Sunday, September 24
Croatian National Theatre in Varaždin, Great Concert Hall, 8.00 p.m.
Varaždin Chamber Orchestra
Bojan Čičić, solo violin and artistic leadership
Pyrotechnia – Fire and Fury in the 18th century Italy
Antonio Vivaldi
Sinfonia à 4 in C major, RV 192a
Allegro
Grave
Allegro
Concerto for violin and strings in D major, RV 213a, “per Signora Anna Maria”
Allegro
Largo
Allegro-Capriccio
Giuseppe Tartini
Concerto for violin and strings in E major, D.48, “Rondinella vaga e bella”
Allegro
Largo
Allegro-Capriccio
Pietro Antonio Locatelli
Concerto grosso op.1 no.11 in C minor
Largo
Allemanda. Allegro
Sarabanda.Largo
Giga. Allegro
Concerto for violin and strings op.3 no.2 in C minor
Andante-Capriccio
Largo
Andante-Capriccio
Bojan Čičić (Zagreb, 1979) began his violin studies at the Academy of Music in Zagreb, and continued and completed them at the Conservatoire in Paris (2005) as well as at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London (2007), where he earned a master’s degree in Baroque violin under the guidance of Rachel Podger. Soon after graduating, he established himself either as a member, soloist or lieder in ensembles specialized in 17th and 18th century music, performing with groups such as Les Talens Liriques, Academy of Ancient Music, Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, Florilegium, Arcangelo Consort, EU Baroque Orchestra etc. Today, he is considered one of the most esteemed representatives of historically informed performance for music from the late 16th to the early 19th century. With his own group, Illyria Consort, Čičić has specialized in lesser-known music of the Baroque era from the Habsburg Empire and Venetian Republic, recording for Delphian Records a series of acclaimed and award-winning albums including Sonate da camera by Giovanni Stefano Carbonelli (2017), Ivan Jarnović’s London Violin Concertos (2019), Adriatic Voyage featuring the Croatian musical heritage of the 17th century in collaboration with Marian Consort (2019), Pyrotechnia featuring Italian virtuoso violin concertos by Vivaldi, Tartini and Locatelli (2021), Scherzi da Violino by Johann Jakob Walther (2022) and La Notte – Christmas concerts and pastorals (2022).
In 2019, he was named leader of the Academy of Ancient Music. Additionally, he directs ensembles including De Nederlandse Bachvereniging, Dunedin Consort, Slovenian Philharmonic Orchestra and Phion Orkest van Gelderland & Overijssel. In 2016 he was appointed Professor of Baroque Violin at the Royal College of Music.
The Varaždin Chamber Orchestra continues the longstanding tradition of chamber and orchestral music in Varaždin, especially strong in the 1950s and 1960s. The main activity of the orchestra is a cycle of five concerts in the season held in the Concert hall of the Croatian National Theater in Varaždin. Additionally, the Orchestra regularly participates in the Varaždin Baroque Evenings and performs throughout Croatia, including in Zagreb, Dubrovnik, Split, Zadar, Opatija, Osijek, Karlovac, Čakovec, and has also performed in Slovenia, Germany, Austria and Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Although often performing without a conductor, striving primarily for quality, the orchestra occasionally collaborates with conductors – esteemed artists: Pavle Dešpalj, Milan Horvat, Kazushi Ono, Marko Letonja, Vjekoslav Šutej, Uroš Lajovic, Vladimir Kranjčević, Mladen Tarbuk , Ivo Lipanović, Zoran Juranić, Ivan Repušić etc. The orchestra has been join by distinguished instrumentalists and singers as soloists, including Ruža Pospiš- Baldani, Dubravka Tomšič-Srebotnjak, Dunja Vejzović, Višnja Mažuran, Monika Leskovar, Karmen Pečar, Renata Pokupić, Radovan Vlatković, David Geringas, Valter Dešpalj, Dora Schwarzberg, Branimir Slokar , Peter Soave, Stanko Arnold, Ištvan Römer, Lovro Pogorelić, Božo Paradžik, Inva Mula etc. With two concertmasters (Dunja Bontek and Ivana Penić Defar), the orchestra often collaborates with guest concertmasters, including Leon Spierer, Catherine Mackintosh, Taras Pecheny, Tamara Smirnova, Aleksandar Ivić, Boro Martinić, Mario Korunić, Latica Honda-Rosenberg, Stefan Milenkovich.
The orchestra has received numerous awards such as the Ivan Lukačić Award for best performance and the Jurica Murai Award for best interpretation at the Varaždin Baroque Evenings. Additionally, they have been honored with the Milka Trnina Award from the Croatian Society of Music Artists and the Plaque of the City of Varaždin. For their performance at the Split Summer Festival in 2008, the Orchestra received the Judita Award, and for their performance at the Dubrovnik Summer Festival in 2007, they were awarded the Orlando Award.