Listen to the most famous works of Croatia's first female composer Dora Pejačević, performed by the BBC Symphony Orchestra and pianist Nataša Veljković

BBC Radio 3 recently featured three works of Croatian composer Dora Pejačević in their Radio 3 in Concert musical programme. 

Named ‘Masterpiece Rediscovered’, this episode centers around Symphony in F sharp minor written by Dora Pejačević. It was broadcast live from the Barbican Hall and performed by the BBC Symphony Orchestra with conductor Sakari Oramo at the helm. 

Symphony in F sharp minor op.41 is considered to be the first modern Croatian symphony and one of the most distinguished works of Croatia’s first female composer.

The programme also features another famous work of Dora Pejačević, the piano cycle Blumenleben op.19 (The Life of Flowers). Performed by pianist Nataša Veljković, the opus consists of eight individual pieces inspired by different flowers associated with certain stages of life. 

Countess Dora was a member of the House Pejačević, an influential noble family who were based in Slavonia and counted high state officials, military officers and politicians among their ranks. 

Born in 1885, Dora Pejačević first received piano lessons from her mother at their family residence in Našice. She went on to study music privately in Zagreb, Dresden and Munich, but considering that she never studied continuously for a longer period of time, she’s considered to have been largely self-taught. 

She had written her first composition at the age of 12 and went on to compose 58 opuses with 106 compositions in total between 1897 and 1922. 

Her piano concerto (1913) is the first concerto ever written by a Croatian composer. 

Even though she’s known as one of the most notable Croatian composers of classical music and was a highly prolific creator, most of her work still hasn’t been published and given the recognition it deserves. 

Tune in to listen to the Symphony in F sharp minor on BBC. The recording will be available until December 26th, 2021 and also features Ludwig van Beethoven’s Violin Concerto in D major and two works of British composer Edward Elgar. 

Learn more about the family Pejačević and their two castles in Našice in this feature.

ZAGREB, 28 March 2021- Croatian Radio's short radio drama "Earthquake", from the Short Forms cycle, has won the BBC Best European Drama Award 2021, after reaching the finals with Austrian and Swiss radio shows.

Katja Šimunić, the editor of the Short Forms show, confirmed that they had found out they had won the BBC Best European Award 2021 in a live Zoom broadcast on Friday evening and that they were very happy.

"It gives us encouragement to continue exploring in our drama program", she said, adding that the excellent interpretation of Janko Polić Kamov's text, older than a hundred years, and the emotional resonance the work had with the audience were crucial.

The extraordinary contemporary and radical text of the short story "Earthquake" by Janko Polić Kamov, the innovative direction by Dario Harjaček, the extraordinary sound design by composer Maro Market, and the superb work of sound engineer Lana Deban were certainly crucial, she said.

Also, crucial was the emotion that this short radio form evoked, especially in us who experienced the recent earthquakes, but also in the entire Europe and world who are going through the pandemic, she said.

Katja Šimunić recalled that the drama had already been awarded the second prize in Bucharest last year.

The radio drama "Earthquake" was created as part of the Short Forms show, which is regularly broadcast from 6.05 to 6.15 p.m. from Monday to Wednesday on Croatian Radio One.

For more about everything made in Croatia, be sure to follow TCN’s dedicated page.

February 16, 2021 – In an admiring new business profile, the most prestigious of British broadcasters looks at Croatian car innovator Mate Rimac BBC comparing him to Tesla's Elon Musk.

In an admiring new business profile, the most prestigious of British broadcasters looks at Croatian car innovator Mate Rimac BBC comparing him to Tesla's Elon Musk.

The Mate Rimac BBC profile is titled 'The hypercar maker who was told to give up his dream' and was published earlier today, Tuesday 16 February 2021. In the article, which is part business profile and part a personality profile on Mate Rimac BBC journalist and business correspondent Theo Leggett describes Rimac automobiles as “some of the most exotic machines on the planet”.

The BBC profile of Mate Rimac and his Rimac Automobili company, from earlier today © BBC screenshot

Direct quotes from the Mate Rimac BBC profile

“Rimac Automobili is best known for building ultra-exclusive electric hypercars,” says Mate Rimac BBC profile writer Mr Leggett.

“The Concept One, first unveiled in 2011, had a top speed of 354km/h (220mph). Only eight were ever made - and one was famously destroyed when the TV presenter Richard Hammond careered off the road during a competition in Switzerland.”

“Its successor the C_Two is even more extreme with a claimed top speed of 415km/h (258mph); able to accelerate from 0-97km/h (60mph) in 1.85 seconds. Due to go on sale this year, it's expected to have a price tag of €2m ($2.4m; £1.8m).”

The rimac C_Two © Branko Radovanović

“The cars are by any normal measure extraordinary. But they form only one part of Rimac's business model. Increasingly the company is setting itself up as a technology supplier to other manufacturers, to help them build their own high-performance electric cars.”

Alongside the obvious similarity of them both building electric cars, it is this expansion of the company's field of vision that prompts the Mate Rimac BBC profile journalist to compare the Croat to Tesla's Elon Musk.

Further along in the Mate Rimac BBC profile, the journalist interviews David Bailey, professor of industrial strategy at Birmingham University.

"Mate Rimac is seen as a real disruptor," says Professor Bailey. "His company has come from absolutely nowhere, their products are really exciting - and they've developed a brand round the hypercars."

March 10, 2020 – VIDEO: BBC/Top Gear tests Rimac C_Two prototype which can go from 0 to 100 kph in under two seconds!

Tom Ford/Top Gear reviewed the Rimac electric hypercar prototype, with the 1.94 million EURO price tag, on March 10, 2020.

Rimac C_Two: Here are the Numbers

The technical tour-de-force that can reach 160 kph in 4.3 seconds. It will manage some 550 kilometers on a charge (WLTP) and be able to charge to 80 per cent in just half an hour on a fast charger. More pertinently, it will have four-wheel drive and insanely complicated torque vectoring, active aero and sophisticated battery management to prevent performance drop off.

This is a prototype that’s been in testing for several months. “Virtually nothing on this car will be the same as the production version,” says Mate Rimac cheerfully, CEO of his eponymous company, “but it represents a significant step on the journey.” Mate is driving first and the C_Two yelps away from a standstill flicking gravel into the as-yet-unlined arches. It creaks and squeaks a little, but it goes. Hard.

Did Mate Rimac let you have a drive?

Yep, he’s a generous bloke. The driver’s seat is both familiar and a little weird, with an aquarium-blue interior that feels like a CAD drawing, and two massive red buttons by my right elbow that isolate the electrics and disable the braking system.

Rimac C-Two | Rimac

First impressions?

The steering is non-production heavy, the vision surprisingly good - forwards, at least, because the rear view is filled with wires and mysterious boxes of digital think. The ride is… fine. Not hard, but obviously not optimised.

The acceleration is delivered in one long pull rather than the tidal surges of an ICE engine. The car feels half a tonne lighter than its prototype weight of two-and-a-quarter-plus tonnes, with the real deal ending up somewhere just under the double for production.

Rimac C-Two Interior | Rimac

Any final thoughts from the boss?

Just one: “I didn’t actually build this car because I needed to bring down my company C02 targets or because of particular environmental concerns,” he says, with disarming honesty and despite the fact he’s a vegan with a huge passion for environmentalism and eco-consciousness,

“I did it because EV is the best solution. It will make for a better car,” he added.

Follow our Made in Croatia page for updates on the Rimac C_Two electric hypercar and other Croatian innovations. More information and specifications on the car can be found here.

As Morski writes on the 2nd of May, 2019, the Croatian National Tourist Board (HTZ) has established a successful cooperation with the BBC, one of the largest and most respected media outlets in the world.

This cooperation includes the full production of three sixty second videos that will showcase the Republic of Croatia as an attractive year-round destination, the production of three articles with accompanying video footage for the BBC platform, as well as advertising and activity on all online BBC platforms from May to September on twelve key broadcasting markets.

''Cooperation between the Croatian Tourist Board and the BBC is one of the great examples of cooperation and working together with foreign entities on the promotion of Croatian tourism. We're exceptionally proud that such a large media group, achieving the reach of 454 million households around the world, has recognised the significance and potential of Croatia as a tourist destination. I'm sure that all the material shot, as well as all of the other activities, will significantly contribute to the visibility of Croatia, and thus to achieve even better tourist results this year,'' said HTZ's director Kristjan Staničić.

The BBC recording crew visited Osijek, Zadar, Split, Dubrovnik, Klis, NP Paklenica and other destinations where they recorded eno-gastronomic themes, cultural and historical heritage, active tourism offers and other interesting tourist attractions focusing on the locations of the world famous "Game of Thrones" hit series.

Other activities within this cooperation include content placement via BBC Story Works social network channels on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, and the creation of websites on BBC.com where there will be video and written material about Croatia. The markets covered by this cooperation, and on which the materials will be presented, are Germany, USA, Austria, Russia, Italy, France, Poland, Czech Republic, Sweden, Norway, Belgium and Switzerland.

It's worth mentioning that the BBC network reaches as many as 308 million individuals on a monthly basis, while on social networks, there are more than sixteen million followers. In addition, the BBC has over 472 million views on its YouTube channel. A large percentage of their users are lovers of travel, and as many as 72 percent usually travel abroad.

Make sure to follow our dedicated lifestyle and travel pages for much more on Croatian tourism.

Even the BBC has picked up on our brilliant tunnel that leads... absolutely nowhere.

Croatian tennis legend Goran Ivanišević gives his thoughts on the Croatia and England semi-final tomorrow in Moscow. 

An unlikely, inadvertent Konzum promo from the BBC.

And no, it is not Maksimir or Poljud. 

Tuesday 15th August 2017, BBC Three announces filming of reality show “The Brits are Coming” in Croatia.