Christmas performances in Austria

Organised by the Croatian-Austrian Society Dubrovnik, the Croatian Heritage Foundation Dubrovnik and the association Hrvatski San from Salzburg, Christmas concerts by klapa Kaše were held in Salzburg and Vienna from 15 to 17 December 2017.

The klapa, in their traditional costumes, presented themselves to the Austrian audience with Dubrovnik kolende and with chants and compositions from the south of Croatia. This “Dubrovnik festa” in Austria was also enhanced by delicacies from Dubrovačka kuća, and it was attended by the Mayor of Dubrovnik, Mato Franković, as well as the director of the Dubrovnik Summer Festival, Ivana Medo Bogdanović.

In a festive pre-Christmas atmosphere, a Christmas reception was held at the Embassy of the Republic of Croatia in Vienna, attended by representatives of numerous Croatian and Burgenland Croatian associations and religious communities, as well as Austrian friends of Croatia. The musical atmosphere was provided by klapa Kaše, who performed traditional Dubrovnik kolende and Christmas chants, as well as songs from their standard repertoire.

On this occasion a memorial plaque was also unveiled to the Croatian composer, conductor and founder of Croatian opera Ivan pl. Zajc, in Vienna’s second district, where he lived and composed from 1868 to 1870. It was put up jointly by the Austrian-Croatian Society in Vienna and the City of Rijeka. In the musical part of the programme the Dubrovnik klapa Kaše performed, including Zajc’s patriotic song ‘U boj’, which he wrote in 1866 in Vienna.