Josipa Lisac, the diva of Croatian and Yugoslav music, performs on July 18 at the Trsat fortress in Rijeka as part of the summer programme "Summer on the Fortress". For the audience on the Kvarner this is one of the biggest evenings of the season - a voice that has for six decades been synonymous with artistic freedom and stage courage, on the most striking open-air stage in the region.

Born in Zagreb in 1950, Lisac is one of the most recognisable female voices of the entire former Yugoslav scene, with a contralto that moves effortlessly through rock, pop, jazz and ethno. She began her career as the vocalist of the rock band O'Hara in 1967, and the real legend was born with her debut album "Dnevnik jedne ljubavi" from 1973 - a record still considered one of the best in the history of Yugoslav music, the work of her husband and life-long collaborator Karlo Metikoš.

What sets Lisac apart is not only the voice, but her entire stage identity: extravagant costumes, an uncompromising performance and a relationship with music that never followed trends. Over her career she has won as many as thirty-five Porin awards, including the lifetime achievement award - a number no other Croatian performer has reached. After Metikoš's death in 1991, she organised a series of concerts in his honour that remained among the most emotional moments of her career.

Tickets are available via ulaznice.hr. The concert is at the Trsat fortress above Rijeka, a medieval fort overlooking the Adriatic - a stage that gives her performance extra weight.