, as the First wood sprite in Antonín Dvořák’s Rusalka, and as Madeline Usher in P. Glass’s opera The Fall of the House of Usher. In her career, she has portrayed over twenty operatic roles. Upon returning to Vienna in 2024, Petra Radulović resumed her stage career at the Schönbrunn Palace Theater with her debuting as Anna Reich in Nikolai’s opera The Merry Wives of Windsor. After completing her Vocal Arts degree from the University of Music and Performing Arts in Vienna, she pursued her master’s studies, specializing in Opera, under Professors Helen Malkowsky and Hartmut Höll. Petra Radulović has continued to refine her skills at masterclasses led by Neil Shicoff, Barbara Frittoli, Thomas Hampson, Thomas Quasthoff, Edith Wiens, Lilly Ilieva, Peter Berne, Claudia Visca, and Christophe Prégardien. She has performed at the Verbier Festival, the Schönbrunn Palace Theater, the Operosa Festival, and KotorArt. Recently, Petra Radulović was awarded the inaugural scholarship from the Miloš Karadaglić Foundation (2023/2024).

Sava Vemić, bass, graduated from the Faculty of Music in Belgrade, under Professor Nikola Mijailović. He furthered his studies at the Metropolitan Opera Studio in New York under the guidance of conductor James Levine, while also collaborating with singers such as Dimitris Kavrakos, Renata Scotto, Bonaldo Giaiotti, and Sherrill Milnes. Sava Vemić commenced the 2023/24 season in Athens, making his debut as Oroveso in Bellini’s Norma in front of 4500 people at the Odeon of Herodes Atticus. He has performed at the Toronto Opera, the Paris National Opera, the Serbian National Theater in Novi Sad, Vlaanderen in Antwerp, the Hamburg Opera, the State Theatre on Gärtnerplatz in Munich, and the Belgrade National Theater. Sava Vemić has portrayed roles such as King and Ramfis (Aida, Giuseppe Verdi), Sarastro (Die Zauberflöte, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart), Le chat (L’enfant et les sortilèges, Igor Stravinsky), Ferrando (Il trovatore, Giuseppe Verdi), King Henry VIII (Anna Bolena, Gaetano Donizetti), Gremin (Eugene Onegin, Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky), A monk (Don Carlos, Giuseppe Verdi), Osmin (Die Entführung aus dem Serail, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart), and Sparafucile (Rigoletto, Giuseppe Verdi). He has been awarded the First Prize at the Opera Index and Gerda Lissner competitions in New York, Second Prize at the Loren L. Zachary competition in Los Angeles, and Finalist status at the Belvedere competition in Moscow and the Portofino competition in Genoa.

Mladen Tarbuk, a prominent Croatian composer and conductor, completed his studies in Composition and Conducting in Graz, Zagreb, and Vienna. He has appeared in almost all European countries, as well as in Canada, the United States, and Mexico, often performing his own works. He has regularly collaborated with the German Oper am Rhein (Düsseldorf), the Wiener Concert-Verein, the Orquesta Sinfónica Nacional de México, and the Hungarian State Opera. Mladen Tarbuk is a holder of numerous Croatian and international awards and recognitions, including from Slavenski, Papandopulo, HAZU, Janáček, E. Vogel, Risuonanze Trieste, and Tolosa. His compositions have been performed at major world festivals such as the Enescu Festival, World Music Days, and Wien Modern. He served as the Director of the Croatian National Theater in Zagreb (2002–2005) and then as its Music Director (2013–2017), as well as the Director of the Dubrovnik Summer Festival (2015–2017). During the term 2020–2024, he served as the Chairman of the Croatian Society of Composers. In the 2021/2022 season, Mladen Tarbuk conducted the Montenegrin Symphony Orchestra. He is a Full Professor of Composition, Conducting, Music Theory, and Orchestra at the Academy of Music in Zagreb.

Nina van Essen, soprano, graduated with honors from the Dutch National Opera Academy. As part of the Erasmus program, she studied in Lyon at CNSMD while completing her undergraduate studies at the Royal Conservatory in The Hague under Professors Sasja Hunnego and Neil Semer. Initially as a member of the Staatsoper Hannover, Nina van Essen performed numerous roles: Ruggiero (Alcina, G. F. Handel), Rosina (Il barbiere di Siviglia, G. Rossini), Gretel (Hansel and Gretel, E. Humperdinck), Dorabella (Così fan tutte, W. A. Mozart), Romeo (Capulets and Montagues, V. Bellini), Cherubino (Le nozze di Figaro, W. A. Mozart), Orfeo (Orfeo ed Euridice, C. W. Gluck), Kitchen boy (Rusalka, A. Dvořák), and Hermia (A Midsummer Night’s Dream, B. Britten). Other significant engagements include collaborations with the Vienna State Opera, Oper Leipzig, the Concertgebouw Chamber Orchestra, the National Opera and Ballet, and Nouvel Opéra Fribourg, among others. Her extensive concert repertoire includes J. S. Bach’s St. Matthew Passion, W. A. Mozart’s Mass in C minor, G. Rossini’s Petite Messe Solennelle, orchestrated art songs, and more. Nina van Essen has performed with world-renowned directors, such as Lydia Steier, Immo Karaman, and Barbora Horáková, and conductors, including Stéphane Denève, Antony Hermus, Michele Spotti, and David Bates.


Ben Bliss, tenor, has quickly established himself as one of the most exciting performers on today’s opera scene, both in his native United States and abroad. He is the recipient of numerous prestigious awards such as the Beverly Sills Metropolitan Opera Award, the Martin E. Segal Lincoln Center Award, the Mozart and Plácido Domingo awards at the Francisco Viñas International Competition, and others. Recent career highlights include roles such as Tamino in Die Zauberflöte and Don Ottavio in Don Giovanni by W. A. Mozart, both performed at the Metropolitan Opera; Chevalier de la Force in Dialogues des Carmélites by F. Poulenc at the San Francisco Opera; and Tom Rakewell in The Rake’s Progress by I. Stravinsky at the Teatro Colón. In concert, Ben Bliss has performed with the Orchestre National de France in Pelléas et Mélisande by C. Debussy and with the Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin in Solomon by G. F. Handel, as well as in opera houses in Philadelphia, Seattle, Frankfurt, and Boston. In the current 2023-2024 season, he is debuting at the Opéra national de Paris as Don Ottavio, performing the role of Tamino with the Bayerische Staatsoper, returning to the Canadian Opera Company with a role in Don Giovanni, and giving concert performances of Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony with the San Francisco Symphony Orchestra.

Useful information

Time

25. Jul 2024, 21h

Location

Cultural Centre Tivat

Tivat Music Festival

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