Posted August 9, 2001 · Report post Hi all Nikolas asked that we start a new thread on the songs for Cyprus. Has this topic was about my last reply. I shall begin first with my top favorite 9 1. "H Diki Mou H Patrida" from Foni Patridas cd 2. "Edo Ki Eki" from Foni Patridas cd 3. "Karteroymen" from Ton Athanaton cd 4. "Xenoi" from Ton Athanaton cd 5. "Hroon Yh" from Ton Athanaton cd 6. "Yirismos" from Es Yhn Enalian Kypron cd 7. "Ayapi Dxasmeni" from Es Yhn Enalian Kypron cd 8. "Prosfyia" from Es Yhn Enalian Kypron cd 9. "Loyariasate lathos" from Es Yhn Enalian Kypron cd Dalaras sings all these songs with such beauty and pathos. His vibrato here is smooth just like that famous slogan, "that honey-lemon" voice. Honey has in that smooth soft vibrato of his and Lemon for when he is ready to bellow it out, he can hit those high notes really strong and project his voice like NO ONE else! Dalaras must have a 4-5 octave range? Saranti have you ever asked Dalaras what his range is? What ever it is I'm certain Dalaras could sing all parts of an ensemble chorus such as: the Alto, Tenor, Soprano, and of course Bass Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted August 9, 2001 · Report post Christo I can very hardly select any top songs from that class. I like them all, except "Eimaste Ellines" which I hate... Anyway, if I had to make a selection, I would of course include: 1.Logariasate lathos 2.Girismos 3.Agapi dihasmeni 4.Ammohostos 5.O nekros stratiotis 6.Mana 7.Tou Vagori 8.Iroon gi 9.Xenoi 10.I diki mou i patrida 11.Edo ki ekei 12.Stigmes tis isvolis in random order and in fact all the other songs.. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted August 9, 2001 · Report post Christo, you beat me to it!! Having lived in Cyprus now for 19 years, I really love all the songs Dalaras sings for Cyprus and have to agree that he sings them with more passion than any other singer - Cypriot or Greek. My house is on the border and from my bed I can look out of the window and see Famagusta, where my husband is from. It's very sad, sometimes when the weather is clear you can almost reach out and touch it. At the bottom of my garden is the defence trench for the army, and nearby the UN and Greek / Turkish guard houses. I don't know if any of you have seen Dalaras sing here but when he does and everyone joins in, the emotions are just amazing - you can feel it sparking in the air. Everyone giving their all!!!! I have to honest that I prefer to hear him sing here than in London or Athens, where I have also heard him. There is a special bond between Dalaras and Cyprus and it shows when he sings here. I can't really pick my top songs, as Nikolas says he likes them all (except one that I agree with you I don't like either). Probably my favorite three are "Logariasate Lathos", "Ammochostos" and "Mana". Maybe one day Dalaras will be able to sing here in Famagusta and we can all meet up - what a party that would be!!!!!!!!! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted August 9, 2001 · Report post Concerning Dalaras' voice range: He really is not a bass singer. He would not be able to sing bass in choires. Probably his voice is somewhere between a baryton and a tenor, most likely a tenor, at least he was a tenor early in his career. Also, I would be very surprised if he has a range of more than 2-2.5 octaves, since I haven't heard him take lower notes than Bb nor higher than g# (of course, I have not listened to all of his recordings), although I am sure he can expand a little bit down, perhaps to G and of course upwards, say to a c. This is if he don't sing falsetto, where he maybe can expand another 0.5 octaves if he is not a very good falsetto singer. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted August 9, 2001 · Report post Christo, to answer your questions:"Saranti have you ever asked Dalaras what his range is? " no, i never asked him that question or about any of his Albums or CD's..I know that he is a very humble,modest person and i did not want to ask him any questions about himself so not to put him on the spot to talk about himself as relating to his music career or singing.I thought this might make him uncomfortable.I do know that he takes much more pride in his instrument playing than his singing.Although he is an incredible singer with a great range,he works extermely hard to be an incredible guitarist,bouzouki player,baglama,etc.. .In fact the thing that brought us together was the fact that he loves instrument and i too play guitar and have a large guitar collection.I have over 60 rare,collectible,vintage instruments and this peaked his ineterest....thats another story for another day though........ Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted August 9, 2001 · Report post Physically, Dalaras is not a very very big voice. Dalaras himself admits it in an interview. But he has worked so much with it and his voice is really generous, it fills the place he sings so easily. Besides, what makes Dalaras' voice extraordinary is not the range but the tone-color. Live, Dalaras' voice has a bigger range than in studio. I do believe it. He takes power from the audience maybe. Andreas is true about his youth, Dalaras was more like a tenor and he (Dalaras) gives the example of the song "Fortothika tis tipsis mou) of Kaldaras, in which Kaldaras sang as a second voice to cover the low notes that Dalaras didn't have as a 21 years old boy. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted August 9, 2001 · Report post Nikola,excellent point,i beleave that Dalaras singing live is more powerful than on CD....And anther great point is that its not the range or quality of Dalarases voice its the fire and passion in whitch he presents a song...Rememver Bob Dylan had a poor voice but he presented his songs with his passion and flavor...Anyways,as i said before Dalaras takes much more pride in his instrument palying than his singing. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted August 9, 2001 · Report post His voice, oh his voice... His beautiful, BEAUTIFUL voice! Thanks Andreas, I had been wondering, call it tenor or baryton? so it is between... It is not the range that does it. He never forces it to the limits anyway. In fact he never forces his voice at all. It just always sounds completely natural - he makes it sound so easy!!!!! So #### easy!!! Also imho it is the perfect range for songs to sing along to. With a proper tenor I can never get the high notes and with a proper baryton I can't follow the low - Dalaras is never a problem (in the 'singable' songs of course!!). He is not very loud either. He puts it all into passion and intensity, not volume - how many singers have the (self-)control to do that? And going for volume makes voices sound either strained, or "artificial" (as in opera - which I love but which is a different world). His singing technique, by the way, in almost unheard of among pop singers. Most of them just ruin whatever voice they have - he has consistently improved his... I really, really love to hear him as soloist over a choir, by the way. I don't think he has done that many such recordings, it is not his "usual", but I really love those I have. This is all dreadfully off-topic btw. Sorry. The on-topic songs are still on my shopping list, not yet on the cd-shelf - so please go on talking, so I'll know what to get first! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted August 10, 2001 · Report post alking about songs related to Cyprus. Who has the lyrics of "Eimaste Ellhnes (1974) which is the #08 track of "Is gyn enalian kypron" It is not part of other pages on this site. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted August 10, 2001 · Report post Odyseus, I will post the lyrics under "Looking for a song". Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted August 11, 2001 · Report post Andreas I'm afraid I will disagree with you here. Unless, you have all the recordings of Dalaras or at least most of them and have seen him several times live in Concert, you cannot make this hypothesis nor claim any solid evidence to support your theory. There are so many songs just to name a few where Dalaras projects his voice on hitting those real high notes. Examples are: Ine Ti, THelo Na Ta Po, Anastanazo, and several others. Not too many artist can sing like that and still sound good without going into Falsetto! Heck just look at that IERA ODOS II cd where he is singing opera next to Frangoulis, He's practically as good as those 3 famous tenors: Domingo, Carreras and Pavorotti. So I will disagree with you completely. Perhaps I was exaggerating a little bit on the ocative range though. Maybe its more reasonable to accept Dalaras has a 3-4 octave range. But 2-2.5 NO WAY! Then Frankie Vali and Julio Iglesias don't even have that and their voice can't even project near 1/4 has good as Dalaras. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted August 14, 2001 · Report post I just want to go back to "songs for Cyprus" In summer 1998 there was a documentary at German tv: "Cyprus, Aphrodite's divided island" The film started with the view you have from the driving car along the coast...and music started...and then you hear Dalaras' voice: " Λένε πως ο άνθρωπος πρέπει την πατρίδα ν'αγαπά " The reporter says: Pictures from a divided island, Cyprus 1998, 24 years sorrow, grief, pain, hate on both sides between Greeks and Turkish. This song, an expression of totured feelings, the lyrics made by a Turkish woman, the music made by a Greek man. They bring the translation into German: " Sie sagen man muss sein Heimatland lieben dass sagt auch oft mein Vater doch mein Heimatland ist zweigeteilt welchen Teil soll ich denn nun lieben?" They show cuttings from 1974, photos from now, talk about the missing people and about what had happened and what's happening now. You still hear the song in the background, sometimes a little more loud: " Η δική μου η πατρίδα έχει μοιραστεί στα δυό ποιό από τα δυό κομμάτια πρέπει ν'αγαπώ;" This was the first time I heard this song. I like it, because it's so simple. It's just a little song, only a few words, but they say so much... And as I'm writing about Cyprus. In Oct. 1999 I did a trip from Larnaca to Lefkosia. As the bus stopped at a crossing, I was looking through the window. I saw a house, the half of it on one side, from the 1st floor until the ground was covered by a Dalaras poster!!! Lynne, is this yours?? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted August 14, 2001 · Report post Anna Maybe it is Lynne's but probably not! In Cyprus they really adore Dalaras. Dalaras said once that the biggest 'return' he had from his concerts dedicated to Cyprus was something he saw written on a wall in Nikosia. "Dalaras = Human" Maybe in Greece some people don't like Dalaras is involved in this issue but I am sure Cypriots know better... Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted August 15, 2001 · Report post Anna, No it's not my house and I don't where it is even, and probably my husband would divorce me if I decided to put a poster over the side of the house!!! I live a hour away from Nicosia at the east end of the island near Famagusta. Yesterday was the anniversary of the second phase of the invasion of 74 where bombs were dropped on Famagusta. I was sick in bed and I watched some TV in the afternoon where they showed a lot of programmes about this and most them play Dalaras singing songs about Cyprus at the beginning and end - he is the main singer for the songs that everyone here knows and loves. although other poeple sing them everyone knows his versions best. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted August 21, 2001 · Report post The highest note in Thelo na ta po is really just a g sharp (or possibly a g) if I remember correctly. Actually I had listened to just that recording just before I expressed my opinion. Of course, since I have not listened to all recordings, I can no be sure of his range, but I am an experienced singer with a great interest in all kind of music and I have not yet met anyone with a range of more than in extreme cases 3 octaves, and they were all very low bass singers (and since we all know bass singers have greater range than tenors). So no talk of 4 octaves please. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted August 13, 2002 · Report post I just want to go back to "songs for Cyprus"<p>In summer 1998 there was a documentary at German tv: "Cyprus, Aphrodite's divided island"<p>The film started with the view you have from the driving car along the coast...and music started...and then you hear Dalaras' voice:<p>" Λένε πως ο άνθρωπος πρέπειτην πατρίδα ν'αγαπά "<p>The reporter says: Pictures from a divided island, Cyprus 1998, 24 years sorrow, grief, pain, hate on both sides between Greeks and Turkish. This song, an expression of totured feelings, the lyrics made by a Turkish woman, the music made by a Greek man.<p>They bring the translation into German: " Sie sagen man muss sein Heimatland lieben dass sagt auch oft mein Vater doch mein Heimatland ist zweigeteilt welchen Teil soll ich denn nun lieben?"<p>They show cuttings from 1974, photos from now, talk about the missing people and about what had happened and what's happening now. You still hear the song in the background, sometimes a little more loud:<p>" Η δική μου η πατρίδα έχει μοιραστεί στα δυό ποιό από τα δυό κομμάτια πρέπει ν'αγαπώ;"<p>This was the first time I heard this song. I like it, because it's so simple. It's just a little song, only a few words, but they say so much Almost one year ago! And it really took me some time to find this topic! Actual I feel a bit uncomfortable quoting my own post, but this one deserves it. And as I read yesterday in the 'Athener Zeitung' an article, concerning Neshe Yashin, the Turkish Cypriot woman, who wrote the lyrics of the song 'Η δική μου η πατρίδα' I finally had to do it! The article is called: 'Three passports and a heart filled with poetics', written by Dorothee Pilavas. Of course it's written in German, and as I'm not this good with translations, I just give the most important and most confusing.....Europe 2002? Since 28 years the 'Green line' separates Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots. The Cypriots are not allowed to cross this border. Neshe Yashin was born 1959 in Peristerona, a small village in the southern part of Cyprus. Both, Turkish and Greek inhabitants, living together in peace and harmony. Some years later, Neshe was 6, the argues started, and her and her family had to leave the village and had to go to the northern part of cyprus. And finally in 1974, after the invasion of the Turkish armed troups, all the Greek cypriots had to go to the south. Since that time both groups have to live separate. Neshe Yashin decided to go back, ti live together with Greek Cypriots, although she doesn't speak their language. The reason for her decision is, with her presence in the southern part of the island, she wants to force the reunion and the understanding between both groups. She's very busy and involved with projects concerning this problem, does commentaries to a radoi show, which is broadcasted to both parts of the island and within her poetics, she always points out the conflict of Cyprus. But Neshe Yashin, who lives in the south of Lefkosia ( the only city which is still divided ), she never forgets her people in the northern part of Cyprus. But if she wants to visit them, she needs three passports, three flights and a whole day to do! First she has to go from Lefkosia to Larnaca in the south of Cyprus and taking the plane to Athens. For this journey she needs the passport of the Republic of Cyprus, which all Turkish Cypriots get, as they are still ( according to the constitution of 1960) inhabitants of Cyprus. From Athens she goes to Istanbul ar Ankara. Entering Turkey, she has to show her Turkish passport, as owners of a passport of the Republic of Cyprus are not allowed to come in. The last trip, to the airport Ercan in the northern part of Cyprus, she has to go with Turkish Airways, as this is the only airline, which goes to the ( only recognized by Turkey ) Turkish Republic of NorthCyprus. And here she has to show her passport of the Turkish Republic of NorthCyprus. After this long journey with about 2.500km, when she's finally together with her friends in the north of the town Lefkosia, she's only a hundred meters away from her appartement in the south of Lefkosia! 'λένε πως ο άνθρωπος πρέπει την πατρίδα ν'αγαπά' Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted August 13, 2002 · Report post "Fortothika tis tipsis mou) of Kaldaras, in which Kaldaras sang as a second voice to cover the low notes that Dalaras didn't have as a 21 years old boy. "Fortothika tis tipsis mou"... You mentioned one of my beloved Kaldaras' songs, thanks! And, even if the palikaraki Dalaras didn't sing the lower notes (I didn't even notice it...), never mind. Anna, you are right, this "Dalaras=Anthropos" (Mousiko kouti), says everything what can be told in the Cyprus topic. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted August 13, 2002 · Report post Olga, I think you're mixing up two songs! The one I'm talking about is called 'Η δική μου η πατρίδα' from the CD' φωνή πατρίδας' by Mario Tokas!! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted August 13, 2002 · Report post Suddenly I remembered the day the wall of Berlin came down. I'm not given to optimism as a rule, but this is proof: it can be done. It can be done. Costing far too much time and suffering, but it can be done... Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted August 14, 2002 · Report post Ann,a yes, it was twice Nikolas and not you! "The wall", Geeske, so right! And perhaps there will come one day, where the young Cypriots from Larnaca would give again their tape recorders to repair in Famagusta (I read such a text of a young Berlin man, as he, from Prenzlauer Berg gave the one to Neukoelln and - the next day could not pick it up any more... Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted August 14, 2002 · Report post I know many people associate the song Ομορφη και παράξενή πατρίδα specifically with Cyprus, and I can't discover the least hint, in the lyrics, that justifies this. In fact, as far as I understand it, it's widely, universally applicable... So, how come this connection to Cyprus? Only because Dalaras sang it best in that context? Or is there another reason? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted August 14, 2002 · Report post I know many people associate the song Ομορφη και παράξενή πατρίδα specifically with Cyprus Yes, this is what Lynne told me, too!! I don't know if it's true, maybe she can tell us! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted July 26, 2005 · Report post Where can I find the translation for the song "Tou Vagori"? Franz Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted July 26, 2005 · Report post I'll do my best but I don't promise, it's full of Cypriot Greek which I don't know......... Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted July 26, 2005 · Report post Danke Geske ! Es hat keine Eile!! Gruß Franz Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
