Pula-born Antonio Smareglia, a notable 19th century opera composer, left an interesting mark in the nearby Fažana. Educated in Vienna, Graz and Milan, he also lived in Venice, Trieste and Pula, rising to fame in 1903, when his Oceana was performed in La Scala, the great opera house in Milan. After going blind in 1900, he started spending more time in Fažana, in villa Oceana. It was during his stay in Fažana, Trieste and Milan that he composed some of his best work. Smareglia’s operas Abisso, Falena and Oceana are widely considered to be the forefront of a new operatic style called “poetry theatre” where music expresses elements of fantasy and the atmosphere of pictorial and poetic, rather than dramatic action. While in Fažana, he lived and created his music near the coast. Today the coastal promenade carries his name and offers a view towards breath taking Adriatic sunsets. It is also an astounding outdoor museum, boasting benches- sculptures with audio-visual and light effects, all inspired by the work of maestro Smareglia. This music trail was opened in 2019 to mark the 165th anniversary of his birth and the 90th anniversary of his death and was completed in 2021.
Authors of sculptures – Rino Banko, Liberta and Marin Mišan, Marko Človek, Simone Mocenni Beck, Vedran Šilipetar, Iva Fonović, Oleg Šuran and Oleg Morović – each created a unique work of art inspired by different aspects of maestro Smareglia’s operas.
