Profile of Josipa Lisac on Famous Like Me

Josipa Lisac (born in Zagreb, Croatia, on February 14, 1950), is a renown Croatian singer.

Growing up with music – childhood and youth

As an extraordinary musically gifted child, at the age of 10 she became a member of the Croatian National Television choir. While singing the serious musical repertoire, from the old sacral, classical and modern-avangarde, to folk-traditional music, she acquired her first and then more and more richer musical education. In 1961 their choir wins the GRAND PRIX award on the competition in France as the best children’s choir in the world. Although she was brought up on Monteverdi, Bach, Beethoven and Britten, soon she started to take real interest in rock music, and in 1967 she became the lead singer of a popular rock group "O'Hara", and shortly afterwards "Zlatni akordi" (“Golden chords”). Her very first appearance in public provoked a true sensation with the mass audience: her singing sublimes the very best from the variety of the musical genres, and her first festival appearance, on the greatest popular music festival of that time in the Croatian town Opatija, announces the arrival and the appearance of an extraordinary singing personality on then-Yugoslavian music scene. Not only with her fascinating voice and the original interpretations, but also with her unique and intriguing appearance, Josipa Lisac soon becomes a distinctive and unrepeatable star of rock music. Developing and going persistently forward against all of the usual currents, she forms her own inimitable style of musical expression. She chooses a much harder, but also a more thorough and valuable path in her career.

Meeting Karlo – development and formation

Acquaintance, friendship and love with a popular Croatian rock’n’roll singer and composer, Karlo Metikos, completely rounds off both her life and her musical direction. Karlo’s experience and strong personality as an author shaped Josipa Lisac as a unique artist and a woman. Their first joint LP album from 1973, "Dnevnik jedne ljubavi" (“Diary of one love”), remains until today one of the best conceptual rock achievements: an anthology of the Croatian discography. Together they made around 13 LP albums and CDs, in all of which Karlo Metikos acted as an author and a producer. Some of them are: "Hir, hir, hir" (“Caprice, caprice, caprice”), "Lisica" (“Fox”), "Hocu samo tebe" (“I want you only”)… Some of the hit songs that live on are: "O jednoj mladosti" (“About one youth”), "Magla" (“The fog”), "Hir, hir, hir" (“Caprice, caprice, caprice”), "Danas sam luda" (“Today I’m crazy”), "Dok razmisljam o nama" (“While I’m thinking about us”), "Na, na, na", “Ja bolujem“ (“I am love-sick”)... Josipa Lisac soon proved her multiple talents with an acclaimed and demanding performance as the girl Jana in the first Croatian rock opera “Gubec-beg, by Ivica Krajac, Karlo Metikos and Miljenko Prohaska, which had its premiere in 1975. The most renown and the most performed aria from this rock opera became “Ave Maria”, which has remained an obligatory part of her concert repertoire until today. During 1976 she made a jazz album with some of the world’s greatest musicians of that genre (Ernie Wilkins, Clark Terry, Johnny Basso...), called "Josipa Lisac & B.P. Convention big band international", produced by Bosko Petrovic and Karlo Metikos. Soon afterwards she leaves with Karlo to the USA for three years, where she makes recordings and collaborates with some of the top American musicians (Ira Newborn, Paulinho da Costa, Joel Peskin, etc); the result of which is “Made in USA” album, recorded in 1979, on both English and Croatian language, in the LA’s Studio 55 and Sounds good recordings. Returning to homeland, her career is at its peak; she participates in two American motion pictures, “Lost Hero” with Richard Chamberlain and “Dirty dozen”. Afterwards she is invited to many theater plays (in Slovenia, Croatia, etc.), to numerous concert tours and recording sessions. She is a multiple winner of the “Vocal of the year” award, as well as the Croatian discographic award “Porin” and many others. Of herself she says she abhors the average and so her whole life is devoted to finding the new, original and often shocking solutions, which always and in every occasion makes her attractive, interesting and provocative. Summing up her characteristic in one sentence would be: Josipa Lisac is not like the others…

After Karlo’s death – the concert-tributes to him - theatre plays - Anthology - "Zivot" (“Life”) album

The sudden death of Karlo Metikos on December 10, 1991, along with the turbulent beginning of the 90-is, brought considerable changes to the context of her work. In the following years she prepares numerous concerts as a tribute to him, which are traditionally held until today. The first of them, entitled "Ritam kise" (“Rhythm of the rain”), by Matt Collins’ (Karlo Metikos) big 1963 hit, was held on the first anniversary of his death, in 1992 in “Istra” hall (Zagreb’s youth theatre). This so-called Karlofest included around fifty Croatian musical artists, which was a precedent on the Croatian music scene of that time. The variety of the generational structure of the musicians gathered at the concert – from Arsen Dedic, 4M, Crveni Koralji (“The red corals”), to Neno Belan, Dino Dvornik and Psihomodopop – confirmed Karlo’s omnipresence in the Croatian music, first as a singer and rock and roll pioneer in this corner of the world, and then as a pop composer and producer. The sound recording of this concert was released in 1994 as the album entitled “Ritam kise” (“Rhythm of the rain”) and a year later it won the Porin award as the best compilation album outside the classical music genre.

But the next Porin award, which Josipa won in 1996, for the album “Koncert u cast Karla Metikosa” (“The concert tribute to Karlo Metikos”), had much more than a mere classical touch in it. To be more specific, her first collaboration with maestro Igor Kuljeric and the symphonic orchestra and choir of the Croatian National Television, in December 1994, yielded a brand new orchestrations and thus gave a whole new life to “Janino ludilo” (Jana’s madness, another aria from Gubrc-beg), “Magla” (“The fog”) or “Hazarder” (“The hazard-man”). Their collaboration continued in 1997 with a joint work on the concert remake of the rock opera “Gubec beg”. This project, which came about as a combination of music and acting, brought on the stage of “Lisinski” concert hall in Zagreb names of music artists like Dado Topic, Massimo Savic, Toni Cetinski, and esteemed Croatian actors, namely, Anja Sovagovic-Despot, Dragan Despot and Filip Sovagovic.

Due to the original and always new conceptual designing of her every concert, Josipa once again changed the form of her musical expression. With the same cause, as a tribute to Karlo and his work, in 2001, on the tenth anniversary of his death, with ten candles on the stage, she is once again performing in “Lisinski” concert hall, this time – with a band consisting of the musicians from the younger generation. The large part of this concert, together with the snippets of concerts held at “Krizanke” hall in Ljubljana and “Lent” festival in Maribor, both in Slovenia, was released as a double CD in 2002, under the title “Josipa Lisac LIVE”. This traditional concert treat, without changing its cause, altered its concept yet for another time – on February 8, 2005, on the stage of the Croatian National Theatre in Zagreb, again with the symphonic orchestra and choir of the Croatian National Television, conducted by maestro Tonci Bilic, Josipa sang the arias from “Gubec beg”, together with the songs from the world famous musicals. For this occasion, she used the works of some of the most important composers of the genre, like Stephen Sondheim, Kurt Weill, Leonard Bernstein and others. By not giving up the practice of holding the concert tributes to Karlo Metikos and his work, Josipa, while speaking through music, conveys the message of love and says – do not forget your people. The work left to us by someone, if it has quality, can inspire to further development and creation. By caressing the existing, she treats every day as a new struggle in which one always has to make a fresh start. But at the same time she is looking forward to each new day, because, together with challenges, it also brings the new opportunities or indicates to the worlds still unexplored.

For Josipa, one of the discovered worlds, though not entirely, was the theatre. She got better acquainted with it in 1994, as a successful guest to “Koreodrama” (Choreodrama”) theatre in Slovenia, in performance of "Suzna Maria Sirakuska" (“Tearful Maria of Syracuse), written and put on the stage by D. Z. Frey. In the same theatre she appeared for the second time in 1997 in “Schizophrenia” by the same author, with which she made a guest appearance in the European festival of the theatres.

1997 also saw the release of “Josipa Lisac – Antologija” (“Anthology”), the materials and albums from 1967 to 1997, on 8 CDs and audio cassettes, which was one of the first endeavors of this kind in the Croatian discography.

Her latest studio album, symbolically called “Zivot” (“Life”), made in the year 2000, was marked by the modern sound and experimenting with electronics. Prior to that, few of the songs from this album were promoted on the festivals, such as Melodije hrvatskog Jadrana (“The melodies of the Croatian Adriatic”) and the festivals in towns of Split and Zadar. After a 13-year break from recording an album (since “Boginja” [“Goddess”] in 1987), she promoted “Zivot” on the tribute concert to Karlo in the December 2000. She did that in Zagreb’s “Komedija” (“Comedy”) theatre, on the same stage where almost three decades earlier she promoted her first studio album, the renowned “Dnevnik jedne ljubavi”.

Recently, when concert-tributes have began to take place elsewhere in Croatia, by making guest appearances on them, Josipa confirmed the distinctiveness of her approach to every single of her performances. She appeared with remakes of her own songs – on the concert in tribute to the songs of the Croatian composer and lyricist Arsen Dedic (Opatija, 2003) she sang “Što me cini sretnom” (“What makes me happy”), (which was her debut as a solo singer, in 1968 Opatija festival), and also remade “Oluja” (“The storm”) on the concert in tribute of the songs to another Croatian composer, Zdenko Runjic (Opatija, 2004).

Numerous collaborations – a rich collection of the musical expressions

Through her numerous collaborations over the years, accepting the new challenges, sometimes intrigued by the “Can I do it?” thought – Josipa often comes in contact with the different musical idioms. Her performance of sevdalinka songs “Omer beze” and “Niz polje idu, babo, sejmeni” (approximately translated as: “Down the field, oh father, the bill are coming”, ‘sejmeni’ being the Turkish slang word for ‘police’), recorded with Ratomir Petkovic’s ensemble in Sarajevo, 1974, are well remembered until today. During the 80-is she collaborated with the popular Serbian singer Bajaga on the song “Mislim 300 na sat” (“I’m thinking 300 [kilometers] per hour”). In the 90-is by joining forces with a young talented artist Dino Dvornik she touches funky (“Rusila sam mostove od sna” [“I’ve been demolishing bridges made of dreams”]). Cooperation with the group Boa results with a hit song “Kao mir” (“Like the peace”). In 1997 we see her on the concert of the popular Croatian rock band Prljavo kazaliste (“Dirty theatre”), with Mel Gaynor on the drums, the symphonic orchestra and the choir of the Croatian National Television, again conducted by maestro Kuljeric, singing “Dodji sada, Gospode” ("Come to us now, oh, Lord”). Working together with the Croatian Cubismo group on the remake of her song “Na, na, na”, she danced in the rhythm of salsa.

In the second part of the 90-is, through several performances of the traditional folk songs, Josipa shows her capability to sail through the etno waters with no trouble. We must therefore mention her interpretations of the songs - "Vrbnice nad morem" (“The town of Vrbnik above the sea”), (1995, accompanied by the chorus of the Croatian National Television), after that "Vila Velebita" (“The fairy of Velebit mountain”), (1996, on the first etno festival in Neum, Bosnia and Hercegovina), and "Oj soncece“ (“Oh, the sunshine”), (1998, The autumn of Vinkovci town festival). Perhaps it is not all that awkward to hear Josipa sing “Oj soncece” or “Vehni, vehni fijolica” (“Wither, wither, oh, flower”), both on the dialect of Medjimurje, which is one of Croatian parts. But one would certainly not expect her in a Dalmatian song. Yet in 1999, in “Lisinski” concert hall she joined the Croatian singer Tedi Spalato in a freshly made remake of “Dalmatino, poviscu protrujena” (approximately, “Dalmatia, crushed down with history”).

The year 2001 brought us Josipa’s first collaboration with the Croatian jazz artist Elvis Stanic, who wrote the music and orchestrations for the song “Paucina” (“The cobweb”), which they both performed on Melodije Istre i Kvarnera (“The melodies of Istria and Kvarner festival). “Paucina" was weaved with the sound of jazz and mixed with the threads of Chakavian dialect and the Istrian key.

Josipa returned to Dalmatian melodies once again, on the concert-tribute to maestro Dinko Fio (“Lisinski” concert hall, 2004), her teacher in the days she spent in the children’s choir, by joining klapa (that is, a choral group, typical for Dalmatia, which is the southern part of Croatia) “Nostalgija” (“Nostalgia”) in a song "Kanela cvite mili moj". Only a few days afterwards on the big concert of Cubismo group in the same concert hall, we are greeted by a new surprise – as an encore, we hear her sing the classical gypsy song “Djelem, đjelem”, in a duet with a famous gypsy singer Saban Bajramovic. Back in 1992 she recorded a full Christmas carol album, called “Cestit Bozic” (“Merry Christmas”), together with the choir “Ivan Goran Kovacic”, maestro Sasa Britvic and the organ virtuoso Mario Penzar, only to be found singing a song called “Ritam grada”¸(“The rhythm of the town”), in late June 2005 in Zagreb, with a Croatian rapper Marin Ivanovic Stoka. Only a week later, we see her in Opatija, on the fifth Libutrnia Jazz festival, as a guest to Elvis Stanic. Instead of expected jazz, the audience enjoyed the sound of fado – Elvis with an accordion and Josipa singing in French “La passion c’est trop court terme” (“The passion lasts too short”). That should not be a surprise. That is Josipa. And funky, rock, classical music, pop, singing with klapa or Christmas carols, etno and fado songs – all this is music. And as Josipa would say – Music either is or it is not.

The visual part – style and creations

With all the uniqueness of her voice, her dedication to the music, which is both her passion and her life, Josipa also built her own strong artistic individuality through her visual recognizability. Her hairstyles and fashion designs in which she appears, together with the accompanying make-up, usually draw considerable attention. Many of these creations, with exceptional portraits, were presented in 1998, on the photographic exhibition of Zeljko Koprolcec, which was accompanied by the presentation of a compilation CD “The best of”, in the Museum of Arts and Crafts in Zagreb. For this occasion Josipa performed there in two concerts, on December 9 and 10, as a tribute to Karlo Metikos. The audience remembered her renditions of the Latin church hymn “Panis angelicus”, as well as the legendary jazz hit “Do nothing till you hear from me” originally performed by Duke Ellington, for which Josipa was accompanied by the jazz musicians Bosko Petrovic and Neven Franges.

The festival performances in a painted dress or toga in the late 60-is and the early 70-is, followed by the paper-made wigs, the ”ikebana” hairstyles and the spectacular performance in which she wrapped up the entire stage with her dress in the 80-is, with the pink hair color and the elegant gowns of the 90-is, to the sculpture-dress made of aluminum in the year 2000 and a turquoise hair color of the recent years - they all make an unforgettable pictures with a signature. Because of these pictures – that were once undoubtedly the object of the laughing stock and mockery and after that simply a shock or a surprise, only to be more and more appreciated over the years as an obligatory part of her style, as a sort of a brand – on the first ceremony of the Croatian fashion Oscar awards in 2004, Josipa took home a well-deserved award in the category of the best dressed female singer.

Epilogue

An eternal idealist and a dreamer, who is at the same time a brave visionary and a groundbreaker, original and distinctive, Josipa Lisac is a unique appearance of the musical and public scene in this part of the world. One who is capable, by provoking and teasing the public and herself, to create or to induce to creation. In one moment she is a playful child that learns and discovers and in the next one an experienced and formed artist with a clearly set standard. And her standard is the one of an undisputed quality. This is proven by the fact that Josipa’s name can be today be found in a primary school music textbook, where she is mentioned in the part that explains the term of voice, along with Edith Piaf and Freddie Mercury. Remaining through all this time a rebel, who with its very appearance defies the stereotypes and the uniformity of the world around us, while carefully and dedicatory working on her own inside world, Josipa continues to be as interesting and intriguing as ever. Especially to the young people, with whose energy, creativity, rebellious nature and creativeness she has a lot in common. Although she has always seen her musical collaborations as a chance for her own complementation, at the same time she often wanted to help the young and gifted musicians in their own amplification. The latest example of that sort of collaboration is the remake of “O jednoj mladosti” by the young Croatian group Flyer, in which Josipa appears as a guest.

Like the truly and exceptionally rare artists, Josipa is capable of being different every time, while keeping her own quality.

Discography

• Dnevnik jedne ljubavi (1973.)
• Najveci uspjesi '68./'73. (1974.)
• Gubec Beg (rock-opera) (1975. - Josipa played the part of Jana)
• Josipa Lisac & B.P. Convention Big Band International (1976.)
• Made in USA (1979.)
• Hir, hir, hir (1980.)
• Lisica (1982.)
• Hocu samo tebe (1983.)
• Boginja (1987.)
• Balade (1987.)
• Live in Lap (1992.)
• Cestit Bozic (1992.)
• Ritam kise (1993.)
• Koncert u cast Karla Metikosa (1995.)
• Antologija (1997.)
• The best of (1998.)
• Zivot (2000.)
• Josipa Lisac Live (2002.)

Links

Josipa Lisac's official website (Croatian)

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