Frano Parać’s opera Judita is unusual in at least one respect.  The libretto is in Old Croatian and is based on a 1501 epic poem by Marko Marulić, in turn based on the Book of Judith so the story is the familiar one about Judith and Holofernes.  It’s quite short; around 70 minutes, and it follows the biblical story pretty closely.

It premiered in Split in 2000 (both Parać and Marulić are/were from the city) but the recording was made at a live concert performance in Munich in 2023.  It’s a pretty interesting piece.  The music is clearly modern but essentially tonal.  It’s got lots of energy and is sometimes quite grand and dramatic but also with quieter moments.  There are elements of minimalism, especially in the rather declamatory and percussive music given to the Assyrian soldiers.

The vocal writing is also quite varied.  There are clearly arias and even the accompanied recitatives are often quite dramatic.  Unsurprisingly Judita gets the best music.  She’s very well sun here by Serbian mezzo Soija Petrović.  Oloferne is also a pretty good role requiring a dramatic bass.  In this case it’s Ivica Čikeš who is quite imposing.  There’s some really good choral writing too which is well executed by the Croatian Radio Choir.  The orchestra; the Munich Radio Orchestra, is also excellent and conductor Ivan Repusiċ is clearly going for maximum drama.

The recording is well balanced and quite transparent and detailed (at least in the hi-res version I listened to).  It’s available as a physical CVD, in lossless digital in CD quality and 48kHz/24 bit and as MP3.  There’s a booklet with good notes and a synopsis but no libretto.  I didn’t find this a huge problem with such a well known story.  There’s a bonus track of Parać’s Carmina Krležiana: Dance of the Baroness, from one of his ballets.

So, a well made recording of a modern opera that deserves to be better known.

Catalogue information: BR Klassik 900357