Kate

Σαββόπουλος will be performing in London on 30 January 2018 https://store.unionchapel.org.uk/events/2018-01-30-dionysis-savvopoulos-union-chapel I'll be there (as long as both of us are still alive by then..)

I have a ticket to give away if anyone wants it. Please PM me and I'll send it by email. I booked as soon as Anna posted the link without checking my diary and it turns out I have an important family get together that day.....

I saw this last night and can't recommend it highly enough (and many thanks to Anna for telling me about it). I missed it at New Year so had to come back to see it (well not just for that but if I'd known just how good it was I probably would done). Everything about it was brilliant - and it runs until the end of February

First I think we should clear up the point about members of the audience leaving early. They did, in very large numbers, and it was something I’ve never seen before at Irotheio. It was almost entirely people from the upper tier, so those of you sitting in the lower, numbered, seats would have missed it. I can’t say why they left because I didn’t ask them. All I know is that every time Dulce Pontes started another seemingly interminable song in the second half of the concert a fresh wave of the exodus started. It stopped when Dalaras eventually came back on stage. Otherwise I agree with almost everything Kapetanios has said about the concert.

Καλή διασκέδαση απόψε Νικόλα

I have a ticket to give away as I can't make the concert tonight. If anyone would like to use it please send me a pm.

What an extraordinary two evenings. The first really great, and the second even better. First, the venue was nearly perfect. For being so accessible – right opposite the Κεραμεικός metro station - for not being too expensive and for creating such an intimate atmosphere in a relatively large space. I only know a few songs from the new album so it was great hearing many of them for the first time, and I loved especially ‘Αριστερόχειρη’ I have to say I’m not quite sure what to make of Μπάμπαλη. She’s a singer I like very much, though somewhat improbably discover about every six weeks or so. It goes like this. I listen to Μελοδία, usually when I’m working at the computer and every few weeks I hear a song I really like. So I look it up on ‘stixoi.info’ and discover that it’s called ‘Μοίρα μου έγινες’ by a singer called Ανδριάνα Μπάμπαλη. I think ‘Right, I’ll remember that’, but I don’t. So few weeks later I hear the song again, and go through the same process… and so on and so on. But I think now the name will stick. Anyway, I loved her interpretation of ‘Μοίρα μου έγινες’ and ‘Εισαι εσύ ο ανθρωπός μου’ but not, I’m afraid her first song with Dalaras (don’t know the title). Dalaras has an almost magical ability to sing with, under, over and around other voices to create the most perfect harmony, but this time it didn’t happen, not for me at least. Perhaps this was some special harmony that I didn’t understand. But that wasn’t important, because these were truly magical nights. Random highlights were: ‘Παραπονεμένα λόγια’ for Ελευθερίου on Saturday brought me the closest I could ever get to being at Ορφέας (without the help of Ο "κυριούλης"!) – something which especially in the early years I desperately wished I’d been able to do. ‘Να με θυμάσαι’ took me back to a summer night at Ηρώδειο with Σέμσης playing in the orchestra, and ‘Πεπρωμένο’ to Ζγγός when after hours of standing at the bar I finally sat on the floor, listened to what sounded like the whole audience sing this song and decided it could easily be Greece’s second national anthem. And then there was the forceful reminder of just what a consummate performer and musician Dalaras is. I confess I would have given the price of my ticket just to hear the last two songs on Saturday. First ‘Los Garceros’, a wonderful ensemble performance with a brilliant and powerful life force. This surprised me because I’ve never much liked the Latin album. I had a clue, but didn’t quite understand, what the problem was a few years ago when I was totally knocked out by ‘Una moneda le di’ at Megaro. Now I realise that the CD is somehow too careful and deferential and that these wonderful songs have to be heard live to be fully appreciated.. . Finally there was the heartbreaking beauty of ‘Μοιρολόι’. It’s hard to talk about because the power of music like this to unlock the deepest emotions is so difficult to explain or understand. Altogether an amazing weekend, that I’ll be reliving for a long time to come. Thank you so much Anna, Alona and Μάρω for helping with the memories.

Just found this in my inbox. Ticket now booked! VIENNA THEODORAKIS CLASSICS IN VIENNA! Mikis Theodorakis is coming to Vienna! On December 14th, 2012, Mikis Theodorakis (87 on July 29, 2012) will be present at the Vienna Konzerthaus, when his longtime friend and colleague Alexandros Karozas, the great Theodorakis' singer Maria Farantouri, the Vienna Chamber Orchestra conducted by Stefan Vladar and the Choir of the Vienna Sing Academy will perform some of his most important works. It was the idea of composer Alexandros Karozas, who produced the most of the recordings of the symphonic Theodorakis works, that could encourage "the grand old man" Mikis Theodorakis to agree with his last trip abroad. Let's enjoy once again, in this world's only performance, the unique enchanting personality of Mikis Theodorakis and his work.

As Dalaras and the musicians will be performing in Israel shortly before the Beirut concert I'm assuming that special arrangements have been made for them. So they won't need warning. However any ordinary person wanting to enter Lebanon who has an Israeli stamp in their passport runs the risk of being refused entry, even if they have a visa. So it seemed a possibility that someone reading this forum might be planning to go to the Beirut concert, have an Israeli stamp on their passport and not be aware of the problems it could cause. Hence the warning. I'm sorry you seem to think it's funny.

Just a word of caution. I've been checking the rules for getting a tourist visa for the Lebanon, and they won't give you one if your passport shows evidence of having visited Israel. Hopefully everyone else who's been there remembered (as I didn't) to get the entry stamp on a separate piece of paper. Seems a bit harsh as the only reason I visited Israel was to see Dalaras! I haven't been able to check but I'm assuming that restriction doesn't just apply to visitors from the UK.

Wow! I've only just noticed this. This is brilliant news And I love the way Dalaras structures my travel plans - I'd never thought of visiting Lebanon and now I know it's exactly where I want to go.

I'm completely devastated by this news, even though I knew - because of his health problems - that it was likely to happen. I'm so grateful for his marvellous music and that I was able to see him perform several times. A wonderful human being and a great artist He will be sorely missed but his legend and spirit will live on.

Αλκίνοος has recently done some concerts in the UK, and did an interesting interview on Radio 4. I particularly liked his comments on corruption in the UK . (If this link doesn't start with his interview it starts at around 15 minutes). http://www.bbc.co.uk...onsole/b01dtvsm

Having just watched the videos of this concert I have to say that I can't think of any performer, anywhere (whether they be musician, politician or whatever) who would deal with this kind of attack with such dignity, courage and determination. Not just a great musician, but a truly great man

This is a name that’s being knocking around in the back of my head for years. If asked to say who he was I’d have struggled, even though he wrote songs for 'Ο άσφαλτος..' and I think I saw him performing with Kotsiras a few years ago. Anyway all that changed a couple of weeks ago when I turned on the radio to hear 'Το παλιό ξενοδοχείο του θανάτου' that just knocked me out. I found it was from a new CD/album ‘Τι υπάρχει πιο πέρα;’ and since I’m in Athens this week decided to buy it. Easy I thought. How last century could I be! It turns out that while I wasn’t looking CDs have been replaced with downloads and CD shops are becoming an endangered species. Anyway after three days searching I finally found it. My conclusion is that I love half the tracks and find the other half rather boring. So what? It’s still a great album in my view. This is my favourite song at the moment. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bjuJD6rT1II