"Igor is love, emotion, music, literature, sport, culture. In one word, he was everything", are the words used by the famous Montenegrin musician Renata Perazić to describe her older brother Igor, whose death is six years old today.
The Montenegrin cellist and singer, known for his specific voice and musical expression, was betrayed by his heart six years ago. Associate professor at the Music Academy in Cetinje on the cello subject and for 20 years the first cellist of the RTCG orchestra, and then of the Montenegrin Symphony Orchestra, was born on October 11, 1966 in Podgorica, then Titograd, where he completed junior and high school of music. Young and talented, he continued his musical education at the Academy of Music in Podgorica, and received his master's degree at the Academy of Arts in Novi Sad, but he perfected his talent for music throughout his life. He performed music in theater plays, TV dramas, feature films, and many remember him for his involvement in pop music and his hits "Just one more night" and "Da si tu".
"Igor's departure disturbed my idea of time, so that six years is somehow too far for me, but also close, and I feel his absence through missing, pain, suffering, happiness, joy, laughter, tears, sadness... I have the feeling that went somewhere to play, that he would show up at the door and tell Rela... But... We're here, and we're not," he begins the story about his brother Renata.
Talent inherited from father and mother
The interlocutor of "Vijesti" does not hide that her brother, who is six years older, was her role model in everything, so it was logical that after he showed a talent for music in the early years and enrolled in a music school, Renata followed in his footsteps, and talent, as says inherited from father Svetozar-Toz and mother Radmila. "Igor is six years older than me, and it was expected that I would also start playing music. He played the cello, which was a 'spook' in Titograd at the time. He could often hear comments like 'what is this little guy carrying, if it isn't some bigger gun', and I was assigned to play the violin, because at that time you couldn't choose what you were going to play", recalls Renata.
He was a record collector
In parallel with classical music, as he reveals, Igor listened to rock, heavy metal, domestic rock, soul, jazz, and was also a record collector.
"At that time records were bought in Jugoton, so Igor was one of the first to buy every new record that came out. We still keep them all to this day. So he influenced my musical taste the most, and he was my idol in everything. He loved to read a lot, valued knowledge and invested in it until the last day. He also loved sports, followed, got along, went to games, practiced basketball until the moment when training and cello didn't go together anymore. Well, he was versatile in everything," says Renata.
He was not only a role model for her, but also a great support, so when she started to study music herself, and later sailed into musical waters, Igor was always there for her. "We always supported each other in everything, unreservedly! We shared advice, accepted, did not accept, clashed very little when it came to music and always had some new favorites," Renata admits.
Posthumously released album
He was very successful in pop music as well, and he also participated in Montenegrin festivals - Song of the Mediterranean, Sunčane skala, as well as the one that was held in Kotor at the end of the last century. All those songs, as well as some that the audience did not have the opportunity to hear at such events, and had already been recorded for years and were lying in a drawer waiting to reach the audience, were included in the album that was published posthumously.
"Few people know that his CD is out. Unfortunately, he didn't meet him either. I was thinking about organizing the promotion of that album, as befits it, when the conditions are right. Igor lived music, the bond between him, the cello, and his voice is unbreakable... In moments of rest from practicing the cello, which were hours and hours a day, he would sit down at the piano and start singing and composing. He loved public performances, both classical music and pop music through the festivals they organized. He also won prizes at the Song of the Mediterranean, as well as at the Sunny Scales. I sang backing vocals on most of his songs, and I like all of his songs. Perhaps in this situation I like to hear the song 'Da si tu' the most, because perhaps that is what I would like the most", says Renata.
He decided to return to his homeland and pass on his knowledge to the younger generations. As someone who is an excellent cellist, he had the opportunity to improve abroad and even stay there, but Perazić still returned to Montenegro. "He trained in Moscow, at the prestigious Tchaikovsky Conservatory, but returned to Montenegro eager to share and pass on that knowledge to younger generations. He loved this stone, with all his being, disinterestedly and unreservedly. He worked in the RTCG Symphony Orchestra, later in the Montenegrin Symphony Orchestra as cello leader. He also worked as a professor at the Academy of Music in Cetinje", recalls Renata.
Although he valued knowledge, he was not strict with his students. "Given that he was always cheerful, smiling and positive, it was not in his personality to be strict as a professor, but students were expected to always do what was expected of them. To this day, when we meet, they always mention him with a lot of love and respect", says Renata proudly.
Children followed in his footsteps
And his children, daughter Đina and son Luka, are successfully engaged in classical music, which is confirmed by their numerous concerts around the world. "Given that both Igor and his wife Ana play string instruments, it was expected that one of the children would choose either the cello or the violin. It was Luka who chose the violin, and Djina plays the piano. Both are successful in this.
Đina is in postgraduate piano studies in Munich, and Luka is in his second year at the music academy in London. He advised them, guided them, listened to how they exercised, and Ana was in charge of the final way of exercising and the product of it", admits Renata.
When he is with his friends, company, and acquaintances, he likes to talk about Igor, and mostly, as he says, "anecdotes from their childhood and youth, of which there are many".
"There were so many of them that it would take a whole book to tell those anecdotes. I just remembered how I tried to pierce his ear, with an ordinary needle, he turned blue, oozing blood, but he was suffering, so much so that grandma Đina, whom we loved the most, came in, took a wooden ruler and said to me: 'What are you doing, kill my child', and set out to 'teach' us both with that subway. Igor ran away, and I got the better of me, even though I had good intentions," Renata recalls with a laugh, and ends with another recent anecdote.
"This anecdote is related to Igor's concert in Belgium. Namely, he was known for the fact that he never got along with trains and buses, he was simply not interested in it. That's how he gets to the Netherlands and has to walk about 100 meters and get on a train that goes directly to Belgium. Of course, the train leaves right in front of his nose, he's so nervous he doesn't know what to do, and he sees a taxi. He says, 'the sun warmed me', until he saw the price on the taxi meter at one bad time, and then he was irritated by the sound of the taxi meter and told the taxi driver to turn off. Of course, this trip from state to state was more than his fee, but he called immediately the next morning to say what happened and that it was good that he had arrived, and immediately added, 'I bought us terrible perfumes,'" he concludes wistfully. Perazic.
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