Sretan Dan državnosti: A Night at the Opera, A Nation Remembered
„U boj, u boj! Za dom – za dom sad u boj!“
(“To battle, to battle! For home – for home now to battle!”)
-Nikola Šubić Zrinjski opera
This Statehood Day, I took my sons to see Nikola Šubić Zrinjski at the Croatian National Theatre (Hrvatsko narodno kazalište) in Zagreb. It was more than a night of music — it was the echo of a national memory, and for me, a deeply personal journey.
My father, as a student back in 1971 during the Croatian Spring, could afford only the gallery seats — the highest and cheapest section of the theater. But it was from there, in that distant perch, that he and his fellow students would roar with patriotic fervor. They cheered every aria, and when the final tableau came — when Zrinjski and his soldiers charge to certain death under the Croatian flag rather than surrender to the Ottomans — they shouted themselves hoarse.
That same night, they were picked up by the police for an “obavijesni razgovor” — a so-called "informational conversation." In Yugoslavia, even a shout for Croatia in the wrong context could cost you your freedom.
This time, I sat freely with my sons. We clapped, we stood, we cried — and I saw in their eyes the same fire I imagine once burned in my father’s.
The Story of Nikola Šubić Zrinjski
Unlike what many think, this opera is not a vague heroic epic — it is a detailed and dramaturgically structured dramatization of the 1566 Siege of Szigetvár, one of the most significant moments in Croatian and European history.
The libretto was written by Hugo Badalić, based on the German play “Zriny” by Theodor Körner, originally written in 1812. Körner's drama itself was part of the wave of romantic nationalism that swept through Europe in the 19th century. Badalić, only 25 at the time and with no previous libretto experience, skillfully adapted the German text into a Croatian operatic script that emphasized heroism, sacrifice, and national identity. The literary quality and historical symbolism of the libretto were essential in helping Zajc realize his vision of a Croatian national opera.
The opera unfolds in three acts:
Act I: Inside the besieged fortress of Sziget, Nikola Šubić Zrinjski rallies his troops and prepares them for the Ottoman onslaught. A mixture of personal emotion and military urgency sets the tone. His daughter sings of love, loss, and the sacrifice to come.
Act II: A Turkish envoy offers honorable surrender. Zrinjski refuses. The soldiers are shaken, and tensions rise, but Zrinjski’s rousing calls to loyalty restore their resolve. A traitor is exposed. Emotional and political complexities deepen.
Act III: The fortress is in flames. Zrinjski gives his final orders. The soldiers, bloodied but unbroken, march under the Croatian flag. Rather than surrender, they launch a suicidal attack, embracing death as a better fate than bondage. The curtain falls as they cry out U boj, u boj! — the ultimate expression of patriotic sacrifice.
This structure, tightly linked to its literary origin, helped Zrinjski transcend being "just" an opera — it became a cultural epic, a national scripture in song.
You can watch it here:
Ivan Zajc: The Composer Who Returned for a Nation
Ivan Zajc (1832–1914) was born in Rijeka (then Fiume), trained in Milan, and achieved great success as a composer and conductor in Vienna. Yet in 1870, he heeded the call of his homeland, returning to Zagreb at the invitation of Count Ladislav Pejačević, head of the Croatian Music Institute. This pivotal move was fueled by Zagreb’s growing cultural ambitions, where the spirit of the Illyrian Movement—though its early champions like Dimitrija Demeter (d. 1872) and Stanko Vraz (d. 1851) had passed—still resonated in the quest for a national artistic identity. Under Zajc’s leadership, Croatian opera flourished, cementing his legacy as a pillar of the nation’s musical awakening.
This wasn’t just a career change — it was a national mission. Zajc was tasked with creating a Croatian national opera canon, part of the Illyrian dream of linguistic and cultural unification of South Slavs.
He began with Mislav (1870), then Ban Leget (1872), and finally Nikola Šubić Zrinjski (1876). All were rooted in Croatian history and identity, composed in a melodic style influenced by Verdi but infused with Slavic folk idioms, patriotic choral scenes, and storytelling unique to Croatian experience.
Zajc didn’t just write music. He built an entire operatic tradition from scratch — recruiting, teaching, composing, and directing. Through him, Croatian national music was born.
Why Zrinjski Was and Still Is a National Opera
Zrinjski premiered in 1876, during a brief window of Croatian political and cultural freedom under Ivan Mažuranić — between the dark periods of Bach’s absolutism and Khuen Hedervary’s repression. It was a moment where art could speak freely — and it did.
Zajc’s opera was a coded act of national affirmation: it depicted Croats not as subjugated subjects, but as brave defenders of Europe and liberty. It linked Croatia to a glorious and ancient lineage — a people who chose death over dishonor.
During the 1970s Croatian Spring, Zrinjski’s final chorus U boj, u boj became an unofficial anthem of resistance. Though the authorities tried to suppress its nationalistic fervor, every time it was performed, the theater thundered with suppressed emotion. It became a space of collective memory, defiance, and identity.
Zrinjski is more than just an opera. It is a musical monument — a reminder that Croatian identity was never handed down. It was sung, fought for, shouted from balconies, whispered in prisons.
Full Lyrics: U boj, u boj!
Croatian:
U boj, u boj!
Mač iz toka, braćo!
Kletva dušmanima!
Nek grmi, nek sijeva,
Paklena vihor nek duva!
Smrt neprijatelju!
U boj, u boj!
Za dom, za dom sad u boj!
Tko, zna, gdje je kraj?
Kad dušmanin pođe
Nek zna, nek zna,
Da Hrvat se ne boji
Nit’ smrti nit’ boja!
U boj, u boj!
Za dom, za dom sad u boj!
English Translation:
To battle, to battle!
Draw your swords, brothers!
A curse upon the enemy!
Let it thunder, let it flash,
Let hell’s whirlwind blow!
Death to the enemy!
To battle, to battle!
For home, for home now to battle!
Who knows where the end lies?
When the enemy comes
Let him know, let him know
That a Croat fears neither
Death nor war!
To battle, to battle!
For home, for home now to battle!May 30: The Birth of Modern Croatia
May 30th, 1990, marks the day when the first democratically elected multi-party Croatian Parliament (Sabor) convened after more than four decades of communist rule — an act that symbolized the dawn of Croatian sovereignty.
But the roots of this moment stretch deeper.
In 1989, a group of Croatian intellectuals, dissidents, and patriots began gathering in secret — in the basement of the INA (Oil Company) building in Zagreb. There, in quiet determination, the founding circle of what would become the Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ) began shaping a political vision for a free and independent Croatia. It was an act of extraordinary courage: under the ever-watchful eyes of Yugoslav authorities, they risked everything to plant the first legal seeds of independence.
By May 1990, HDZ had won the elections under the leadership of Dr. Franjo Tuđman, and on May 30th, the new Parliament was inaugurated — in a country that was still, officially, part of Yugoslavia. It was a revolutionary gesture cloaked in legality, a quiet declaration of intent that would erupt into full independence the following year.
This day is not just a holiday.
It is a memorial to the visionaries in the INA basement, the idealists who believed in a Croatian state, the members of that first parliament who raised their hands for a future no one could guarantee — and the thousands who gave their lives in the Homeland War to make it real.
From the flags atop Trsat Fortress in Rijeka, to banners flying over the Korana River in Karlovac, Statehood Day is celebrated across the country with pride and solemnity.
It is a day to remember courage — not only on battlefields, but in boardrooms, in ballot boxes, and even in basements.
It is the story of a country that came into being not just by force — but by faith.
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In the Croatian Foundation, I teach language through stories like these. Through opera, history, poetry, and tears.
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Let’s learn Croatian — not just as a language, but as a legacy.
Sretan Dan Državnosti, dragi prijatelji.
Happy Statehood Day, dear friends.
May the music never stop. May we never forget.
