Tereza Kesovija, one of the greatest music divas from this region, was born in Konavle. Voice, energy, temperament, charisma – these are just some of the countless qualities with which Tereza conquered stages around the world, including Paris’s Olympia. Her love for music had already begun to awaken when she was a young girl enjoying life in the Konavle village of Lovorno, and although she was often called and introduced as “the girl from the city” (of Dubrovnik), she carried, and still carries, Konavle in her heart. Konavle mornings inspired “the girl from the city” to transform the sounds of nature into music that would go on to captivate the world, while the chirping of birds from her homeland influenced her choice of instrument, the one in which she would later earn her degree. From the flute, she could always draw out memories and emotions that connected her to her soul and to Konavle. In her extensive musical career, the only places she has never performed are China and Japan.
- In Love with Konavle could almost be the title of your biography, given that you have always been in love with your Konavle.
I spent the most beautiful days of my life in Konavle, which I adore. Konavle is my soul.
- You love Konavle, but you also love Paris. We Love Paris is a five-volume album of French chansons and ballads, released by Warner Music France. Among 102 performers, including legendary names of the French music scene, there is also our very own “girl from the city”.
“To je moja pjesma,” or “C’est ma chanson,” is the title theme of the 1967 film A Countess from Hong Kong, starring Sophia Loren and Marlon Brando, directed by Charlie Chaplin. The song was recorded at the time for the French, Croatian, and Italian markets and soon became a big hit.
- Charlie Chaplin personally congratulated you on your unique interpretation, and the French have loved you since 1965, when you went to Paris for a TV appearance and ended up staying longer than originally planned.
The great French chanson singer Renée Lebas offered me the opportunity to record an album for the Columbia record label, and Paris became my second home, even though I arrived there without knowing a word of French. The French recognized my work with two major honors – I was decorated and named a Knight of the Order of Arts and Letters, awarded by the President of the French Republic. Two years later, the Ministry of Culture presented me with the highest distinction, naming me an Officer of the Order of Arts and Letters.
- In your career, you have recorded more than 30 albums and over a thousand songs… That rich musical journey began in Dubrovnik when, as a primary school student, you entered the world of music as a member of the children’s choir at the Dubrovnik Cathedral, and later as a member of the choir of the Dubrovnik radio station.
After high school, I enrolled at the Music Academy in Zagreb and became a member of the Radio Zagreb Symphony Orchestra. In 1958, I won the youth competition in Ljubljana, where musicians from all over Yugoslavia participated.
- The flute is your instrument, and you once said that you chose it because it best captures the song of the birds in our Konavle.
Yes, the flute as an instrument was the one that could best capture the song of the birds in my beloved Konavle, where I spent my childhood. I have never lost that childlike urge for laughter, for company. I somehow shove sadness into a corner, doing everything I can not to think about sad things. Still, I must say that what I regret the most is not being able to play the flute, which I adore, anymore because my hearing aid no longer allows for such frequencies.
- The love for Konavle, Paris, the flute… it’s clear that love will accompany us in this conversation, so I can’t help but add that your true love is the song and the stage.
It is true that, without a doubt, love comes first for me. The stage and music are my love, my life. I live every word I sing, and that’s the only way I can do it. The audience knows how to recognize, feel, and appreciate that.
- Thanks to music, you’ve literally traveled the entire world. You’ve performed on every continent, and your first international performance was at the Song for Europe festival in St. Vincent, Italy, in 1962.
Throughout my career, I have performed at almost all domestic festivals, and my international career has been marked by performances and guest appearances at festivals in Bratislava, Rio de Janeiro, Mexico... In short, I’ve performed on every continent and, as they say, traveled the entire world. I only haven’t been to China and Japan.
- It’s interesting that you performed at the Eurovision Song Contest twice, but for two different countries, as a representative of the Principality of Monaco and of Yugoslavia.
That’s true. In my selection as Monaco’s representative, I received the vote from Grace Kelly, while her husband, Rainier, wanted to vote for a blonde. He loved blondes. So, in 1966, I performed the song “Bien plus fort”. That year, Domenico Modugno also performed at Eurovision with his song “Dio, come ti amo”. We were, in fact, the sensation of that festival. At the time, I wasn’t as well-known, unlike Modugno, who sang “Volare”. I represented Yugoslavia with the song “Muzika i ti” in 1972.
- In life, beautiful days intertwine with less beautiful ones. There were times when you were criticized in your career, with people saying that you were acting, that you were pretending...
After some time, I realized that the best response to those who saw me as such a great actress was to say, “Thank you for the compliment”. After all, if I’ve been acting with the same intensity for so many years, maybe I deserve an Oscar. I consider the greatest pain in my life to be the loss of my brother Pero. He was my icon, my altar, my church, my cathedral... He died at age 39 on the Zagorje highway, and since I never even got to meet my mother, losing my brother is the deepest pain I have ever felt.
- You briefly touched on your childhood and mentioned that you never met your real mother, whom you lost at an early age.
I never met my mother. She gave birth to me and passed away shortly after. My childhood was thus marked by great tragedy. I remember that my father would take me to the cemetery in Lovorno, and since I only knew my mother, the one who raised me, and to whom I will be eternally grateful, it took time for me, as a child, to put everything in my mind into place.
- You always look fresh and youthful. What’s the secret? Is it Konavle blood?
I don’t follow trends, and it would never cross my mind to pump up my lips or cheekbones a few sizes. I have no desire to look like a 20-year-old. Young girls today are too caught up in trends and forget to simply be girls; they have stopped being feminine. Personally, mainly because of television, I occasionally go for non-invasive treatments with Dr. Siniša Glumičić. The years are there, and we all want to look beautiful and fresh. There’s nothing wrong with that.
- The media often brings up the story of your withdrawal from the stage due to health issues, but it seems like you are stronger than everything.
Despite everything, my voice still comes from my soul. Leaving the stage is inevitable, but song is my life and my love. I adjust my performances to my abilities, and as long as my voice serves me, I will sing because I love music, and I love the company.
- You have always been surrounded by esteemed individuals, and you personally knew both Croatia’s first president, Dr. Franjo Tuđman, and Yugoslavia’s president, Josip Broz Tito. How do you remember the two of them?
No one can fascinate me. I am fascinated by deeds, not individuals. I respected both of them as presidents. Tito was charming, and he always liked me sitting next to him and for me to sing “Nabucco”. At one gathering I sang, and Stane Dolanc got up and started dancing a waltz, to which Tito simply said: “What are you doing, sit down! You listen to this; you don’t dance to it.” On the famous train ride from Knin to Vukovar, I said to Tuđman: “Mr. President, why don’t you smile more often? You look handsome when you smile. You’re always so serious.”
- Since we are talking about handsome men, how could we not mention the chosen one of your heart, the Italian Carlo Zolli, whose yacht was often anchored in Cavtat…
I believe my Carlo was, if not the best, then one of the best people I’ve ever had in my life, and there weren’t many. People may have thought differently, but loyalty was always very important to me. Carlo was so kind, calm, composed, charming, a true gentleman, and thoughtful, not just toward me, but toward all my friends. To some, he smelled of money, but I’m not one of those people. To me, he was an endlessly honest and witty man. In life, I’ve had, and I’ve had not, but nothing ever scared me. Therefore, money is secondary. What matters is the person you live with.
- It is said that Carlo knew how to prepare real delicacies, but did you perhaps ever teach him how to make the Konavle zelena menestra?
It was truly a pleasure to taste the exquisite specialties he prepared in his kitchen. Carlo learned to make zelena menestra (cabbage stew with smoked meat) in Skurići, in Čilipi. I wrote about it in the first of my two books, and as much as I love eating menestra, it always reminds me of the beginning of the war period in my Konavle.
That’s our Tere, with Konavle blood running hot in her veins – restless in spirit, yet as gentle as the calm sea in Cavtat’s harbor and smiling like a little girl with braids wrapped around her head. She has been both loved and criticized in her lifetime, but ambitious, brave, and bold enough to carve her own path to the fame she rightfully enjoys. With humility, Tereza Kesovija will say she is not a diva and does not wish to be one, because for her, divas are opera or film stars. Tere, you are our Konavle diva, or, if you prefer, our vila (fairy).
By: Ivica Puljić