EVERYTHING SHE TOUCHES TURNS TO ART

She possesses one of the most priceless voices that Yugoslav music ever had, and has. Her life and worldview are the result of the precious upbringing that she received from her Yugoslav parents, a Bosnian father and a Slovenian mother. Yugoslavia was her homeland and emotional safe haven where she felt so good. She never chased money, but strived for a life of mental and spiritual wealth, because that’s the only wealth that makes a person truly diligent and eminent

By Radmila Stanković

When she was just a little girl, her singing tutor predicted that she would emulate the career of then famous opera singer Zinke Kunc, because she had such a wondrous voice that it was somehow natural for her to become an opera singer. That’s also what her mother and sister thought, but Bisera quickly fell in love with jazz and soul music and soon discovered American jazz singer Sarah Vaughn, who she never stopped loving and listening to. And it was all over for Verdi, Puccini and the rest. She had discovered music as love, as passion, as the only direction to determine her life.

“Music was, for me, a replacement for imagination; the notes carried me to a world of the most beautiful colours, to the blueness of the sea and the greenery of the grass. What I would give to be able to paint what I feel in music!”

She says that she was a poor pupil in school, in contrast to her older sister Senka, who was an excellent student who’d been exempted from taking the matriculation exam and completed her studies in economics. Bisera, in the meantime, was just looking to ensure she achieved a passing grade to advance to the next year.

“Since the time I first became aware of myself, only music existed for me. It still means everything to me today.”

The Veletanlić sisters inherited their talent from both parents.

“Both my mum and my dad sang beautifully. They sang Bosnian songs in the house, because my dad, Mehmed, who we nicknamed Meho, was originally from Bosnia, and they also sang Slovenian songs, because my mum, Rozalija, was originally Slovenian. We called her Rozika. I remembered how the four of us all sang my mother’s favourite song: ’A stone, another stone, turns in the water, only youth is mine, never to return.’”

Bisera is humorous, sometimes cynical in a refined way, and well intentioned, but she is above all an emotional person. You will struggle to coax her into talking about her own successes. And instead of her, it was one of her acquaintances from Belgrade who testified to me that, at the very beginning of her career, Bisera had sung in Germany, primarily in the clubs of American officers, where she wonderfully mastered her craft while working with exceptional musicians. One evening, that same Belgrader, who had been

Both my mum and my dad sang beautifully. They sang Bosnian songs in the house, because my dad, Mehmed, who was nicknamed Meho, was originally from Bosnia, and they also sang Slovenian songs, because my mum, Rozalija, was originally Slovenian listening to Bisera and enjoying her song, was addressed by a black man, who said: “I hate her. I hate her because she sings and moves like a black woman!” And that was one of the greatest compliments she ever received.

Bisera has long been ranked among the best vocalists in the former Yugoslavia and across Europe. She’s also a distinctive individual whose career has been led by a choice of certain hit songs, setting high criteria for herself. Born in Zagreb, she grew up in Sarajevo and Sisak, then forged her career in Germany and Belgrade. That which she acquired in the home became enduring values.

“The way I was raised in the home is also reflected in my life today. It was a classic upbringing that my parents instilled in me and my sister Senka. There are moments from our shared life that I will always remember: on Sundays, we all sat together at the table for lunch and to talk. My parents were pure people, and I mean pure on the inside, because it’s a given that they were clean on the outside. That was passed on to us and we thank them for that. Regardless of how much that doesn’t matter today, sounding dull and naïve to some, sometimes even ridiculous, I’m delighted that I was raised by such pure and honest people, and that I am the way I am. I’m a happy and wealthy person who had parents of differing religions who loved each other in Zagreb, had two daughters, and gave them wonderful names. I am proud of them and of the upbringing I received from them. No matter how difficult it has been to live in accordance with my own principles over recent decades, I haven’t abandoned that which represented my life and artistic choice. Fortunately, I have wonderful friends in Belgrade with whom I have great mutual understanding and with whom I share similar emotions.”

Just as she remembers Sunday lunches, so she also recalls summer holidays with her parents. And one holiday in particular:

“I went to the seaside with my mother, who took her pupils to Zaostrog [a Dalmatian resort town].