Published on 05/30/2020

Branka Beretovac, soprano, was primadona of Croatian National Theatre in Zagreb for 35 years. She graduated from the Academy of Music of the University of Zagreb. In 1967, she became a permanent soloist at the Opera Stadt Theater in German capital Bonn. Upon returning back to Croatia in 1969, she had successful opera appearances in Croatia and throughout Europe: Bonn, Geneve, Monte Carlo, Paris, Madrid, St. Petersburg, Kiev, Berlin, Salzburg, Brno, Vienna, Luxembourg, Frankfurt am Main, Solingen, Ulm, Budapest, Frieburg and elsewhere. She had a fruitful collaboration with distinguished Croatian conductor Lovro von Matačić.

Hrvojka Mihanović-Salopek: Kristalni plov / umjetnička djelatnost Branke Beretovac, prvakinje HNK u Zagrebu, Zagreb, 2019.

Branka Beretovac, distinguished Croatian opera singer - soprano.

All the photos are taken with permission from the monograph

Hrvojka Mihanović-Salopek: Kristalni plov / umjetnička djelatnost Branke Beretovac, prvakinje HNK u Zagrebu, Biakova d.o.o., Zagreb, 2019.

Hrvojka Mihanović-Salopek (organ), Branko Bihanović (oboa) and Branka Beretovac in the

Trški Vrh baroque monastery neary the town of Krapina (north of Zagreb)

Branka Beretovac

Branka Beretovac, soprano (maiden Gregorić, born in Zagreb in 1944), was primadona of Croatian National Theatre (Hrvatsko narodno kazalište, HNK) in Zagreb for 35 years. She graduated from the Academy of Music of the University of Zagreb, and made her debut in Croatian National Theatre in 1964 in the opera Nikola Šubić Zrinski by Ivan pl. Zajc.

Branka Beretovac in 1981

In 1967, she became a permanent soloist at the Opera Stadt Theater in German capital Bonn.
Upon returning back to Croatia in 1969, she had successful opera appearances not only in Croatia, but throughout Europe as well:

Bonn, Geneve, Monte Carlo, Paris, Madrid, St. Petersburg, Kiev, Berlin, Salzburg, Brno, Vienna, Luxembourg, Frankfurt am Main, Solingen, Ulm, Budapest, Freiburg and elsewhere.

Croatian Christmas carols, by Branka Beretovac and Hrvojka Mihanović-Salopek

In Vienna, she toured with the Nelson Mass at the Musikverein Hall, where she recorded a record that was later released on compact disc. She also performed as a soloist in Tales of Hoffmann at the Vienna Volksopera, with excellent reviews. She had a fruitful and frequent collaboration with internationally renowned Croatian conductor Lovro von Matačić.

Source: Hrvojka Mihanović Salopek, Kristalni plov / umjetnička djelatnost Branke Beretovac, prvakinje HNK u Zagrebu, Biakova d.o.o., Zagreb, 2019., pp. 309-310

Jelka Radauš Ribarić, Branka Beretovac, Mislav Ježić and Hrvojka Mihanović-Salopek in 1989,

after the concert at the Croatian Paneuropean Union in Zagreb

Branka Beretovac and Hrvojka Mihanović-Salopek in the Franciscan monastery on the islet of Košljun

near the island of Krk, in 2020, during the Pasinska baština (Passion Heritage) program.

Many thanks to dr. Hrvojka Mihanović-Salopek (of the Croatian Academy of Sciences and Arts) for her kind help.