On Wednesday, October 15, 2025, at 6:00 PM, in the Multimedia Center (MMC) in Rovinj, a new edition of the Musical Theorem cycle is taking place, dedicated to the theme "The Development of Croatian Lyric Poetry". The program is jointly organized by the Open Public University of the City of Rovinj-Rovigno and the Croatian Association of Music Artists (HDGU) – Pula branch, and the protagonists of the evening are mezzo-soprano Katja Markotić and pianist Aleksandra Santin Golojka. Admission is free, which makes this autumn musical evening attractive and accessible to a wide audience.

Musical Theorem in Rovinj has been building a reputation for years as a serious, yet accessible "concert conversation" with the audience. Each edition combines performance and thoughtful introductory presentations: visitors, along with the sound itself, also receive context – how individual compositions were created, what they meant at the time they were written, and how they shaped our musical and social reality. The format nurtured by Aleksandra Santin Golojka in her role as a piano accompanist and moderator has proven that one can learn as much from a concert as enjoy it, without losing musical suggestiveness.

Musical Signposts of the Illyrian Movement

In the first half of the 19th century, Croatian society was awakening under the sign of revivalist ideas. Language, press, and theater gained a powerful ally in – the song. The short, singable form became a widely understandable medium that spread just as easily through salons, schools, and public gatherings. In this context, Ferdo Wiesner Livadić is one of the key authorial figures: his lyrical songs and piano miniatures bear the hallmarks of European Romanticism, but at the same time, they fit into the domestic need for a clear, memorable, and common musical expression.

An emblematic example of this harmony is the revival song "Još Hrvatska ni propala" (Croatia Has Not Yet Fallen), a composition created from the verses of Ljudevit Gaj and set to music in 1833. As early as February 4, 1835, it resounded on the public stage in Zagreb and confirmed how melody and rhythm can become a common denominator of unity. The revival song was not just a historical gesture, but also a practical tool: simple and easy to remember, intended for communal singing, with a message that encourages and gathers listeners around the idea of cultural and national revival.

Ferdo Wiesner Livadić: Between the Salon and the Public Sphere

Livadić (1799–1879) was born in Celje, educated in Zagreb and Graz, and spent most of his life in Samobor. There, alongside his legal profession, he hosted a lively salon where artists and public figures met. As a composer, he left a series of solo songs in Croatian, German, and Slovenian, as well as piano compositions – from marches and dances to lyrically profiled miniatures. In the domestic context, his nocturne in F-sharp minor is often highlighted as a concentrated Romantic portrait. His social role was also important: he mediated between private music-making and the public sphere, creating a bridge that future generations – from Lisinski to Zajc – would cross.

Why is Livadić in particular key to the story of "the development of Croatian lyric poetry"? Primarily because he was simultaneously sensitive to the word and open to European stylistic currents. In his songs, the intimate and the public naturally overlap: the romance and the revival song, discreet emotion and a call to community. Such a combination set a template that preserves the central place of the song as a genre in which the voice and piano are true partners, and the intelligibility of the text is just as important as the subtlety of the phrase.

Performers Who Connect Knowledge and Experience

Katja Markotić is a concert artist who completed her studies in solo singing and Lied interpretation in Graz in the class of Kammersängerin Ira Malaniuk, and continued her vocal training in Vienna. Her repertoire covers a wide range of eras – from Baroque to contemporary works – with a lasting interest in the art song. She regularly performs at prestigious Croatian festivals and thematic recitals that bring together different cultural circles, paying special attention to Croatian authors and historical repertoires.

Aleksandra Santin Golojka is an Istrian pianist and musical professional who has profiled herself in the Musical Theorem cycle as an ideal interlocutor – both on the piano and in words. Alongside precise and stylistically thoughtful accompaniment, she also offers the audience concise introductory notes that open up the listener's focus. In previous programs, she has shown how piano intermezzos and miniatures can connect the Istrian, Central European, and Mediterranean circles; the same approach, in which context carries as much weight as performance, will accompany this evening as well.

What the Audience Will Hear

The concert is conceived as a journey through short lyrical forms with an emphasis on the song and piano miniature of the 19th century. The focus is on works created from the verses of Croatian poets of the revival period, with accents that show how an intimate salon situation transfers to the public context of communal singing. The revival song as a genre holds a special place, but romantic romances and gentle piano passages that serve as a prologue, intermezzo, or postlude to the vocal numbers attract equal attention.

The educational note of the cycle means that before and between the performances, listening signposts will be indicated: the difference between home music-making and the public concert hall, the place of the text in relation to the melody, the moment when a harmonic turn creates rhetorical emphasis, and the ways in which oral melody is transcribed into a notated, authorial expression. Such explanations do not slow down the concert but rather condense it – each subsequent phrase carries a clearer meaning, and listening becomes an active experience.

MMC in Rovinj: Space, Sound, and Accessibility

The Multimedia Center in Rovinj is located near the sea and is designed as a flexible urban space for cultural, educational, and entertainment programs. The hall has approximately two hundred seats and, with appropriate technical support (a stage with modular platforms, a sound system, projection), is very suitable for chamber music and conversational formats. Since admission to the concert is free, it is recommended to arrive a little earlier to secure a seat and prepare for listening in peace.

For visitors coming from other parts of Istria, as well as from further away, a stay in Rovinj naturally complements the cultural experience: after the concert, it is easy to extend the evening with a walk along the waterfront and through the old town. If you want to turn the musical experience into a complete little getaway, consider the accommodation offer in Rovinj, so that your stay is comfortable and in harmony with the rhythm of autumn in Istria.

Who is Behind the Program

The organizers of the event are the Open Public University of the City of Rovinj-Rovigno and the Pula branch of the Croatian Association of Music Artists. On one hand, there is a local cultural institution that, in addition to educational programs, continuously produces concert and stage content and develops an audience; on the other, there is a professional association of performers that nurtures professional standards, encourages collaborations, and enables the transfer of expert knowledge through concrete projects. Such a partnership model has proven successful in previous editions, so Musical Theorem continues to steadily expand its audience.

Why Lyric Poetry Still Has Power Today

The art song – the German Lied, the French mélodie, and Croatian patriotic and salon lyric poetry – concentrates text, melody, and harmony into a short form that demands interpretive focus. In such music, the singer and pianist are equal partners, and the intelligibility of the words is as crucial as the softness of the phrase. During the revival period, the song easily moved from the private to the public sphere; today, it is a space where the relationship between language and identity is questioned, and where history is listened to through an artistic act.

In that vein, Katja Markotić and Aleksandra Santin Golojka will shape an evening that emphasizes the nuances of the text, diction, color, and dynamics, but also the piano gesture that does not "accompany" but collaborates. Livadić's presence in the program naturally opens a view to the period in which the art song was shaped as a carrier of message and emotion. Listeners, empowered by introductory explanations, will be able to more clearly recognize the motifs that connect the private salon and the public concert hall – from revivalist energy to romantic introspection.

Notes for the Curious

Many revival songs reached the public through newspapers and magazines, often with an attached musical score. Home music-making was a part of everyday life back then, and the revival song was not just a festive proclamation but also a practice of communal singing. Livadić's compositions are characterized by singable melodies, clear cadential arcs, and a sensitive relationship to the accents in the text. In the mezzo-soprano register, such a relationship is conveyed through a subtle play of colors and resonances, while the piano creates a discreet framework: an introduction, a rest, and an echo.

For visitors staying longer in Rovinj, a small glossary that will be woven through the concert is useful: a "budnica" (revival song) is a composition designed to awaken and gather; a "romanca" (romance) is a lyrical form of a more intimate character; a "nocturno" (nocturne) is a piano miniature whose atmosphere owes to European Romantics; "Lied" is a tradition in which the piano is equal to the voice. Recognizing these terms enhances the listening pleasure and illuminates the dramaturgy of the program.

Practical Reminder

Venue: MMC, Rovinj • Date and Time: Wednesday, October 15, 2025, 6:00 PM • Performers: Katja Markotić (mezzo-soprano) and Aleksandra Santin Golojka (piano) • Organizer: Open Public University of the City of Rovinj-Rovigno / HDGU Pula Branch • Admission: free • Contact: +385 52 830 300 • More Information: www.pour.hr

The audience that stays in Rovinj after the concert can round off the evening with a short tour of the city's sights and find rest in selected accommodation in Rovinj. Music and space thus continue one another – the concert provides a map for understanding history, and the city provides a landscape in which that understanding lingers even after the final chord.