Vedran Kocelj: Otkrivanja / Revelations

Vedran Kocelj, trumpet
Croatian Radiotelevision Symphony Orchestra
Mladen Tarbuk and Pavle Zajcebv, conductors

“The CD Otkrivanja (Revelations) is Vedran Kocelj’s first solo album and represents the crowning achievement of his decades-long and richly varied artistic career. With it, we finally reveal this artist in the light that his work, results, and dedication unquestionably deserve. Over the course of several decades, Kocelj has patiently and diligently, with enthusiasm and curiosity, revealed these works both through studio recordings and concert performances. And in that sense, this album truly is – a discovery!

The pleasure of discovery will emerge on several levels: in view of the performing excellence with which Kocelj presents the selected works; and in relation to the fact that, due to their extraordinary technical demands, they have not yet lived more intensively in our performance practice. Some of them (Dedić) have in fact been restored to the trumpet repertoire by Kocelj himself. Others (Papandopulo, Bjelinski), thanks to Kocelj’s masterful skill, we will encounter for the first time on this CD in their uncut, integral form. Not to mention Kuljerić’s Pop Concerto and all the excitement that work can offer us! But there is something more besides…

Above all, Vedran Kocelj’s album Otkrivanja truly awakens in us a sense of genuine pride, prompted by the realization this release finally confirms: that in 20th-century Croatian music we inherit a trumpet repertoire of extraordinary diversity, richness, and quality.

And even more than that, it shows that these are works of exceptional repertoire potential which, we are convinced, will finally be revealed in their full breadth through this release.” (from the CD booklet text by Borko Špoljarić)