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Majniške pesmi (Slovenski komorni zbor):

The entomologist as philosopher
A Slovene from Argentina:  Bass-baritone Marcos Fink is singing today at the Staatsoper "Der  geduldige Sokrates"

German text:

A person like Marcos Fink does not have to study philosophy. One, who is tossed about in life's currents in such a way, has wisdom in the blood. And without any effort he personifies Telemanns "Geduldigen Sokrates". Because Fink had to practice patience for a long time, before his talent was really discovered. At the time, in 1990, he worked in Buenos Aires as an agricultural engineer, and had already accomplished a 16 year long university career in the field of entomology: Insect scientist. Thus, he was multicoloured enough for the opera world. And since the temptation for art was greater than a safe position for life, he changed jobs.

Making changes in life was always a strength of the Fink family. One could have regarded them as born Gauchos, if they were not originally from Slovenia. The parents of the meanwhile very successful Bass-baritone left their homeland at the end of war. "The communists had monopolized the resistance", the singer describes, "in 1945 my father realized that he could not remain in Slovenia? As a catholic, he would immediately have been singled out as a class enemy. As a catholic he had no problems in Buenos Aires, but as a father of six children. Those wanted to be fed. And besides, they were also talented! "My parents suffered very much, when they discovered my talent, but could not finance any schooling. But we sang together often in our family. I had a very happy childhood."

The young Fink sang in choirs, studied also singing in due form - for ten years he was a member of the Slovenian vocal group Karantania, directed by Maria Fink-Gerzinic - and at the end he decided himself for a bread-winning occupation. Now and then his family wanted also to eat and not only listen to Schubert. By the way, he feels related with the Viennese composer." There are very strong ancient Austrian traditions in Slovenia and also in our family. The Finks probably came 400 years ago from Bavaria." With the "Winterreise", sung in Slovenian, he recently proved that Austrian and Slovenian culture have the same root - after all, the Lipizzaner in Austria originated from a Slovenian stud farm!

He must have made an even bigger impression in Austria at the end of the 80's, when he intonated a tango on his sister's wedding. With this Fink began his international career, the National Theater Salzburg contracted him for two years. With Renee Jacobs, the conductor of "Sokrates", Fink already practiced music for ten years.

Since 1994, the Argentine Slovene lives in the homeland of his ancestors, in Ljubljana. Whether he is missing Buenos Aires? "For me, as a refugee child, the melancholy and Larmoyanz of the Argentines was always strange", he answers. "We could not afford such things, we were always struggling. Now, seen from a different perspective, I discover the beauty and poetry of the Argentine mentality." And how deeply he discovered it! On a record, which Marcos made together with his sister Bernarda Fink, "Canciones Argentinas" are celebrated, songs by Piazzolla, Guastavino and Buchardo. For us it is a new musical continent. For Marcos Fink a piece of the past, which he carries around with him like Slovenia, like Schubert and the Austrian Monarchy.

The connecting element between everything is the music, is Fink's elegant, full chamber singer voice. It will lend an additional eloquence to Sokrates. "He was one of the greatest philosophers of the Occident. Who personifies him, must not slip off  into comedy", the singer warns. "Therefore, I do not permit myself any Basso-buffo-manners, no exaggerating and pressing of the voice. Everything has to be sung in a noble way." Exactly the way, as one knows it from the Slovene from Argentina.

Marcos Fink is regularly invited to sing as soloist in oratorios and has performed in concert halls in Buenos Aires, Paris, Vienna, Madrid, Barcelona, Geneve, Prag, Bratislava, Ljubljana, Strasbourg, Lisbon, Milano, Zagreb, Tokyo ...

In Ljubljana, he regularly participates in the production and recording of oratorios of Slovenian and other nationality authors for the Slovenian Philharmony, Slovenian RTV Symphonic Orchestra and vocal concerts given by the Slovenian Chamber Choir. With this choir Marcos Fink participates in the recording of the project "Musica sacra slovenica".

Aus der Berliner Morgenpost vom 29. September 2007
  
German text:
Der Insektenkundler als Philosoph
Ein Slowene aus Argentinien: Bass-Bariton Marcos Fink singt heute an der Staatsoper in "Der geduldige Sokrates"

Einer wie Marcos Fink muss nicht Philosophie studieren. Wer so herumgeweht wird vom Leben, hat die Weisheit im Blut. Und verkörpert mühelos Telemanns "Geduldigen Sokrates". Denn in Geduld hat sich Fink lange üben müssen, bevor sein Talent wirklich entdeckt wurde. Zu dem Zeitpunkt, 1990 nämlich, war er in Buenos Aires als Landwirtschafts-Ingenieur tätig, hatte bereits eine 16jährige Hochschulkarriere im Fachbereich Entomologie hinter sich: Insektenkunde. Bunt genug war er also schon für die Opernwelt. Und da ihm die Verlockungen der Kunst mehr zusagten als eine sichere Lebensstellung, sattelte er um.

Umsatteln ist überhaupt eine Stärke der Familie Fink. Man könnte sie für geborene Gauchos halten, stammten sie nicht aus Slowenien. Die Eltern des mittlerweile sehr erfolgreichen Bassbaritons verließen bei Kriegsende ihre Heimat. "Die Kommunisten hatten den Widerstand monopolisiert", erläutert der Sänger, "mein Vater begriff 1945, dass er nicht in Slowenien bleiben konnte - er wäre als Katholik sofort zum Klassenfeind erklärt worden." Als Katholik hatte er in Buenos Aires keine Probleme, aber als Vater von sechs Kindern. Die wollten erst einmal ernährt sein. Und dann waren sie auch noch begabt! "Meine Eltern haben sehr gelitten, als sie mein Talent entdeckten, aber keine Förderung finanzieren konnten. Aber wir haben in der Familie viel zusammen gesungen. Meine Kindheit war sehr glücklich."

Der junge Fink sang in Chören, studierte auch ganz vorschriftsmäßig Gesang - und entschied sich am Ende für einen Brotberuf. Seine Familie wollte hin und wieder auch mal was essen und nicht nur Schubert hören. Mit dem Wiener Komponisten fühlt er sich übrigens verwandt. "Es gibt in Slowenien und auch in unserer Familie sehr starke alt-österreichische Traditionen. Die Finken selbst kamen wahrscheinlich vor 400 Jahren aus Bayern." Mit einer auf Slowenisch gesungenen "Winterreise" bewies er unlängst, dass sich beide Kulturen zum Verwechseln ähnlich sind - schließlich hat ja Österreich auch die aus einem slowenischen Gestüt stammenden Lipizzaner eingemeindet!

Noch größeren Eindruck muss er in Austria Ende der 80er Jahre gemacht haben, als er auf der Hochzeit seiner Schwester einen Tango intonierte. Damit begann Finks internationale Karriere, das Landestheater Salzburg verpflichtete ihn für zwei Jahre. Mit René Jacobs, dem Dirigenten des "Sokrates", musizierte Fink bereits vor zehn Jahren.

Seit 1994 lebt der argentinische Slowenier in der Heimat seiner Vorfahren, in Ljubljana. Ob er Buenos Aires nicht vermisst? "Mir als Flüchtlingskind war die Melancholie und Larmoyanz der Argentinier immer fremd", antwortet er. "Wir konnten uns so etwas nicht leisten, mussten immer kämpfen. Jetzt aus der Ferne entdecke ich aber die Schönheit und Poesie der argentinischen Mentalität." Und wie er sie entdeckt! Auf einer fulminanten Platte, die Marcos gemeinsam mit seiner Schwester Bernarda Fink aufgenommen hat, werden "Canciones Argentinas" zelebriert, Lieder von Piazzolla, Guastavino und Buchardo. Für uns ein neuer musikalischer Kontinent. Für Marcos Fink ein Stück Vergangenheit, die er mit sich herumträgt wie Slowenien, wie Schubert und die K.u.K.-Monarchie.

Das verbindende Element zwischen allem ist die Musik, ist Finks elegante, volle Kammersängerstimme. Sie wird dem Sokrates zusätzliche Eloquenz verleihen. "Er war einer der größten Philosophen des Abendlandes. Wer ihn spielt, darf nicht in die Komödie abgleiten", warnt der Sänger. "Deswegen gestatte ich mir überhaupt keine Basso-buffo-Manieren, kein Übertreiben und Pressen der Stimme. Alles muss nobel gesungen sein." Eben so, wie man es von dem Slowenen aus Argentinien kennt.

Der geduldige Sokrates:
Staatsoper Unter den Linden. Tel.: 20 35 45 55. Heute Premiere, 18 Uhr. Weitere Termine: 1., 3., 5., 7., 9. und 11. 10, 19 Uhr. Volker Tarnow
~~


  


Heatley Guides Canada Past Slovenia

May 03, 2008

(Sports Network) - Dany Heatley notched a hat trick, as Canada began defense of its title with a 5-1 trouncing of Slovenia in the preliminary round of the 2008 World Hockey Championships.

Canada hosted a World Championship game for the first time in the 100-year history of the International Ice Hockey Federation.

The tournament's Most Valuable Player in 2004, Heatley added an assist for Canada, which is looking to become the first nation since the Soviet Union in 1986 to capture the crown on home ice. Martin St. Louis and Dan Hamhuis also scored for the Canadian team, while Ryan Getzlaf and Rick Nash each collected two assists. Cam Ward stopped 22-of-23 shots to earn the win.

Anze Kopitar tallied for the Slovenian team, while Robert Kristan allowed five goals on 65 shots in a losing effort. A member of the Los Angles Kings, Kopitar is the lone NHLer on Slovenia, which was shelled 8-0 the last time it faced Canada in this tournament.

Canada held a 1-0 lead after the first period on a goal from Hamhuis, and Heatley extended the margin 41 seconds into the middle stanza, one-timing a feed from Nash by the glove of Kristan.

St. Louis' power-play tally gave the Canadians a 3-0 edge at 10:18, but the Slovenians capitalized on a lengthy 5-on-3 power play two minutes later. Kopitar took a pass from Tomaz Razingar down low and lifted the puck over the glove of Ward.

A power-play marker by Heatley restored a three-goal cushion for Canada at 15:07. Heatley gathered the puck below the right circle and chipped it underneath the left arm of the Slovenian netminder.

Heatley completed the hat trick midway through the third period and Canada cruised to the finish.

Earlier in the day, the Czech Republic had little trouble with Denmark in the opening game of the tournament from Quebec City, coasting to a comfortable 5-2 victory. Radim Vrbata led the charge with two goals and two assists.
~~
  

Kemira agrees Romanian paints JV with Slovenia's JUB

Thomson Financial News
05.06.08

HELSINKI (Thomson Financial) - Finland's Kemira Oy said it will expand its paints business in Romania after agreeing to form a 50:50 joint venture with Slovenia's JUB.

Kemira currently has a 'small-scale' operation in Romania and wants to grab a bigger slice of the country's 180 million euros paints market, a Kemira spokesman told Thomson Financial News.

No financial details of the tie-up, to carry the name Tikkurila JUB Romania, were disclosed.

The unit is to start operations formally on July 1.
~~
  

EU will probably lift U.S. poultry ban: Verheugen

May 6, 2008

LJUBLJANA (Reuters) - The European Union will probably lift its 11-year-old ban on imports of U.S. poultry, Enterprise and Industry Commissioner Guenter Verheugen said on Tuesday.

"The Commission will find a solution and the only solution is to lift the ban," Verheugen said ahead of a Transatlantic Economic Council (TEC) meeting in Brussels on May 13.

The EU banned imports of U.S. poultry in April 1997 because U.S. poultry producers use a low-concentration chlorine wash to reduce harmful pathogens, a practice not permitted by the EU food safety regime.

Verheugen told a news conference the ban has stayed in force so long due to lack of clear political will, which appeared to corroborate Washington's long-standing claim that the ban was rooted in politics and not in scientific facts.

"The reason why there has been no solution so far is that there was a clear lack of political guidance. ... Now there is a strong political will to solve this issue," he said during a one-day visit to Slovenia.

He declined to say when the ban would be lifted but said that, "In November I made a clear commitment the issue will be solved ahead of the EU-US summit here in Slovenia (in June)."

Poultry is one of the 31 issues disputed by the EU and the United States. Verheugen said earlier that failure to resolve the poultry spat could jeopardize attempts to reach consensus on wider issues like health care, financial services, patents, cosmetics and biofuels.

(Reporting by Manca Ulcar in Ljubljana; edited by Myra MacDonald)
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KBC's planned stake sale in Slovenia's NLB rating-neutral - Fitch

06 May 2008

MUMBAI (Thomson Financial) - Fitch Ratings said KBC Group's structured sale process for its 34 percent stake in Slovenia's NLB bank, as well as the divestment of its 50 percent stake in NLB Vita is rating-neutral.

"NLB's issuer default and support ratings are underpinned by the potential support available from the Slovenian state - which is also the bank's largest shareholder - reflecting the bank's systemic importance and dominant domestic franchise. Therefore, the ratings remain unaffected by KBC Group's announcement," Fitch said. Fitch has an 'A-' long-term issuer default rating with stable outlook, and 'F2' short-term IDR on NLB. TFN.newsdesk@thomsonreuters.com ypv COPYRIGHT Copyright Thomson Financial News Limited 2008. All rights reserved.
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Historical and authentic insignias of Carantania - Slovenia
Vojvodski stol
Duke's Throne
The Installation of the
Dukes of Carantania
Knežji Kamen
The Prince's Stone
The Installation of
the Dukes of Carantania


Crni Panter
Carantanian Panther
Zlatorog
Goldenhorn


Lipa
The Linden Tree
Vojvodski klobuk -
Ducal Hat
The Carantanian Hat


Slovenski klobuk
(Venetski klobuk)
Nagelj
The Carnation
(Slovenian badge)


The Cross of Carantania
Triglav
Mountain of the Universe


Kralj Matjaz
King Matthias
Sv. Domicijan Karantanski
St. Domitian of Carantania
Vojvoda Domician


Krog s piko
The Point in the Circle
Karantanski šlem
The Helmet of Carantania





Marija na prestolu
Our Lady of Carantania
It was a judicial table in ancient Carantania