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MIK 2006 FINALE

Rijeka, June 24, 2006

Music: Robert  Pilepić

Texti: Radovan Tadej/Robert Pilepić

Arrangement: Sergio Salečić

“Čigove su mačke?  To naše su mačke.

Čigovi su pasi?  To naši su pasi.

Čigove su kuće?  Čigovi privrati?

 Zapravo, čigovi ste vi?

Čigove su krave? To naše su krave.

Čigovi su telci?  To naši su telci.

Čigove su lihe? Čigovi su dolci?

Zapravo, čigovi ste vi?”

Whose are cats, dogs, houses,

yards, cows, fields…

in fact, whose are you?

Not much in terms of a story but Alen sticks with a melody based on Istrian music, and  brings back memory of the one time village life, both in words and music. On MIK 1997 he was joined by his 70+ years old nona, who sang the “trajna nina nena” part of his song. “Čigovi” won the award for best applied Istrian melody.

MOJI ŠKOJI  (Duško Jeličić)        LISTEN        NEXT        PROGRAM        HOME

Music: Duško Jeličić,

Text: Duško Jeličić, 

Arrangement: Aleksandar Valenčić

“Lepi ste mi, moji škoji,

ča brodite kako brodi

po Kvarnere plavem.

Ja vas gjedan z Učke gori,

ka smeje se i govori:

moji škoji, moji otroci.”

You are beautiful, my islands, as you sail

through Kvarner Bay like ships.

I watch you from Učka Mountain,

which smiles and speaks:

My islands, my children...

Duško always writes his own songs,  and they are always about  people and things he sees around - which is Opatija and vicinity. I can imagine him going to Učka on one clear day, looking down toward Krk, Cres, Lošinj, Unije...and thinking: this could be a song for the next MIK.

All I can come up with in that situation is to snap a photo ...

...or two.

BAMBOLA (Alen Lazarić)        LISTEN        NEXT        PROGRAM        HOME

Music: Duško Rapotec – Ute

Text: Robert Pilepić

Arrangement: Duško Rapotec – Ute

Kad mislin da si ko anđeo,

 va tebi zbudi se vrag, 

pa me bušuješ, z manun se igraš,

se ča iman zameš,

pa se od sebe daš.”

Just as I think you're an angel,

the devil in you wakes up

and you kiss me, play with me,

and take all I got,

then you give all you've got.

Alen is appears at many town festivities in Istria, and is a steady MIK "representative" from Labin (Kršan), often with his own songs - and his own guitar! From one MIK to another Alen switches between traditional and modern rhytms. This time he went with the modern.

MOJOJ HĆERI  (Mirjana Bobuš)        LISTEN        NEXT        PROGRAM        HOME

Music: Mirjana Bobuš,  Text: Mirjana Bobuš,  Arrangement: Robert Grubišić

“Rekli su stari ljudi: leh se obrneš, a život pasa.

A ja se još nis ni obrnula, a ti si, dušo, vela narasla.

Sad s tobun povedan, ma se i bojin da mi bižiš, 

a ko da'j čera bilo, a ko da'j čera bilo da se za me držiš.”

People used to say: you turn around and life is gone by.

And I didn’t even turnaround and you darling grew up.

Now I’m talking to you but I’m afraid you’re running away,

and it looks like it was yesterday when you were holding on to me.

What a beautiful piece of poetry dressed in beautiful music! Nello Milotti once said: a song is like a pretty women (text) that  needs to be dressed in beautiful clothes (music) to look even better. Mirjana wrote the text and the music for her song, and Robet Grubišić did the arrangement. The song was written shortly after Mirjana revealed in and interview for "Novi list" that she had been diagnosed with a serious disease, at which time her first reaction was: "Who is going to take care of my daughter? She barely finished high school". Where else in the world of music can you find that!

Mirjana is a staunch fighter for our dialect and music, both on and off stage. In her songs there is everything the eyes can see and the heart can feel when one lives on Kvarner.

POLA SON QUA (Galiano Pahor)        LISTEN        NEXT        PROGRAM        HOME

Music: Bruno Krajcar,  Text: Valmer Cusma,  Arrangement: Aleksandar Valenčić

“La mattina co se alsava el sol,

un ventisel  portava l' odor
dei mandoleri e dei moreri,

dei orti de Castagner.

Un soffio me pareva caresar,

lo respiravo e me sentivo inebriar.
Quei tempi visioni smaride pagine care

dei anni ingiallide.”

In the morning when sun comes out,

a breeze brings smell

from the gardens of almond and blackberry

from gardens in Castagner.

A dash of air seems to caress me.

I took a breath and felt like getting drunk.

Visions of old times, dear pages

with years faded away…”

Although frail looking, after a difficult surgery a few months earlier, singing at this beautiful pier, Galiano’s powerful voice filled the festive ambience of his new hometown, as he remembered, in the song, his childhood days in his native Pula. He was clearly on home turf, both in the song and on the stage – which was not far form “Ivan Zajc” theatre, where he works as an actor, director, singer… This year Galiano returned to MIK after several years of absence and was awarded 3^rd place by the commission of judges…but who can forget his 1995 performance with a group of children (Morčići) in the humorous real life song “Delan, delan” - one of my favorites when I go back to watch old video tapes.

“Vidila san noćas, u snu, zeleni se naša njiva,

i od sriće ča me vidi  mati svoju suzu skriva.

Žali mi se, u po glasa, da njoj srce tuče jače,

od kada je uvenula  stara ulika srid drače.”

“I saw in my dream our field turn green,

and my mother hiding a tear of happiness

to see me.

She laments to me in a low voice

that her heart beats faster

since the old olive tree died…”

Another song that awakens nostalgia for the world we left behind, performed in modern Istrian tune, created by Nello Milotti as he was approaching 60 years of work on preserving Istrian musical heritage.

With her  regular appearances since 1982, Vesna is becoming another MIK legend, representing the “I” part of  “MIK”, i.e. the Istrian side, both in lyrics of the songs and in melody. She is one of the best known Istrian singers in our North American community, where she was invited to perform numerous times, both solo and with other Istrian music stars of our times: Sergio Pavat, roženice masters Franko Kos and duo Magnolija, Eleonora...

A great addition to Karin's collection of romantic songs with local linguistic and lyrical flavor from previous MIK's. The duo looked like the "dream team" of MIK 2006 (not to take anything away from the "3 Tenors" and Tamara-Neno teams). Both started appearing at MIK festival in early 1990's, and immediately became MIK's "regulars".

Alen is from Vodnjan, a town of many singers (Gustafi, Magnolija, Tone Vitasovic-Livi...) Karin is Kvarner’s sweetheart from Rijeka. He says "če-neče" - she says "će-neće".  He brought music in dialect of Istria and Kvarner to the national audience - she made it one notch prettier with a distinct sound of her voice and graceful stage presence.