2024 is a big year for the Split Summer Festival, as the famous extravaganza celebrates its 70th birthday.
The event has seen plenty of iconic performances and happenings since its original edition in 1954. The festival is one of the highlights of Croatia’s cultural calendar, and a packed schedule of performing arts, live music, exhibitions, movies, street theatre and more never fails to impress. The 2024 edition promises to live up to its lofty predecessors, and the month-long celebration (running from July 15 to August 14) will feature four special premiere titles — an opera, a ballet, and two dramas, the cherry on top of a delightfully delicious creative cake.
Festival director Vicko Bilandźić has described the 2024 lineup as “rich and ambitious,” and we aren’t about to disagree. Carl Orff’s “Carmina Burana’ opens the show at the Peristyle, with Ivan Hut conducting the orchestra and Michał Znaniecki directing the show. Reprises of “Aida” and “Ero the Joker” fill out the unbeatable opera program, with a special opera gala concert scheduled for the big finale at the Meštrović Gallery. Ballet fans and newcomers should circle August 2 and 3 in the calendar as “Madame Bovary” gets a new skin thanks to daring choreographer Valentina Turcu. Rounding off the premiere selection are two drama titles: Dražen Krešić’s “Judita” (a special performance marking the 500th anniversary of the passing of Marko Marulić) and Anica Tomić’s, Jelena Kovačić's and Ivor Martinić's “Stories from the Ferry.” The latter features around 20 actors from the Croatian National Theatre Split and promises to be a real show. Throw in an incredibly diverse concert schedule featuring everything from intimate soloists to bombastic orchestras, and the 70th birthday of the Split Summer Festival promises to be one to remember.
As it should be, of course. This year, the festival will serve up a broad range of stage performances (nine operas, 19 dramas, four ballets, 15 concerts, if you are counting), perfect for inspiring summer nights and encouraging the next generation of virtuosos. We’ll see you there. You can check the detailed programme here.
OPERA
15, 17, 18, 20 July, Carl Orff: CARMINA BURANA, premiere (Peristyle)
27, 29 July, Giuseppe Verdi: AIDA, reprise (Peristyle)
3 August Jakov Gotovac: ERO THE JOKER (Vrlika, Česma)
7, 8 August Jakov Gotovac: ERO THE JOKER (Bene Bay)
14 August OPERA GALA (Meštrović Gallery)
You can buy a ticket HERE.
CONCERTS
19 July HRM ORCHESTRA WITH SOLOISTS (Peristyle)
21 July LADARICE AND LADO ORCHESTRA (Peristyle)
23 July ZAGREB QUARTET (Gallery of Fine Arts)
26 July KATARINA LIVLJANIĆ AND DIALOGOS ENSEMBLE: BARLAAM AND JOSAPHAT
(Meštrovićeve Crikvine – Kaštilac)
30 July EVENING OF YOUNG VIRTUOSOS – SILVIO BILIĆ, piano (Gallery of Fine Arts)
31 July ORCHESTRA DELL'BARRACANO – RESPIGHI SUITE (Cloister of the Church of St. Francis)
2 August SOLO RECITAL: SRĐAN BULAT, guitar (Gallery of Fine Arts)
6 August PIANO TRIO (Gallery of Fine Arts)
6 August MATIJA DEDIĆ PLAYS GIBONNI AND ARSEN (St Jerome's Church, Kaštel Gomilica)
7 August RECITAL BY IVANA ŠTIMAC AGIUS piano (St Jerome's Church, Kaštel Gomilica)
8 August WINNIPEG SINGERS (Diocletian Cellers)
10 August RECITAL: MARKO MIMICA, bass-baritone and MARCOS MADRIGAL, piano (Gallery of Fine Arts)
11 August FOLKLORE ENSEMBLE JEDINSTVO (CNT Split Backyard - Plinara)
12 August MARIN LIMIĆ, piano, SOLO CONCERT (Meštrović Gallery Terrace)
You can buy a ticket HERE.
BALLET PREMIERES
2,3 August Ballet HNK Split: MADAME BOVARY, Choreographer: Valentina Turcu (Prokurative)
BALLET REPRISES
12,13 August Ballet HNK Split THE GREAT GATSBY, Choreographer: Leo Mujić (Bene Bay)
You can buy a ticket HERE.
EXHIBITIONS
15 July ARTIST AT MEŠTROVIĆ'S – PETAR DOLIĆ (Meštrović Gallery)
23 July HNK Split and Split City Museum - 70 YEARS OF SPLIT SUMMER FESTIVAL (Old City Hall)
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