JUDITH Frano Parać – Croatian National Theatre in Zagreb

From the biblical Book of Judith, here is a beautiful widow on a mission to save the Jewish people and her city, Bethulia, under siege by Assyrian invaders. Using her powers of seduction, Judith infiltrates the Assyrian camp and asks to see General Holofernes, promising to tell him how to conquer Israel without losing any of his men. Blinded by Judith’s beauty and wisdom, Holofernes prepares a feast for her. When left alone with the inebriated Holofernes, Judith murders him with his own sword and takes his head as a trophy.

Croatian National Theatre’s new production of Judith is timed to echo the 500th anniversary of the death in 1524 of Marko Marulić, the father of Croatian literature. Published in 1521, Marulić’s Judita was the first literary epic in Croatian language. Inspired by Marulić, known as the ‘Virgil of Split’, Frano Parać, Croatian composer and academician, composed and wrote his own libretto for this two act opera, which premiered in 2000. It was an immediate popular success and is the most frequently revived of all contemporary Croatian operas. After the world opening night, critic Miljenko Grgić enthused: ‘waves of exaltation at the end of the performance proclaim the genius of Marulić (to whom we owe the literary model) and of Parać, the creator of the opera, whose future is secured by such a magical performance.’ Zagreb’s new production of Judith is directed by Snježana Banović and conducted by Ivan Josip Skender.

Full performance streamed on OperaVision from 17 January 2025 at 19:00 CET to 17 July 2025 at 12:00 CET: https://operavision.eu/performance/judith

CAST

Judith
Sofija Petrović

Holofernes
Matija Meić

Uzziah
Stjepan Franetović

Eliakim
Mate Akrap

Achior
Ivo Gamulin

Abra
Emilia Rukavina

Ruth
Petra Cik

Bagoas
Marin Čargo

First Priest
Siniša Galović

Second Priest
Mario Bokun

Holofernes' Army – Dancers
Samuele Berbenni
Thomas Boddington
Vito Križnjak
Ovidiu Muscalu
Dan Rus
Vid Vugrinec

Guests
Kristina Grubiša
Dorotea Ilečić Sever

Orchestra
Croatian National Theatre Zagreb Orchestra

Chorus
Croatian National Theatre Zagreb Chorus

Music
Frano Parać

Text
Frano Parać
Tonko Maroević

Conductor
Ivan Josip Skender

Director
Snježana Banović

Sets
Zlatko Kauzlarić Atač

Costumes
Dženisa Pecotić

Choreographer
Blaženka Kovač Carić

Lights
Deni Šesnić

Assistant conductor
Davor Kelić

Assistant director
Kristina Grubiša

Language coach
Joško Ševo

Chorus Master
Luka Vukšić

Adapting libretto into standard Croatian
Mirna Rustemović

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