I still remember - some twenty six years later - the conversation between my colleague and me at work, in late 1991. It was right in the middle of the war and horrible, inexplicable things were happening all over the place. Bombings, concentration camps, snipers shooting at the bus with orphans in Sarajevo, something evil seems to have possessed people.
I came trough the door bursting with the latest news: "Imagine, they totally burned the house of Tereza Kesovija in her hometown!"
"Karlo Metikoš died last night!" she snapped back.
And we both stood there, motionless in our astonishment.
"She will go mad now, surely" we both agreed solemnly.
Everybody knew that Josipa Lisac and her Pygmalion Karlo Metikoš lived for each other. They were accepted as a couple although they never actually got officially married on the paper (very endearing case of love that needs no formality) they tied the knots in their hearts and that was it for some twenty years filled with creativity, music and loyalty. He composed songs only for her, she sang what he wrote for her. With great reluctance, Lisac eventually had some hits written by others but her soul was forever intertwined with his. When her hero passed away, Croatian über diva appeared slightly unhinged - who could blame her - and although by now (2017) she lives alone longer than she ever lived together with him, I have feeling she never truly recovered. Despite the fact that the life goes on and professionally she was forced into collaborations with other authors, the main mission of her life became keeping the memory of Metikoš alive trough the annual concert tributes to him.
I was present in the audience on the very first one (in ZKM with all-star assembly, recorded as "Ritam Kiše" that gave impetus to reappearance of by than long-forgotten Zdenka Kovačićek) but this particular concert was grand affair, where she sang exclusively repertoire written for her by Metikoš in various stages trough their love affair. Preceding similar Symphonic recording by Joni Mitchell, Lisac is backed by enormous Symphony Orchestra conducted by Igor Kuljerić and a massive choir, dressing all those pop hits into semi-classical garb and the sheer sincerity of her conviction makes this works despite malicious comments of her colleagues (I won't mention any names, but I heard them firsthand). It does sound magnificent and quite impressive but Croatia is a small country and we simply don't know what to do with someone as remarkable, so it mainly appealed to fans. Mitchell did similar project not long afterwards and she was awarded with "Grammy" for her vision. Caged inside her provincial surroundings, Lisac took a deep breath and went back to pop music.
I was present in the audience on the very first one (in ZKM with all-star assembly, recorded as "Ritam Kiše" that gave impetus to reappearance of by than long-forgotten Zdenka Kovačićek) but this particular concert was grand affair, where she sang exclusively repertoire written for her by Metikoš in various stages trough their love affair. Preceding similar Symphonic recording by Joni Mitchell, Lisac is backed by enormous Symphony Orchestra conducted by Igor Kuljerić and a massive choir, dressing all those pop hits into semi-classical garb and the sheer sincerity of her conviction makes this works despite malicious comments of her colleagues (I won't mention any names, but I heard them firsthand). It does sound magnificent and quite impressive but Croatia is a small country and we simply don't know what to do with someone as remarkable, so it mainly appealed to fans. Mitchell did similar project not long afterwards and she was awarded with "Grammy" for her vision. Caged inside her provincial surroundings, Lisac took a deep breath and went back to pop music.
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