The Dream of Barbara Hendricks

On the very last day of the tragic 1991, around 9 a.m., a group of 150 people has reached the heavily damaged port of Dubrovnik. Their pilgrimage started 14 hours earlier, at the Paris airport "Orly". Their aim was to express their solidarity with all the Yugoslavs, or, if you wish, with all Serbs, Croats and other peoples living in these parts longing for peace.

There were many familiar faces among them: Catherine Lalumiere of the European Council, Sir Fitzroy Maclean, a former Churchill's emissary and the chief of the British military mission at Tito's headquarters, Michel Picoli, French actor, Flora Lewis, the New York Times columnist, the famous Peter Broek, presidents of various humanitarian organizations, high UNESCO and UNICEF commissioners... They were accompanied by a cheerful bunch of TV crew members from France, England, Italy and Germany.

Why Dubrovnik? Why at New Year's eve?

"It was my dream", says Barbara Hendricks, probably one of the world's best and most famous sopranos. "I have been following the events in this beautiful country and every time I would see further destructions happening, I would feel like catching the first flight to Yugoslavia and cry out: ENOUGH! I have cried over the victims of Pakrac and Vukovar, but Dubrovnik is another story. It is not only a beautiful town, it is also a notion. It is history that belongs to the entire world."

Barbara's dream was fulfilled by the extraordinarily energetic Bernard Kouchner, France's Secretary of State for Humanitarian Affairs. After being assured by Serbian, Croatian and Montenegrin authorities, and by the Army representatives, that they do not intend to prevent a group of benevolent people from coming to Dubrovnik, he rented a plane and a ship and the adventure began.

It did not go smoothly though. First the British Philharmonic Orchestra canceled their invitation, since the Foreign Office warned them that the trip could be risky. Then the conductor Christopher Hogwood informed that he was not coming for the same reason. They were quickly replaced by the Toulouse Orchestra. Kouchner's idea was not just to organize a concert, but also to make a symbolic performance out of it. He wanted a Croatian bass-baritone and a Serbian soprano to sing together Mozart's duo from "Don Giovani". He went through a lot o trouble to find them, and reasons for that are to be found in the sphere of politics and plane human fear. Finally, he found two volunteers: a respectable Croatian singer from New York and a well known Serbian singer from - Paris. But that is impossible, this is hardly the time for it, said the Croatian authorities. A day will come when artists from Serbia will have the opportunity to perform in Dubrovnik again, but not today and not under the present circumstances. This was confirmed from Zagreb as well, on December 31, by Zarko Domljan, the President of the Croatian Parliament. Prior to that, at his office in Paris Kouchner received a mysterious telegram suggesting that the concert should be postponed, with an explanation that there already was another concert scheduled for December 31 in Dubrovnik, with a British orchestra and with the presence of Prince Charles. After a quick check out in London, it turned out that Prince Charles has never received an invitation to attend any New Year's eve concert. At the same time, there were hints from Belgrade that the Dubrovnik concert could be understood as support for president Tudjman. A dream of an American opera singer and the activities of a French peacemaker were translated into Serbo-Croatian as a political action with obscure aims and consequences. Still, it worked.

After a sightseeing tour in the old city, the visitors have found out that two buildings in Stradun (the main street) and eight others in a parallel street were seriously damaged, but the facades were still there; the famous fountain by the old pharmacy was hit and there is one meter wide hole in it; almost all windows in Dubrovnik are broken, and the upper floors of the hotels "Excelsior" and "Imperial" are destroyed; the inside of the Franciscan church and the ancient synagogue is, luckily, undamaged. The conclusion is that the damage is undoubtedly very heavy, but after the well organized reconstruction works and proper investment there should not be any marks left. Providing, of course, that no one ever again gets the crazy idea to bomb this precious town. The psychological marks are most certainly much deeper. On December 31, around noon, the Dubrovnik fanfares were heard, announcing the arrival of a group of children. At the same time, at the press conference in the City Hall, it was said that a children's choir with both Croatian and Serbian kids will take part in the event - the only ray of hope amidst the prevailing darkness.

At midnight sharp, from the stage erected in the Franciscan church, Bernard Kouchner addressed and appeal for peace and tolerance and then called Barbara Hendricks to take the stage. During her brilliant performance of Bach's prayer to God and Mozart's "Exultatem Iubilatem" the audience was in tears. The Toulouse Orchestra was impeccable and the Dubrovnik children, who were the last to appear, turned this concert of classical music into a rock'n roll feast for children. At a small party the UNESCO representative informed that his organization has decided to donate 230.000 dollars for the reconstruction of the old city. The lorries full of presents for the children of Dubrovnik, Petrovac and the refugees from Pakrac disembarked from "Liburnia".

At 4 a.m., "Liburnia" left the Dubrovnik port. In one of the ship parlors, Bernard Kouchner thanked all the participants and guests, wishing them a happy New Ear: "I don't know exactly what we've achieved, but ... we've achieved something".