"Dnevnik jedne ljubavi" - 40 years

It has been 40 years since cult rock album "Dnevnik jedne ljubavi" ("The Diary of One Love") was released in 1973.

This fascinating,original and inspired work of art was completely new idea at the time when our local croatian discography was still in tender age - quick look at contemporary charts shows that as nation we still preferred easy-listening, festival compilations, folk melodies from various ensembles and corners of Ex-Yugoslavia, revolutionary songs about WW2 and music with greek or mexican flavor. Solo LP albums by one artist were rarity (singers were mostly represented on singles or compilations) and even than mostly compilations of previously released material. Not that we did not have rock artists - during previous decade in the 1960s there were literary hundreds young "beat bands" trying to find their voices as opposition to mainstream,most of them inspired by western pop sound and singing covers of international music stars. From one of those "beat bands" young and self-assurred Josipa Lisac came along, urban city chick with a strange deep alto and apparently refusing to play money game - even when she performed on 1960s pop festivals her music was moody and melodramatic. 

Composer Karlo Metikoš (who until than was a big rock star and in fact rock pioneer in Ex Yugoslavia) and lyrics writer Ivica Krajač have built "Dnevnik" around Josipa's unique voice, imagining a complete story of one typical love affair as told trough ten thematically connected songs - a young girl dreams about her future, feels excitement of her first love, ups and downs of relationship, break up and make up, another new start and realization that in the future relationship would have to be built on mutual trust. It is actually a kind of mono-rock musical with Josipa Lisac brilliantly expressing huge diapason of emotions, finally ending with defiant "Kao stranac" ("Like a stranger") where she demands of her lover to be honest with her, or else. 

Definitely very original and unusual for its time, "Dnevnik" was collaboration of the whole team  - Metikoš (music), Krajač (lyrics), Brane Živković (arrangements), Lisac (vocals) not to mention huge group of backing musicians that reads as "who's who" in than-contemporary rock elite. Its basically "Josipa Lisac and All-Stars Band" topped with unforgettable black & white cover photo by Jozo  Ćetković. Even the inside cover with hand written lyrics shows that first letter of each song represents the singer's name. On the backing vocals were classical singers Anica Zubović and pop singers Ksenija Erker & Zdenka Kovačiček, though latter voice was so powerful that Kovačiček is the only one audible. 

I have actually read contemporary review written by rock critic Dražen Vrdoljak at the time of album's release - its very cute to look back at it from this perspective, because here we have "rock critic" (in a communist country) reviewing very seriously local rock LP album that had no competition in national scene. If I remember correctly, Vrdoljak praises the idea, backing musicians and everybody involved but is not so sure about singer's mannered voice and hopes that this "affectations" is just a passing phase. Well, just to show that Lisac at the age of 23 was already fully formed, I can only quite another rock journalist who 40 years later calls her a "mother of vocal affectations". 

"Dnevnik jedne ljubavi" had stayed in print for 40 years now. Generations of listeners grew up with it, learned all the lyrics, lived with it and introduced this music to their kids. The authors themselves continued their lives and careers with changeable luck - if backing rock musicians eventually lost their battle with time and got forgotten, three main architects continued working together and collaborated on theatre stage with rock operas "Gubec beg" and "Grička vještica". As for singer herself, Josipa Lisac used her debut album to definitely distance herself with pop festival past and built her future in pop/rock direction.From now on she was known as our own "rock lady" and future generations would never mix her up with other mainstream, easy listening performers - I remember how surprised I was to discover that in fact at the very beginning Lisac sang on the very same festival stages as Ana Štefok, Višnja Korbar, Gabi Novak or any of old-school singers, basically she was a rock outsider in a bunch.

As a teenager growing up in 1980s I don't remember Lisac looking back at her debut very much. She was too happy with her recent new work and was promoting new hits, with just occasional glance at "Dnevnik" as concert encore to satisfy the audience. But all those subsequent studio albums, hits, TV shows, magazine covers and awards were quickly forgotten once composer Karlo Metikoš died in 1991 - from than on Lisac is on a mission to keep his memory alive and had returned to "Dnevnik" almost exclusively. As much as I noticed, she had selected several songs from this album and performs them in a various "clothes" on every concert. Somewhat half-heartedly she also occasionally records new material but its clear her best work is now behind her and she is focused on "Dnevnik" as a totem. It works wonders still - music and lyrics are brilliant as ever and after all these years I have not found any croatian female singer to seriously challenge Lisac. I am not sure will she ever work with same lyrics writer again or invite all-stars backing band again as back than, however composer Karlo Metikoš got posthumous "Porin" national music award and recently his own street in Zagreb. Lisac herself had kept her head very high all those years and never succumbed to commercial temptations - distancing herself from cheap music trends she kept relatively low profile and got "eccentric" image along the way but her style and reputation as artist never suffered.She would forever stayed associated with this materpiece.

Interesting note: kids today might discover "Dnevnik jedne ljubavi"  and love it, however I hear everybody claiming its the best rock album in Ex-Yugoslavia. While its definitely true that its one of music masterpieces and cornerstones of our local,national rock, I wonder how much young generation actually knows about music back than? There are several interesting rock LP albums released around the same time that deserve re-introduction, like works by  rock group "Time", All-Star collaborations on LP's by Tihomir "Pop" Asanović (his "Majko zemljo" is basically continuation of "Dnevnik" sound),Drago Mlinarec  or "Idexi" - they had all worked very successfully and had released inspired works where often they would collaborate with each others. Just look out for Josipa on albums by "Korni grupa" or Tihomir "Pop" Asanović - she was sensational "special guest" even back than! Yes, "Dnevnik" is masterpiece but I urge everybody to check out the competition because there is a lot of interesting music to be discovered. And while you are at it, check Hungarian rock singer from same time called Sarolta Zalatnay - she was hungarian Josipa and her early 1970s music is no less powerful.

"The Element" by Ken Robinson

Very interesting and inspirational book about finding one's real path to happiness - Robinson understands we are all born different and have different talents, therefore he points that our educational system with boxing everybody in the same standardized boxes does not really work as children often have completely unique and various interests and intelligence can't be measured. Trough stories about people who actually achieved something despite surroundings (family not approving, health issues and so on) he explains how we could find happiness trough following what our hearts tells us - along the way he explains the difference from being professional and amateur, the importance of nurturing the hobbies and how to enjoy our little "oddities" simply because it is something that makes us happy. If everybody around you find its "silly", "childish" or "immature" Robinson points that obviously one has to simply ignore surroundings and enjoy what makes us happy because its our natural response to spirit. Only rare people are lucky enough to combine hobby and profession, however the rest of us might nurture wonderful ideas and pictures in our secret lives and this books explains why it is so important never to give up the inner child.

Croatian music in Vienna

At the very beginning of 2013. I would like to look back and write a few words about a wonderful series of concerts during November 2012. in Vienna,Austria.

It is something I would have covered as a journalist with the greatest pleasure - had I stayed in that professional waters - alas, now I am simply reading about it from a distance via internet and still mulling over in my head.

I would not dwell here on historical/psychological background of our connections with Vienna - croatians were always fiercely independent and stubborn about not being austrian servants, however the fact is that aristocratic, legal and administrative centre were not in provinces but in Vienna and Budapest. And now, like a child who wants to prove himself to parents, we are re-visiting Vienna bringing music,culture and art of our young & independent country. Trough November 5 to December 6, croatians musicians were performing in different concert halls around Vienna during "Festival of Croatian Music" - apparently this is already 8th of these festivals, something I was not familiar with - and presenting our cultural heritage to audiences outside of national limits. 

It was truly important and serious affair - combination of national pride and a bit of show off that actually I find very sweet, since Croatia is small country with turbulent recent past full of negative news, so here we have handful of people fighting the windmills and focusing on something positive. Artists represented were hand-picked in order to show little bit of everything - classical musicians rubbed shoulders with jazzers, choirs with rock musicians, we even had a classical piece composed by current croatian president Ivo Josipović!  If only I could have been a fly on the wall on these concerts! Had I been on land instead of sailing my way around Mediterranean I would surely visit every single of these concerts and talk to musicians and what it meant to them to play in Vienna. 

Who played and what - for some reason I see that musicians leaned heavily on Mozart (probably expecting this would have been appreciated in Vienna?) but everybody had spiced up their repertoire with some national jewels. 

ALEKSANDRA ŠUKLAR played Boris Papandopulo. 

AMADEUS TRIO ZAGREB played Beethoven and Tchaikovsky but also our own Bruno Bjelinski. 

Soprano LIDIJA HORVAT DUNJKO sang Haydn, Mozart, Frescobaldi and Bizet but also added ancient 17 century croatian composer Vinko Jelić. 

Brass band “SIMPLY BRASS” went for Bach, Holborne and Haydn but added young croatian composer born in 1976.

GORAN JERKOVIĆ conducted a choir "IVAN FILIPOVIĆ" that performed Tavener, Tchaikovsky and sacred works next to our own composer Joško Ćaleta.

Flute-quartet „4SYRINX“ played Mozart,Grieg and Bizet along with croatian composer Mladen Tarbuk.

MATEO GRANIĆ and MATEJ MEŠTROVIĆ played Brahms, Bach,Mozart and Saint-Saëns along to Jakov Gotovac and Ljubomir Kuntarić (Meštrović also had his own piece).

LIDIJA DOKUZOVIĆ conducted choir „ČIPKICE“ that had brilliant repertoire of traditional songs from different corners of Balkans. 

BORNA ŠERCAR had his own Jazz trio performing pop songs in jazz settings.

SRÐAN BULAT (guitar) played Rodrigo and Albéniz along to our own Papandopulo and Frano Parać. Now this is interesting because many,many years ago when composer Frano Parać was still a young rocker, he led a "beat band" where main vocalist was Josipa Lisac. Today, after more than 40 years Parać is a classical composer whose works are being played in Vienna and Josipa herself was a guest on this festival, representing pop-rock side of croatian music. 

Presented as JOSIPA LISAC & BAND, my all-time favorite singer and her guys played selection of hits from her now legendary career and received excellent reviews in media - surely big portion of the audience must have been Yu-nostalgic, people who loved and worshipped Josipa decades ago when she was unique presence on national rock scene - however, apparently she did impress even the austrians, which does not surprise me as I think her talent knows no limits and she is a world-class singer who happened to be born in a small Croatia. 

Wish I was there!