Mikis Theodorakis: A Trilogy

The three-year Mikis Theodorakis cycle continues at the GNO Alternative Stage with three iconic song cycles by the important composer, in collaboration with the distinctive Vamos ensemble from Crete, prominent GNO bass Tassos Apostolou and acclaimed vocalist Anna Koti.

The Mauthausen cycle, written and recorded in 1965-66 and based on the devastating lyrics by Iakovos Kambanellis, himself an erstwhile inmate of the notorious concentration camp, remains to our day an international symbol of post-war humanism – an irresistible hymn to life and love under impossible circumstances, that inextricably linked Theodorakis’ music to the voice of Maria Farantouri.

The sui generis “trilogy” continues with The Deserters, the first complete Theodorakis song cycle, written in the mid-50s on lyrics by the composers’ younger brother, Yannis Theodorakis, and recorded in 1961 with the voice of the composer himself.

The programme closes with the cycle Romancero gitano, based on seven poetic translations by Odysseus Elytis of Gypsy-themed songs by Federico García Lorca. The work was written for the singer Arleta in the beginning of 1967, right before the start of the military dictatorship, on account of which it was finally recorded in Paris in 1970, again with Maria Farantouri.

All three works are presented in new arrangements by Thanassis Papathanassiou showcasing the particular sound of Vamos, a multi-member ensemble founded in Chania in 2013 with an already important presence in the Crete music scene. The ensemble approaches musical idioms from across the world through its very special sound that combines folk instruments, such as the Cretan lyra, with Western orchestral instruments.