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The Franjo Lučić Art School from Velika Gorica celebrated its 50th anniversary with a series of concerts in 2023/2024 season. Krešimr Starčević started learning piano there at the end of 2000, when he was only 12 years old, in the class of Andreja Markulin, with whom he completed his elementary and high school music education.

One of the School’s anniversary concerts was held on June 18, 2024, in the Galženica Hall in Velika Gorica. Along with other musicians, Krešimir Starčević performed as a soloist and chamber musician. He played the now almost forgotten Piano Sonata in G minor, WAB 243, by Anton Bruckner, on the occasion of the 200th anniversary of his birth. It was the first performance of this work in Croatia!

As a chamber musician, he performed Francis Poulenc’s Sonata for Clarinet and Piano, FB 184, with Marko Zavišić, and two compositions originally written for violin and piano, but arranged for tamburitza and piano – Meditation by Boris Papandopoulo and Zigeunerweisen, Op. 20, by Pablo de Sarasate, both with Danijel Tomašević.

© Kristina Josić

Trumpet player Vedran Kocelj and Krešimir Starčević have turned their long-term research and study of forgotten works by Croatian composers for trumpet and piano, as well as ordering new compositions, into the program Musica Croatica – An Anthology of Croatian Music for Trumpet and Piano!

The concert tour included these cities:

• SV. IVAN ZELINA – Kraluš Hall (February 27, 2024)

• MURSKO SREDIŠĆE – Cultural Center “Ribar” (March 3, 2024)

• ZADAR – Bersa Brothers Concert Hall (March 5, 2024)

The program chronologically followed the compositions created in the past 50 years. At the beginning, the three-movement suite Musica per tromba by Bruno Bjelinski from 1975 was performed; then there was Sonata by Stjepan Šulek from 1982, to be followed by two solo pieces – The Glass Bead Game for piano by Ivo Josipović from 1986 and the Seven Trumpets for trumpet by Srđan Dedić from 1988. The first part of the concert was concluded by Anđelko Klobučar‘s Sonatina from 1997.

The concert continued with the extensive work Fanfaronitis by Dubravko Detoni from 2013, dedicated to Kocelj, who premiered it with Starčević in 2016 in Senj, followed by Dubravko Palanović‘s Five Etudes for Young People for piano.

A special end of the concert was in Zadar, where the musicians premiered the composition Cadenza, aria and finale, which was composed by the composer and pianist Bruno Vlahek at their initiative!

Here is what Vlahek wrote about the composition:

I wrote the composition “Cadenca, aria and finale” during January 2024 at the instigation and commission of trumpeter Vedran Kocelj and pianist Krešimir Starčević for a concert in Zadar on March 5. The motif of the composition is Quetzal – a bird of mythological significance for the Mayan civilization, and three can be interpreted as an invocation (ritual invocation), song and flight/dance. The Cadence itself begins with an acoustic effect that can be experienced in front of the Kukulkán temple (Chichén Itzá, Mexico) where clapping at the base causes a sound similar to the voice of a quetzal from the top of the pyramid it is an architectural-acoustic creation far before the advent of modern technology. Both instruments use extended playing techniques to evoke the sounds of nature and an imaginary ritual. The Aria brings the dualism of the song and the drama of the cry in its middle part; it is a response to current world events – despair and the consolation of all who suffer in the rawness and senselessness of war. The Finale brings freedom of movement, the flight of the trumpet over the ostinate of the piano, alternating with a dance color that unites both instruments in a virtuosic ending.

© Željko Karavida 

A charity concert for the Association of Persons with Disabilities in Požega was held by bass-baritone Krešimir Stražanac and Krešimir Starčević in the Concert Hall of the Požega Music School. On January 18, 2024, they presented their Bersa-Rachamninvo program to a large audience and in this way helped this valuable Association at least a little in their daily work and desire to help people who really need it.

https://pozega.eu/-foto-humanitarni-koncert-u-pozegi-glazbena-carolija-za-kupovinu-kombija-pozeskih-invalida-606#google_vignette

© pozega.eu portal

Krešimir Starčević gave a piano masterclass on January 17, 2024 in Požega. He enjoyed working with talented, motivated and hardworking students of different ages at the Požega Music School!

https://glazbena-skola-pozega.hr/blog/kresimir-starcevic-odrzao-seminar-za-nase-klaviriste/

Three music critics were present at the concert of bass-baritone Krešimir Stražanac and Krešimir Starčević at the lied concert at the Croatian National Theater in Zagreb, January 14, 2024.

This Sunday, a first-class world event took place because Krešimir Stražanac performed. Stražanac showed that he is an exceptional Lied master, leading his beautifully colored and perfectly technically polished voice through the dramatic and emotional variety of Bersa’s songs. The superior culture of vocal musicianship in songs is still rare in Croatia, which is why this performance was more attractive, indeed on a world level. He had an excellent collaborator in Krešimir Starčević, who was not a companion but an equal partner, which is necessary for a complete experience with Lied. Excellent pianist!

Jagoda Martinčević

https://www.jutarnji.hr/kultura/glazba/bariton-svjetskog-glasa-zapjevao-je-oj-sanci-vi-sareni-sanci-bio-je-to-svjetski-dozivljaj-15416300

The vocal lines were deeply studied, rehearsed and extremely carefully delivered, with those subtleties and dynamic embellishments that complemented, and sometimes exceeded, the power of the words. This was followed by Bersa’s piano piece At the Strand, with beautiful, delicate two-beat motifs, as if written for the inspired Starčević. The interpretations, were supposed to exude ambiguity, ecstatic charges and convincing resolutions with detailed (dynamically) nuanced responses to the text, both in piano and vocal lines. And luckily, that’s exactly what they were.

Igor Koruga

https://www.tjedno.hr/koruga-bersa-i-rahmanjinov-150-popijevke-i-romanse/?fbclid=IwY2xjawEe2P9leHRuA2FlbQIxMAABHYNDxegH9N9jZVXtR5xhRShpljeZSns-Ofu1oZs5mJ0-AJBgW6ank4PNJA_aem_QdMc5TwJH3WN4KdDD6RKIA

The Zagreb audience welcomes the performances of Krešimir Stražanac with joy, who found an excellent collaborator at the piano in Krešimir Starčević.Both Krešimir Stražanac and Krešimir Starčević, showed a serious approach to musical originals by combining their skills in a simple, harmonious, suggestive, refined and professionally elaborated interpretation with minimal gesticulation. The ease of singing and the ease of playing captivated the audience, who were able to experience the works of two (late) romantics in the best light, distinctive, but different considering the environment and the age when they realized that music was their calling in life. In the sung compositions, Krešimir Stražanac showed an excellent command of the language, which was reflected in the articulation and dynamic nuances that he brilliantly harmonized with Krešimir Starčević’s confident and dynamically measured playing.

Snježana Miklaušić-Ćeran

https://www.klasika.hr/index.php?p=article&id=3214

Bass-baritone Krešimir Stražanac and Krešimir Starčević continued their last year’s project of presenting songs by Blagoje Bersa and romances by Sergei Rachmaninov, as well as their piano miniatures, in January 2024.

Their debut at the Croatian National Theater in Zagreb was held on January 14, 2024. The intimate space of the theater’s foyer was filled to the brim with the audience, among whom were the intendant Iva Hraste-Soćo and the director of the Opera Željka Barišić Pulig.

https://www.hnk.hr/hr/opera/predstave/bersa-rahmanjinov-150-popijevke-romanse/

© Hrvatsko narodno kazalište u Zagrebu

Music critics Snježana Miklaušić-Ćeran (portal klasika.hr) and Igor Koruga (portal tjedno.hr) were at the concert that Marco Graziani, Latica Anić and Krešimir Starčević gave on December 5, 2023, in the Small Hall of the Vatroslav Lisinski Concert Hall in Zagreb. Here are some fragments from their reviews (you can read the whole review on the link below):

Krešimir Starčević, whose contribution to the performance is certainly the greatest in terms of playing time, confirmed all the good sides of polished pianistic technique, an imposing range of dynamics and an unobtrusive accompaniment that was a safe and reliable support for the string players at all times. Marco Graziani revealed the tonal world of the violin with impeccable intonation, seemingly simple solutions to demanding technical settings and controlled bow guidance. Cellist Latica Anić, as an interpreter of thematic material, shone in several moments with the beauty of tone, musicality, great intonation and impeccable playing technique. The sense of harmony of the collective playing of these three young musicians may inspire some of their new projects, because it is a pleasure to listen (and watch) them flipping through the scores of three compositions with inspiration, musicality and harmony. We will be happy to join them in the future on the Music Trails Concert Series or maybe some other cycle of chamber concerts

Snježana Miklaušić-Ćeran

https://klasika.hr/index.php?p=article&id=3205

Satisfied audience attended the performance of violinist Marco Graziani (1988), cellist Latica Anić (1994) and pianist Krešimir Starčević (1988) in the Musical Trails Concert Cycle, where they celebrated the one hundred and fiftieth anniversary of the birth of Croatian composer and music pedagogue Blagoj Bersa (1873-1934) and Russian composer, pianist and conductor Sergej Rachmaninoff (1873-1943) in the most beautiful way possible.

….

The resulting silence was broken as expected by the indescribable approval of the audience, seasoned with applause, shouts and an additional, unique performance of the arrangement of the third movement of the Marche from Prokofiev’s satirical opera “The Love for the Three Oranges”, Op. 33.

Igor Koruga

https://www.tjedno.hr/koruga-rahmanjinovljevih-i-bersinih-150-godina/?fbclid=IwY2xjawEeyJpleHRuA2FlbQIxMAABHWzehRMOPSW0E1aSjFxcrcFK7_pezSb9TwdBQV5Bo3IlRXKKmMHxxQj0Xg_aem_oqENlECa9h7y_wjpDVeDdw

Krešimir Starčević gave his last concert in 2023 in the Small Hall of the Vatroslav Lisinski Concert Hall in ZAGREB, December 5. It was also his third concert this year with violinist Marco Graziani and cellist Latica Anić, which was a celebration of the 150th anniversary of the birth of Blagoje Bersa and Sergei Rachmaninov.

The program included Bersa’s youthful Piano Trio in Classical Style, Op. 7, as well as both of Rachmaninov’s Elegiaques Piano Trios. The performance of the Second Trio in D minor, Op. 9, which had not been performed in Zagreb for several decades, was particularly significant.

In their long-standing collaboration, saxophonist Lovro Merčep and pianist Krešimir Starčević strive to create attractive and conceptually interesting programs in which they will present classical music literature for saxophone and piano in the best possible way, as well as their joint musicianship.

One of these is “Croatian-French Dialogues“, with which they wanted to intertwine compositions by Croatian composers as well as those from France – the country from which the saxophone as an instrument originated. This concept will continue in 2024, and this time the Croatian “team” was represented by Pavle Dešpalj, Petar Bergamo and Blagoje Bersa, while the French “team” included Marin Marais, Georges Bizet and female composer Paul Maurice.

Merčep and Starčević performed concerts in Zrinski/Scheier Hall in ČAKOVEC (October 24) as well as in Beli Manastir Art School u BELI MANASTIR (November 24).

This year 2023, Krešimir Starčević is intensely celebrating the 150th anniversary of the birth of the Croatian composer and pedagogue Blagoje Bersa and the Russian composer, pianist and conductor Sergei Rachmaninov. In addition to their songs and romances and piano trios, Starčević’s piano recital programs were also dedicated to their works.

At the concerts in the Music Schools of PAKRAC (October 25) and NOVSKA (November 2), Starčević thus performed their characteristically and atmospherically different shorter piano forms. The concert began and ended with the works of another Croatian composer whom he performs with great pleasure and often – Dubravko Detoni: at the beginning it was Three Choral Preludes based on Bach’s chorale “Mach’s mit mir, Gott nach deiner Güt”, and at the end the suite “Nine Scenes from Danijel’s dream“, inspired by the dreams of then little boy Danijel Detoni, composer’s, today a superb pianist and pedagogue.

“With a suggestive performance style, Starčević gave the compositions a personal dramaturgical touch, which additionally occupied the attention of the audience, and in the end gave Pakrac a real piano treat.” (Pakrački list)

https://pakrackilist.hr/index.php/kultura-i-prosvjeta/16790-odrzan-klavirski-koncert-kresimir-starcevic-ispunio-glazbenu-skolu-opojnim-zvucima-klavira

© Pakrački list

© Novska.IN portal