Balkan battle

Yesterday, two of the best Balkan orchestras entered the music ring at the Central stage at the Drava river and battled it out. In the left corner, from the Romanian countryside, there was Fanfare Ciocărlia. In the right corner, their rivals and challengers, a father and son orchestra, there was Boban i Marko Marković Orkestar from Serbia. They both got the crowd on their feet and provided the audience with a fun night.

“We will win the audience to our side by our choice of songs. Our music descends from traditional Romanian gypsy music, to which we added elements of western music,” said one of the members of Fanfare Ciocărlia.

“Our music is about movement and dancing. It is a gypsy story, gypsy music,” said Marko Marković, smiling.

Both bands are touring Europe and say their repertoire changes depending on their mood, environment and, of course, the audience. “If the audience wants to communicate with us, we will play music we can all sing and dance to together,” said the son of Boban Marković. “We believe Lent is the place where we can play Balkan music, since the audience is familiar with it and grew up listening to it.”

Both orchestras turned out to be a success. Crowning only one orchestra was impossible so we agreed on a tie. Which one did you like best?