The music of a court

In the late 19th and early 20th century, Cetinje was a royal capital where music and theatre flourished alongside diplomacy and court ceremony. At the court of King Nikola, works by local and foreign composers were performed at celebrations, receptions and concerts.

Much of this music is known today only to specialists. ‘Muzika sa crnogorskog dvora’ returns it to the concert stage and to audiences across Montenegro, in four concerts in Herceg Novi, Nikšić, Cetinje and Bar.

The cycle is dedicated to maestro Radovan Papović (1950–2022). As founder of the Montenegrin Symphony Orchestra, he first performed this programme at the Bar Chronicle festival in 2000 and recorded it on CD, preserving the musical heritage of the Montenegrin court.