Portfolio of the Klasika na Mach cycle
An important place in the work of the Dominanta artistic organization is held by the Klasika na Mach concert cycle, launched in March 2024. In a very short time the cycle has attracted significant attention from audiences and critics alike, confirmed by continuous audience growth, high ticket sales and exceptionally positive press coverage.
To date, the cycle has produced nine thematically conceived concert programs, several of which, due to strong public interest, have been repeated in other Croatian cities and presented on international tours.
Each concert is shaped as a unique artistic whole with its own dramaturgy, a carefully chosen repertoire and a distinctive visual identity. The programs feature prominent Croatian and international artists, with a special place given to Croatian composers, contemporary music and commissions of new works.
I. Musical Cathedrals of France
The concert program Musical Cathedrals of France brings together masterpieces of French musical literature with a unique visual experience of French Gothic architecture. The program features works by Gabriel Fauré, Claude Debussy, Olivier Messiaen and Camille Saint-Saëns, alongside Souvenir de Notre Dame by Croatian composer Dalibor Bukvić, who carried out part of his artistic work in Paris.
A distinctive feature of the program is the video projections of France’s most significant Gothic cathedrals, accompanying individual pieces and creating a unique synthesis of music and visual art.
“…in the brilliant interpretation of Debussy’s Sonata for Violin and Piano, the precision of every detail within the virtuosic weave came through, and there is no acoustic that can replace, or dampen, true inspiration — the enjoyment, first of the artists, and then of the audience, in a performance that radiates conviction, a conviction that stems from the musicians’ own belief in what they are playing.”
Branimir Pofuk Večernji list Read the full review ↗II. Collision of Galaxies
The program Collision of Galaxies was born as an encounter between two seemingly distant musical worlds — the violin and the biNg baNg percussion ensemble. Inspired by the cosmic phenomenon of colliding galaxies, the concert brings together different sound poetics in works by Lou Harrison, Astor Piazzolla, Igor Lešnik and Ivan Josip Skender, accompanied by multimedia video projections that further shape the atmosphere of the performance.
The centerpiece of the program was the premiere of Stress Management by Ivan Josip Skender, created in collaboration between the composer and the performers specifically for this project. After its Zagreb premiere, the piece was performed three more times during a short Croatian tour by the biNg baNg ensemble — in Ozalj, Kutina and Slavonski Brod — confirming the project’s success and its continued life in concert.
“Eva Mach chose to find that calm in the theme of the Gavotte en Rondeau movement from Bach’s Third Partita for Solo Violin, BWV 1006, which begins to emerge while tension still courses through the veins of the ensemble’s sound. As the percussionists fade and leave their positions, the spirit of serenity in this Bach E-major theme prevails, and Eva Mach’s violin carries the closing harmony into the ethereal.”
Mirta Špoljarić glazba.hr Read the full review ↗III. Ladies of the Strings
The third concert of the Klasika na Mach cycle brought together prominent Croatian string players in a project dedicated to the beauty of chamber music-making and the rich tradition of women’s artistic creativity. The project’s originator, violinist Eva Mach, gathered Petromila Jakas (violin), Jasna Simonović Mrčela and Tonka Philips (violas) and Petra Kušan (cello) to perform works for various string ensembles.
The program brought together works by Franz Schubert, Antonín Dvořák, Sergei Rachmaninoff and Max Bruch, exploring the theme of completed and unfinished musical manuscripts and of artistic creation that often remains open and unresolved.
A special dimension was added by a video projection dedicated to pioneering women string players, introducing the audience to notable violinists, violists and cellists whose artistic work paved the way for future generations of women musicians. By combining music and visual art, the concert became a tribute to the extraordinary women who shaped the history of string performance.
IV. Dance of Ghosts
Dance of Ghosts closed the first season of the Klasika na Mach cycle by combining music, dance, poetry and video projections into a single multimedia whole. Violinist Eva Mach and pianist Ana Granik, joined by dance artist Dora Brkarić, guided the audience through works by Poulenc, Stravinsky, Szymanowski, Ivana Lang and Alfred Schnittke, exploring the boundary between reality and imagination, light and darkness.
Each piece was paired with specially designed visual content — from the poetry of Federico García Lorca and Andersen’s fairy tale The Ice Maiden to a dance performance set to Ivana Lang’s piece Dance of Ghosts. In this way, the concert grew beyond the framework of a classical recital and became a complete artistic experience in which music, movement and visual art complemented one another.
“That extraordinary degree of effort you feel while following the concert leaves you breathless, just as much as everything else you’ve just experienced — and believe us, you will experience far more than you’d expect from an ordinary classical music concert.”
Tomislav Bužić Vijenac Read the full review ↗V. Postcard from Samobor
With the concert Postcard from Samobor, the Klasika na Mach cycle introduced Trio Samobor, an ensemble that has quickly become one of the most interesting new names on the Croatian chamber music scene. Inspired by the town where the trio was formed, the concert combined music, visual projections and the story of Samobor, its cultural heritage and composer Ferdo Livadić, whose life and artistic ties are woven into the ensemble’s identity.
The program brought together two masterpieces of Romantic chamber literature — Dvořák’s Dumky Trio and Mendelssohn’s Piano Trio in D minor — with Croatian musical heritage through Three Movements for Orlando by Boris Papandopulo. Video projections of Samobor landscapes, historical photographs and recognizable town motifs turned the concert into a kind of musical postcard, bringing the audience closer to the spirit of the town in a witty and nostalgic way.
Following its Zagreb performance, Trio Samobor continued its successful concert path with appearances in Croatia and abroad, and began work on its debut recording, In modo Croatico, confirming the artistic vision first presented at this very concert.
“The prospects for long-term continuity rest with Trio 1887 and the newly founded Samobor Piano Trio, whose great plans and enthusiasm have already, practically from the ensemble’s founding, resulted in launching a season.”
Marija Saraga glazba.hr Read the full review ↗VI. The 150th Birthday of Kreisler and Ravel
The sixth concert of the Klasika na Mach cycle marked the 150th anniversary of the birth of two giants of 20th-century music — Maurice Ravel and Fritz Kreisler. Violinist Eva Mach and accordionist Martina Jembrišak presented their chamber repertoire in an unusual combination of violin and accordion, revealing to the audience two entirely different compositional worlds: Kreisler’s warmth and virtuosity, and Ravel’s refined modernity and subtle sonic architecture.
A special place in the program was given to the premiere of a new work by Davor Bobić, Kreisleriana, written specifically for this ensemble, linking musical heritage with contemporary Croatian creativity.
The program did not remain confined to Zagreb audiences. Following its premiere within the Klasika na Mach cycle, the concert was repeated on a series of tour dates in Buje, Umag, Lovran, Omišalj, Grubišno Polje and Vukovar, as well as internationally in Cyprus, confirming the artistic value and vitality of the project.
“The concert by Eva Mach and Martina Jembrišak left a powerful impression on the audience, who rewarded the performers with prolonged applause, confirming the value of such musical encounters and the need to continue them.”
Vukovar City Museum Read the full review ↗VII. Spanish Night with the Split Virtuosi
Spanish Night with the Split Virtuosi was the closing and most festive concert of the second season of the Klasika na Mach cycle. In collaboration with the leading Dalmatian string ensemble, the audience experienced an evening devoted to Spanish music of the 19th and early 20th centuries, filled with passion, virtuosity and Mediterranean color.
The program featured works by Enrique Granados, Joaquín Turina, Jesús de Monasterio, Pablo de Sarasate and Juan Crisóstomo de Arriaga, while violinist Eva Mach, as soloist, brought her temperament to bear on the virtuosic repertoire alongside the warm sound of the Split Virtuosi string ensemble, under the artistic direction of Wladimir Kossjanenko.
The concert’s special atmosphere was completed by video projections inspired by Spanish painting and poetry, turning the stage into a visual reflection of the Mediterranean world. Before an almost full Aula Magna concert hall, with representatives of the Embassy of the Kingdom of Spain and numerous guests in attendance, the concert once again confirmed the recognizable concept of the Klasika na Mach cycle — combining outstanding musicianship with a thoughtfully crafted multimedia experience.
VIII. Chic and Jazzy
The eighth concert of the Klasika na Mach cycle explores the tension between a contemporary reality marked by uncertainty and the human need for beauty, freedom and inner balance. The program brings together works by Pauline Viardot, Olja Jelaska, Maurice Ravel and Paul Schoenfield, building a musical arc from introspection and anxiety toward rhythm, dance and optimism.
The centerpiece of the first half is Zov iz dubine (Call from the Depths) by Croatian composer Olja Jelaska, which through powerful musical expression questions war, human suffering and the search for meaning. The second half brings a different world — Ravel’s sonata infused with a jazz sensibility, and Paul Schoenfield’s virtuosic Four Souvenirs, a work that blends classical music, folklore and improvisation into a vivid musical whole.
The concert’s visual identity was rounded out by video projections inspired by drawing, comic-book art and film-noir aesthetics, further underscoring the contrast between darkness and light that runs through the entire program.
“Adding a Gershwin encore… namely It Ain’t Necessarily So from the opera Porgy and Bess (in a brilliant Heifetz arrangement), the young musicians reached their artistic goal and intent — to deliver outstanding performances, to meet the audience’s expectations and curiosity, and to create the atmosphere of a special and exceptional event…”
Iva Lovrec Štefanović glazba.hr Read the full review ↗IX. Lightborn — Trio CROmatika
The ninth concert of the Klasika na Mach cycle introduced Trio CROmatika, the only permanent string trio in Croatia. The ensemble consists of violinist Eva Mach, violist Jasna Simonović Mrčela and cellist Latica Anić, who through carefully conceived programs explore the rich expressive possibilities of the string trio and promote contemporary Croatian creativity.
The program Lightborn, named after the piece of the same name by Juraj-Marko Žerovnik, brought its premiere alongside works by Ernő Dohnányi, Zoltán Kodály and Leó Weiner. The music was accompanied by a video projection inspired by light as a natural phenomenon and a universal symbol of creation, bringing music, literature and visual art together into a single artistic experience.
“The three string instruments were constantly held in a fine sonic balance, out of which, in keeping with the thematic development of the material, one instrument or another would naturally emerge. The instruments’ colors blended harmoniously, and their performing ideas complemented one another, a testament to the close mutual listening among the three musicians.”
Mirta Špoljarić Vijenac Read the full review ↗Starting in 2027, Klasika na Mach enters a new stage of development with the launch of the FIREBOW™ – Virtuosity Unleashed programming line, a concert format that, through a virtuosic classical repertoire, contemporary dramaturgy and a thoughtfully crafted visual identity, brings a new concert experience.