“Bach in the air” was the title of the European Union Evening held last night at the Ohrid Summer Festival. In the acoustic ambience of the church “St. Sophia”, Bach’s works through a remarkable interpretation were brought by Slovenian artists, flutist Irena Grafenauer and clarinetist Mate Bekavac.
The two artists who have long and successful careers, and they have in common the modesty in their appearance in public, left a strong impression on the audience through their music.
– I am in Ohrid for the first time and I really enjoy it, both in the city and in the church where we performed, which has charisma and excellent acoustics. The audience, to my pleasant surprise, listened with special concentration, because the program was a bit more complicated. I think that for this space, and judging by the reactions of the audience, we had a wonderful evening. We have been playing for a very long time, more than 25 years, so the cooperation is easy for us, but every new project is a new beginning, a new acquaintance, a new communication and resolving small conflicts that come during the creative work, said clarinetist Bekavac.
For flutist Grafenauer, there is nothing more beautiful in life than sharing music, especially, as she said, in these difficult times.
– It was a wonderful evening. We all came together. There was an incredible concentration of both our artists and the audience. Only music lived. We shared it in the beautiful setting of the church, and what could be more beautiful than that. I think God himself came to visit us. It was so beautiful and unforgettable. I love your country, Ohrid and the people who are so nice. “These are difficult times, so while we were playing, we prayed that we would all be better,” Grafenauer added.
The Ambassador of the European Union to the Republic of Northern Macedonia, David Gere, in the front lines of the audience enjoyed the wonderful concert organized by the two artists.
– Really magical and very intimate place. I can hear the flute and the clarinet talking to each other throughout the brilliant performance. I am overjoyed to be here, and I can say the same for the audience because I could feel the warmth in them, and they were overjoyed to be here. It was a great honor to have these two musicians on stage tonight. The European Union’s Ohrid Summer Evening has been a tradition for 15 years, and I hope we will continue to nurture it. We have many such traditional events throughout Macedonia, but I think this one is special and dearest to us. “I am very happy to be part of this wonderful festival and to enable us to present talented artists inside and outside the EU,” said EU Ambassador Gere.
The traditional Evening of the European Union “Ohrid Summer” and the brilliant performance of the bach works on flute and clarinet were attended by representatives of several foreign diplomatic missions in the Republic of Northern Macedonia, including the Ambassador of Slovenia to our country, Milan Predan and the honorary Slovenian Consul in the Republic of Northern Macedonia, еноenol Islam, Ambassador of the Republic of Croatia Nives Tiganj, Deputy Ambassador of Germany Otto Graf, Deputy Ambassador of Italy Mario De Rosa, as well as the Mayor of the Municipality of Ohrid, Konstantin Georgieski.
