"Esma was our ambassador, but not accredited by the state institutions and with a specific mandate, but accredited by the people with a heart and with a timeless mandate", said the host Ramush Muarem-Cirko last night at the Frosina cinema in Skopje, at the opening of the event "In memory of It's unforgettable."
The concert organized by the humanitarian organization "Queen Esma and Stevo Teodosievski" and the production "BTR" was on the occasion of the 80th anniversary of the birth of the queen of the Roma and Macedonian folk song, one of our greatest world cultural ambassadors.
One of the singers at the concert, Hariya Bislim, is only 13 years old, the same age that Esma started singing, hiding from her parents that she was going to the contest "The microphone is yours", which she later won. With her clean vocals and rich interpretation, young Harija reminds of Esma, but there is no copy or replacement for her, as the host of the event said. The grandfather of the youngest singer, Ramadan Bislim-Ramko, a famous singer of Romani music, also performed, and he sang the song that Esma sang with joy, "Svadba Macedonian", and he moved the audience, but also played.
"For our mother, there is no substitute, no copy, she is one and only. She deserved much more than this," said most of the singers before their performances.
The folk singer Susana Gavazova also performed, who said that Esma was her idol, and near the end of the concert, Aneta Ljumakovska sang one of Esma's most important songs in Macedonian, "Cekaj živote". Accompanied by the "Titanic" orchestra, the popular artists Ervin Ametovski and Bernat Demirali performed with part of Esma's repertoire.
A six-minute documentary showed a small part of Esma's rich life. In her poem "The Queen of Madzir Maalo", Redzepova beautifully described the journalist Valentina Pargo.
At the end of the concert, the organizer Zoran Dimov, before calling all the singers together and singing "Chajorie shukarie", said in his welcome speech: "She was a woman with a big heart. It allowed me to place the television in the premises of her home. He always told me "don't worry, it will be fine, you will succeed, I am here to help you". We organized many humanitarian events together, for the poor and sick. He said that the rich should give to the poor. I considered her a second mother - says Dimkov. Together with all the participants, during the whole concert, members of the ensemble "Folklor Studio Skopje" participated, dressed in the style of Esma.
The impressions of all present were unanimous, that it was very nice, and that Esma deserves such events traditionally every year and in a bigger space.
The event was supported by the Ministry of Culture, as well as the City of Skopje. PACOMAK also had its contribution in helping, and the whole event was recorded by Telma Television. The photos are the work of photojournalist Mitko Janev
