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Mikis Theodorakis: The concert in honour of the great Greek composer at Pallas Theater
December 4, 2017 @ 9:00 pm - 11:30 pm
Start: 4 December 2017
End: 4 December 2017
Excitement at the rehearsals of Miki Theodorakis with Mary Lina and Tatiana Papageorgiou.
More than half a century after its writing, Mikis Theodorakis meets Mary Linda for “Archipelagos” and gives new form to the lost “Cretan Concerto” with the collaboration of Tatiana Papageorgiou
The composer Mikis Theodorakis, the performer Mary Linda and the pianist Tatiana Papageorgiou were very emotional during the rehearsals of part of the programme to be performed at the magnificent concert to be held on 4 December at the Pallas Theater in honour of the leading Greek composer, with the collaboration of the legendary Symphony Orchestra and the Kiev Opera Ballets.
This unique evening, made possible by the sponsorship of the Bubouras Foundation, the great Greek benefactor who lives in Odessa, will feature the composer’s iconic works inspired by Crete and the Greek sea: The first Children’s Songs of 1937, the “Cretan Concerto” for piano and orchestra in its first performance, the beloved song cycle “Archipelagos” and scenes from the famous ballet “Alexis Zorbas”. A similar evening was held in October – on the anniversary of the no – in Odessa, also sponsored by the Boubouras Foundation. Now the performance is being brought to Athens, with the Symphony Orchestra and the Kiev Opera Ballets honoring the leading Greek composer.
“Archipelagos”
“It is very touching to meet more than 50 years later to present again the song cycle “Archipelagos”, said Mikis Theodorakis addressing Mary Linda during their rehearsal for the concert. It should be noted that “Archipelagos” was written by the composer in 1959 with Mary Linda and Grigoris Bithikotsis as the first performers, with poetry by Dimitris Christodoulou, Nikos Gatsos, the composer himself, Odysseus Elytis, Yannis Theodorakis and Panos Kokkinopoulos. During the rehearsal, Mary Linda performed songs such as “In potisa rose”, “Myrtia”, “Rodia tetraklonis”, etc.
The composer and the performer have great love and appreciation for each other. In a warm and friendly atmosphere they remembered the old times and the moments of the first recording session in the studio with Manolis Chiotis where he played bouzouki. One of his most beautiful memories, as the composer pointed out. Among other things, Mikis Theodorakis also recalled how the song “Se potisa roodostamos” was born, the lyrics of which (Nikos Gatsos) had written down in a notebook. During a trip that they made with Linda and Chiotis, when they went down to the hotel for breakfast, the foundations were laid for the setting of the song to music and the subsequent recording of the song with Mary Linda.
The news of the rehearsal: Mikis Theodorakis showed on his tablet where he has all his work, unpublished songs that he wrote much later and suggested to Mary Linda to sing them, noting: “these are songs that I always wanted you to sing and now the time has come to record them with the contribution of Tatiana Papageorgiou”. In fact, while rehearsing, the composer often raised his hand while conducting Mary Linda.
“Cretan Concerto”
A very important element is also that Mikis Theodorakis together with the pianist and academic musicologist Tatiana Papageorgiou worked on the “Cretan Concerto” in a new, reborn form. This is a work that the composer wrote in 1951 while he was in Chania, which was subsequently lost and which Tatiana Papageorgiou unearthed after doctoral research at a British University.
“Crete was a redemptive place for me then,” noted the composer, who chose to go to Chania after his release from Makronissos and all the suffering he experienced there. “It is also a great source of inspiration for his work. At that time he wrote many works for symphony orchestras and classical ensembles that were inspired by Crete,” Tatiana Papageorgiou pointed out. One of them was the “Cretan Concerto”, in a Cretan syrto rhythm, which he played with the Chania Symphony Orchestra. There is even a documentary photograph of the orchestra, which the composer showed us during the rehearsal”. Since then, the “Cretan Concerto” is being performed for the first time, 66 years later, in a new form and with a new orchestration by Tatiana Papageorgiou, now on 4 December at the Pallas Theater in a spectacular symphonic version with the Kiev Symphony Orchestra.
“Crete, with its steely rhythms, carries the heroic history and the struggles of the Greeks”, as the composer himself notes, and symbolizes in his music dynamism and optimism. Crete for Miki is not only a place of origin, but a place that takes on multiple symbolism in his work.
“Zorba”
The monumental “Zorba”, which will be presented in the second part of the programme, also inspired by Crete, represents the universality of Mikis Theodorakis, as it is a recognizable work that is admired and appreciated internationally. Besides, Archipelagos also contains elements of Cretan tradition and the spirit of Aegean music, in music and lyrics. These include the song “Anamientos Syros y Tzia” with poetry by Odysseus Elytis. Expressive, joyful, touching songs, on the opposite side of the steel rhythms that represent the Crete of tenderness and emotion. Among them also the very popular song “Abduction” (“I will take a boat, my little heart”) with which Mikis Theodorakis won the first prize at the Thessaloniki Song Festival in 1961 with Mary Linda as the singer. At that time it was performed with Manolis Chiotis on bouzouki and with a Symphony Orchestra, something very innovative for the time. Something that will happen now at the Pallas Theater with the Symphony Orchestra of the Kiev National Opera under the direction of Oleksiy Baklan.
The soloist on bouzouki in “Zorba” is the great virtuoso of the new generation Thanasis Vasilas, a long-time collaborator of both Mary Linda and Mikis Theodorakis.
The concert, due to the celebration of the International Day of People with Disabilities (3/12), is being held in cooperation with the Panhellenic Paraplegic Association, to which the proceeds will be donated.
WORKS: Zorba, Archipelagos, Cretan Concerto