Iztok Mlakar (born 21 June 1961) is a Slovenian singer-songwriter and

theatre actor An actor or actress is a person who portrays a Character (arts), character in a performance. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional medium of the theatre or in modern media such as film, radio, and television. The analogous Greek ...

. Styled as the "

bard In Celtic cultures, a bard is a professional story teller, verse-maker, music composer, oral historian and genealogist, employed by a patron (such as a monarch or chieftain) to commemorate one or more of the patron's ancestors and to praise t ...

of the

Slovenian Littoral The Slovene Littoral ( sl, Primorska, ; it, Litorale; german: Küstenland) is one of the five traditional regions of Slovenia. Its name recalls the former Austrian Littoral (''Avstrijsko Primorje''), the Habsburg possessions on the upper Ad ...

", he is best known for his ironic

chanson A (, , french: chanson française, link=no, ; ) is generally any lyric-driven French song, though it most often refers to the secular polyphonic French songs of late medieval and Renaissance music. The genre had origins in the monophonic s ...

s in the Littoral dialect of Slovene. Together with

Adi Smolar Adi Smolar (born 25 March 1959 in Slovenj Gradec, SR Slovenia, Yugoslavia) is a Slovenian singer-songwriter and composer. He made his first appearance in 1981 with a full repertoire of his own songs. He continued to perform for eight years befo ...

, Mlakar is among the best-known singer-songwriters in Slovenia since 1990. He was born in

Postojna Postojna (; german: Adelsberg, it, Postumia) is a town in the traditional region of Inner Carniola, from Trieste, in southwestern Slovenia. It is the seat of the Municipality of Postojna.

in western Slovenia (then part of

Yugoslavia Yugoslavia (; sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Jugoslavija, Југославија ; sl, Jugoslavija ; mk, Југославија ;; rup, Iugoslavia; hu, Jugoszlávia; rue, label=Pannonian Rusyn, Югославия, translit=Juhoslavija ...

), and spent his youth in the town of

Nova Gorica A nova (plural novae or novas) is a transient astronomical event that causes the sudden appearance of a bright, apparently "new" star (hence the name "nova", which is Latin for "new") that slowly fades over weeks or months. Causes of the dramati ...

on the border with Italy. His parents were from

Cerkno Cerkno (; it, Circhina; ger, Kirchheim) is a small town in the Littoral region of Slovenia. It has around 2,000 inhabitants and is the administrative centre of the Cerkno Hills. It is the seat of the Municipality of Cerkno. Cerkno is a small ...

, and Mlakar composed several songs in the distinctive

Cerkno dialect The Cerkno dialect ( sl, cerkljansko narečje, ''cerkljanščina'') is a Slovene dialect in the Rovte dialect group. It is spoken mostly in the municipalities of Cerkno and Idrija in western Slovenia. Unlike many other dialects from the same dial ...

of his parents' native region.

Career

After graduating from the

Nova Gorica Grammar School , streetaddress = Delpinova 9 , city = Nova Gorica , country = SVN , coordinates = , head of school = Andrej Šušmelj , established = , type ...

, Mlakar studied acting at the

Academy for Theatre, Radio, Film and Television The Academy of Theatre, Radio, Film and Television ( sl, Akademija za gledališče, radio, film in televizijo or AGRFT) is an academy of the University of Ljubljana in Ljubljana, Slovenia. It is the only college and graduate school in Slovenia with ...

Ljubljana Ljubljana (also known by other historical names) is the capital and largest city of Slovenia. It is the country's cultural, educational, economic, political and administrative center. During antiquity, a Roman city called Emona stood in the ar ...

, graduating from the drama program in 1986. He pursued a career as an actor in the Slovenian National Theatre of Nova Gorica, where he currently works.
- He has written many songs for plays, but he is best known as the composer and singer of his own ''chanson''-style songs. In 1993, he received the

Ježek Award Ježek may refer to: People: * Frane Milčinski, a Slovene writer that used the pen name Ježek * Ježek (surname), various people with the surname Ježek Other: * 27132 Ježek, a main belt asteroid *Czech hedgehog The Czech hedgehog ( cs, rozs ...

Chansons

Mlakar is best known to the Slovenian public as a singer of songs composed in his local Slovene dialect. His songs are frequently witty and unusual reflections on eternal subjects such as love, passing and death, and also about the joys of life, particularly wine and good food. Always written from the perspective of the little man, they are often bitter comments on the struggle of daily life and the injustice of social and political settings. His early songs contained many

ironic Irony (), in its broadest sense, is the juxtaposition of what on the surface appears to be the case and what is actually the case or to be expected; it is an important rhetorical device and literary technique. Irony can be categorized into ...

commentaries on daily life in

Titoist Titoism is a political philosophy most closely associated with Josip Broz Tito during the Cold War. It is characterized by a broad Yugoslav identity, workers' self-management, a political separation from the Soviet Union, and leadership in the ...

, Yugoslavia. Mlakar mostly sings about unusual personal stories, which highlight the absurdities and anxieties of the lives of the common people.

Language of the songs

Mlakar does not use standard Slovene in his songs, except in a few cases, when he wants to mark the differences in the social status of the characters of his stories. The majority of his songs are sung in the

Karst dialect This article uses Logar transcription. The Karst dialect ( , ), sometimes called the Gorizia–Karst dialect ( ), is a Slovene dialect spoken on the northern Karst Plateau, in the central Slovene Littoral, and in parts of the Italian province ...

, which is the most distinctive and widely spoken Slovene dialect in the

. It is also spoken in the areas around the town of Nova Gorica, especially

Solkan Solkan ( or ; it, Salcano, german: link=no, Sollingen or ''Salcano'') is a settlement in the Municipality of Nova Gorica in the Gorizia region of western Slovenia, at the border with Italy. Although it forms a single urban area with the city of N ...

and

Šempeter pri Gorici Šempeter pri Gorici ( or ; it, San Pietro di Gorizia) is a town and the administrative centre of the Municipality of Šempeter-Vrtojba in the Slovene Littoral region of Slovenia. There is a border crossing into the Italian town of Gorizia. The c ...

. The language of most of Mlakar's songs is based on the distinctive dialects of these areas, which have been strongly influenced by Italian and Friulian, especially in

vocabulary A vocabulary is a set of familiar words within a person's language. A vocabulary, usually developed with age, serves as a useful and fundamental tool for communication and acquiring knowledge. Acquiring an extensive vocabulary is one of the la ...

and

syntax In linguistics, syntax () is the study of how words and morphemes combine to form larger units such as phrases and sentences. Central concerns of syntax include word order, grammatical relations, hierarchical sentence structure ( constituency) ...

. Fewer of his songs are sung in the

Inner Carniolan dialect This article uses Logar transcription. The Inner Carniolan dialect ( , ) is a Slovene dialect very close to the Lower Carniolan dialect, but with more recent accent shifts. It is spoken in a relatively large area, extending from western Inner ...

, as it is spoken in the upper

Vipava Valley The Vipava Valley (; sl, Vipavska dolina, german: Wippachtal, it, Valle del Vipacco) is a valley in the Slovenian Littoral, roughly between the village of Podnanos to the east and the border with Italy to the west. The main towns are Ajdovš ...

("Bose noge"), while others (such as "Pubi, usidma se", "Var se, čeča" and "Očenaš") are sung in the

, which differs considerably from the dialect used in his other songs because it belongs to the different Rovte dialect group. The vocabulary of most of Mlakar's songs is frequently difficult to understand for speakers from other Slovenian regions. The use of dialect and juicy expressions conveys a sense of familiarity to his songs.

Lyrics

Survival tactics, idiosyncrasies and anxieties of simple people are some of the constant themes of Mlakar's songs, as are joy for life and the seeking of pleasure. The characters of Mlakar's songs present a typical Slovene character. He sings about the simple Slovene man and woman of the 20th and 21st centuries, who are frequently oppressed by big historical events such as the

world war A world war is an international conflict which involves all or most of the world's major powers. Conventionally, the term is reserved for two major international conflicts that occurred during the first half of the 20th century, World WarI (1914 ...

s, expansionist policies of large nations, changing political regimes, unstable economic situations and shifts in moral and social customs. The characters of Mlakar's songs cope with these circumstances in different ways: they either stubbornly defy them ("Karlo Špacapan"), frequently becoming silly and pathetic in the process ("Pepi Žbaradorija"), accept them with a sense of poetic fatalism ("Bertolin in Štefana"), or opportunistically try to accommodate to them ("Politik Gvido"). Many of his songs narrate outbursts of anger directed against authority: some of them result in a temporary victory ("Ivo Balila"), some end in compromise ("Pubi usidma se"), while others remain a dream of a distant future egalitarian retaliation ("Puntarska", "Politik Gvido"). Many lyrics are an intelligent ironic comment on acute problems of contemporary Slovenian society, such as alcoholism ("Beštija"),

drug abuse Substance abuse, also known as drug abuse, is the use of a drug in amounts or by methods which are harmful to the individual or others. It is a form of substance-related disorder. Differing definitions of drug abuse are used in public health, ...

("Marjo Špinel") and suicide ("Briškula"). Some lyrics ridicule the provincial customs of an enriched

post-communist society Post-communism is the period of political and economic transformation or transition in former communist states located in Eastern Europe and parts of Africa and Asia in which new governments aimed to create free market-oriented capitalist economi ...

("Fool cool", "Truckin' rap", "Bogatašev song"). Many of them convey an unusual life philosophy or acquired wisdom ("Credo", "Počasno življenje", "Pismo"). Most of them, however, are about love, sex and the often difficult relations between men and women. These include stories of love and passion bridging ethnic and social divides ("Furlanka", "Valentin", "Var se čeča"); many are ironic songs about romantic deception ("Brika", "Valentinčič Rudi in Pepa Žgabucin") and stories of unfulfilled romantic promises ("Dešpet", "Vandima"). Only a few are traditional ballads of failed love ("En glaž vina mi dej").

Public performances

Mlakar is known for avoiding publicity. He has never performed at a big concert or public event, preferring small and selected audiences. His public performances are rare, and usually there is a very high interest in them, making it hard to get tickets. Such a style of performance usually goes well with the topics of his songs. With good food and wine, the audience gets in a good mood and participates in singing his songs.

Discography

*'' Štorije in baldorije'' (1992) # Pepi Žbaradorija # Republika Palma de Cocco # Puntarska # Vandima # Pubi, usidma se # Karlo Špacapan # Beštija # Štefana in Bertolin # En glaž vina mi dej *'' Balade in štroncade'' (1994) # Od Franca Frančeškina god # Soča # Full cool # Božična # Politik Gvido # Valentin # Počasno življenje # Brika (ki b' rad) # Betula *'' Rimarije iz oštarije'' (2001) # Blues # Rudi Valentinčič in Pepa Žgabucin # Credo # Dešpet # Čikorija an' kafe # Marjo Špinel # Ivo Balila # Var'se, čeča # Briškula *'' Romance brez krjance'' (2008) # Oda # Bose noge # Pismo # Furlanka # Žena al flaša # Pokora # Truckin' rap (Recitativ za bariton, kamion in basso continuo) # Bogatašev song # Očenaš *'' Porkaeva!'' (2017) # Izvirni greh # Volitve # Ajnglc # Kontrabas # Ja # Belo in rdeče # Šuolni # Hudič!!! # Čuoja

References

External links

Texts and tabs of Iztok Mlakar

Biography and lyrics
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mlakar, Iztok 1961 births Living people Slovenian male stage actors Slovenian singer-songwriters University of Ljubljana alumni People from Nova Gorica People from Postojna