Opatija Festival Kvarner
The Festival Kvarner is an EEEMERGING+ partner in the city of Opatija, in Croatia.
Festival Kvarner
Mahler was here, Puccini visited it, Lehár and Kálmán were regular guests. Opatija is a unique town where, probably, the most beautiful (concert) venues of the entire Adriatic coast are situated. What made us establish Festival Kvarner here? Let’s make it clear: we only revived Opatija’s 100-year-old tradition as a Gesamtkunstwerk! The Kvarner region’s most interesting aspect was and still is the fact that this holiday resort was not established by its inhabitants – rather, it was “discovered” by guests themselves.
In 2008 a group of enthusiasts were looking for “the” venue, a place where music could build an extravagant symbiosis with the landscape and the climate to provide the audience with a unique and unforgettable total experience and where artists can experiment with new forms and formats!
What we are designing newly, however, and want to adapt for the Kvarner region, is an elaborate, exclusive musical programme. This is what makes our today’s concept different from the former one: we are offering our own, new and internationally attended festival, the Festival Kvarner!
The idea of the artistic exchange on a European level is revived in our festival in the Kvarner region, which could again be that place in which Europe’s creative heads meet. In this way, it could also influence Europe from an artistic point of view. The fact that many composers, such as Mahler, Puccini, Lehár, Kálmán and others who, over the years, stayed here and were inspired by the picturesque landscape and the Mediterranean flair, proves that this location is perfectly suitable for music: history provides us with the evidence that our idea has a good basis.
What Opatija does specifically within EEEMERGING+
As mentioned in the article, we also see ourselves as an experimental laboratory. Here in Opatija it is possible to try it out. And that’s what we do. We make this competence available as a partner in the EEEmerging+ project. Our aim is to look for new forms, to express music and to find our audience (of tomorrow). Especially in this extremely difficult phase that affects us all and that will occupy us for a long time to come.
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