Zagreb Performance Day

Before our concert on Saturday night, I had a bit of energy and decided to take myself out for a walk around Zagreb. I was worried about getting too tired and my feet did get a little sore, but I am so glad that I got to see more of the city. Here are a few more pictures:

Croatian National Theater.  So beautiful but unfortunately not big enough for  large concerts.

Jelačić Square

Flowers everywhere

I enjoyed playing the concert, despite the very difficult music and some nervous colleagues. As always, there were a few glitches here and there, but I was satisfied with my final solo (despondency suits the oboe quite well, hehe). I especially enjoyed the movements with full chorus, which were powerful with so many singers on stage.

Maybe I should explain and describe Britten's War Requiem, which I find to be a magnificent piece (some of my friends disagree with me). Britten wrote the 90-minute work to involve a massive amount of people, including a full orchestra, a chamber orchestra, organ, boys' (or in this case girls') choir, organ, chorus, and three soloist singers. The text alternates between the traditional Latin text and poetry by Wilfred Owen. The poetry describes the brutality and senseless of war, and I personally find the pacifistic message to be quite moving. I felt honored to be part of a performance that united musicians from Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia-Herzegovina, and Serbia to convey Britten's anti-war ideology.

After the performance, I attended a nice reception held in the lobby of the concert hall, and then went out with two of my Sarajevan friends as well as several of the young foreign musicians from Zagreb Philharmonic. They were quite friendly and I had a great time getting to know them and hearing about what it is like to play and live in Zagreb. I hope that later this year, I can go back to visit and get to know the city even better.