The idyllic setting of the Island of Our Lady of Mercy will be enhanced with the beauty of Renaissance and Baroque music performed by the impressive Mare Nostrum ensemble

The various locations and streets of Tivat will be filled with a special liveliness and cheerfulness during this year’s Tivat Music Festival. As one of the highlights of these programs, with the support of the Embassy of Italy in Montenegro and the Italian Cultural Institute in Belgrade, the exceptional and world-renowned Roman ensemble Mare Nostrum will present its performance on July 16 on the Island of Our Lady of Mercy, a hidden gem of the Bay of Kotor.

What makes this event unique is the premiere concert performance of excerpts from the operas La Circe and Coriliano, for which the libretto was written by Don Krsto Ivanović. A canon of the Church of St. Mark, this native of Budva, chronicler, and librettist, spent most of his life in Venice, writing librettos for operas that were performed not only in Venice but also in Vienna and Piacenza.

A unique blend of sound, history, architecture, spirituality, and nature truly sets this event apart making it the distinctive highlight of the Festival’s program. Widely known for its uniqueness and professionalism, the Mare Nostrum ensemble has been dedicated to exploring and promoting Baroque and Renaissance music for many years. In harmony with the extraordinary ambiance of the Island of Our Lady of Mercy, known locally as Školj, the ensemble will provide the audience with the most faithful portrait of a bygone era. Additionally, the concert repertoire will feature the premiere performance of excerpts from operas whose librettos were written by Don Krsto Ivanović, a nearly forgotten Montenegrin librettist. We believe that the concert will capture the interest of both experts and enthusiasts of Renaissance and Baroque music, stated the Festival’s PR department.

Mare Nostrum was founded by Andrea de Carlo in 2005 as a viola ensemble. Soon after, the ensemble expanded to include a more diverse instrumentation, and today its repertoire is primarily based on Baroque music by Roman composers, with a special emphasis on the vocal music of Alessandro Stradella (1639-1682). De Carlo’s original research on the relationships between expressiveness, sensitivity, and the nature of sound offers a new perspective on the aesthetics of vocal and instrumental music of the 17th century. The ensemble’s numerous releases include: Orgelbuchlein, featuring works by Johann Sebastian Bach, Le Concert des Violes, Coup de cour (2010), Nueva Espana (2012), and others. Under Andrea de Carlo’s baton, the ensemble has released a collection of compact discs featuring works by Alessandro Stradella as part of a project for the Arcana label. The CDs include: the world premiere of the serenade La forza delle stelle, the oratorio S. Giovanni Crisostomo – the first edition in the world (2014), the world premiere of the oratorio S. Editta, vergine e monaca, regina d’Inghiliterra (2016), the oratorio S. Pelagia (2017), the opera La Doriclea (2018), the comic opera II Trespolo tutore (2020), as well as the recently discovered opera Amare e Fingere (2022).

The inaugural edition of the Tivat Music Festival will take place at various locations in Tivat and the Bay of Kotor, from June 18 to August 12. It is organized in partnership with the Tivat Cultural Center, and enjoys the support of Luštica Bay, Porto Montenegro, Regent Porto Montenegro, Montenegro Sotheby’s Realty, Henley & Partners, and other significant sponsors, as well as a broad network of programming partners from both domestic and international spheres. Further details about the Festival’s activities can be found on the website www.tivatmusicfestival.com and across social media platforms Facebook and Instagram at @tivatmusicfestival, or by using the hashtag #tivatmusicfestival.