As I told you in my previous post entitled Hello Croatia!, I will share with you my experiences about my participation in the XIII Epidaurus Festival and about my journey to the breathtakingly splendid Cavtat.
Overall, the trip was very nice, I had never been to Croatia before. Cavtat enchanted me with its crystal sea waters, its tranquillity, the beautiful views of the sunset from the hotel, the yummy food and the magnificent welcome received especially by Ivana Vidovic.
The Festival
The only day I could be at the festival as part of the audience was the day I arrived. On that night two pianists, one from Italy and the other from Belarusia, played 4 hands works by Wagner and compositions by the Italian pianist. Although it is always said that Wagner is difficult to understand, I liked everything, especially the energy and virtuosity with which the Belarusian pianist played. At the end of the recital, I met two Italian musicians who gave me some good advice. One of them was the lyrical singer who had sung the previous night, and knowing that I would be singing the next day, as well as playing the piano and the classical guitar, he gave me some interesting advice on vocal technique and how to approach singing on stage.
The following night was the day of my recital. At noon I practised the repertoire I was going to play. As always, my parents were with me helping, as we say at home, they are the best assistant music teachers 😀 because they tell me and remind me the things real teachers teach me during music lessons.
The night of the recital
The recital was special for me. It was the first time I would sing and accompany myself with the piano. I had already sung with the guitar on previous occasions but never with the piano. It was different. I can’t describe it, but I know it was different.
The evening was falling and I knew that the time for the recital was approaching. From the window of my hotel room you could see how the warm tonality of the sunset embraced the tranquility of the city, the sea and the big yachts which were in the small bay. I was very serene as I got dressed and, as always, I didn’t eat anything or almost anything before the performance.
We took a small electric trolley that brought the hotel guests to the small bay, which was right next to the city centre. From there we walked about 5 minutes to the recital site. During that trip we saw the big yachts very closely. They could be seen from my hotel window, they were huge and beautiful, and many tourists took pictures with them.
When I arrived at the recital hall it was still empty. I thought I might have to play for a few people. However, that was not a problem because my parents have taught me that a musician should play the same, transmit and make the audience feel the music whether playing for 5 or for 100 people. Little by little the room was filled. At the beginning of the recital, I was introduced and made my entrance.
The recital began with the classical guitar, with Latin American and Spanish composers’ songs. At the end of the guitar section, I sang the Italian song “Anema a core” accompanying myself with the guitar. I think I did it well and the audience enjoyed it.
Once the guitar section was finished, I apologized for leaving the room a couple of minutes to lower my nails since the next part was the piano section and I could not play with long nails.
I started singing “Dos Gardenias” (Two gardenias) accompanying myself with the piano. I liked the result very much, taking into account that it was the first time I played it in public. I think the audience also liked it, even though it was a song in Spanish. Then I continued with the rest of the pieces that were in the programme. At the end of the recital, seeing that the audience applauded me with such emotion, I performed some Cuban dances. They asked me for two encores.
The trip, the touristic part
The trip was very short, it was only two days. I was scheduled to make a stopover of 6 hours at Barcelona airport, both in the outward and in the return. However, the night of heavy rains and storms, all related to this year’s cold drop, which caused turbulence during the flight, was not scheduled. Nor was the plane’s landing abortion in Barcelona. We were lucky that the airport was large and had several runways, allowing the pilot to land on another runway on the second attempt.
Once in Cavtat, the first thing I learned was how to correctly pronounce the name of the city. Another very interesting thing I learned was that many locals understand Italian, and the city has a certain historical link with Italy.
The hotel where I stayed, and which managed the festival, was great. It had incredible views from my room. Despite being a big hotel full of people, there was no noise in the room.
We only had two days and it was clear to me that I couldn’t get too tired because the main reason for my visit was to play at the festival. So I focused my visits on Dubrovnik and Cavtat. Dubrovnik Old Town is a beautiful part of the city, it looks like new, despite being old. However, it was full of tourists and it was difficult to walk.
Cavtat, on the other hand, is a much smaller village, where you can enjoy the tranquillity and the crystal clear sea.
It has been a beautiful experience and I wish I had many more. Thanks again to Ivana Vidovic for the invitation.
Thanks for Reading and Vidimo se uskoro Hrvatska.
