Today and tomorrow, we will be honouring the memory of a colossal poet from Chile who died on September 23, 1973. Pablo Neruda marked not only world poetry but also the Greek song, as his verse was set to music by leading composers. So, today’s destination? Canto General, by Neruda and Mikis Theodorakis, w...
21 September marks the United Nations International Day of Peace — a moment for reflection and a renewed commitment to the highest of values: peace. At the “Musical Suburbs” stop of "Greek Music Express", we honour this day by listening to anti-war songs drawn from a wide range of artists.
From Giann...
This episode is dedicated to the poetry of Manolis Anagnostakis set to music. There are two reasons for this tribute: the centenary of the poet’s birth this year, and the publication of the volume “Manolis Anagnostakis in Song: Yet I Never Admitted Defeat”, released by Metronomos Publications
Produced and p...
Today, we will be celebrating Invisible Cities, the masterpiece written by my favourite author, Italo Calvino, who died exactly 40 years ago, on September 19, 1985. And we will be also listening to instrumentals by three exceptional composers, Elias Mastoris, Giorgos Stavrianos, Marios Strofalis, inspired...
Greek Music Express, the English-language music program of Voice of Greece, makes a weekend stop at “Musical Suburbs” speaking Greek!Following the same approach –tributes to prominent figures, movements, and themes of Greek song– driven by the same love for music and its people, hosted by Hercules Economo...
Today’s GME is dedicated to Pavlos Fyssas, the musician who was killed by members of a neo-Nazi criminal gang exactly 12 years ago, on September 18, 2013. Dimitris Mystakidis, Active Member, Giorgos Tsigos, Koinoi Thnitoi, Giannis Koutras and Yperastikoi are some of the artists who, today, will be r...
Today, we will be introducing ourselves to the exciting ideas and songs of Greece’s most explicitly political lyricist, who was born exactly 72 years ago, on September 16, 1953. His vision? “Singing is not about expressing yourself individually. When you write, you cannot start with your own experience. It ...
Giannoulis Halepas, who died exactly 87 years ago on September 15, 1938, is widely regarded as Greece’s greatest sculptor. He came from the island of Tinos and a family of famous marble cutters and sculptors. Halepas studied at the School of Arts in Athens and, in 1873, he left for Munich, under a s...
Throughout the week that ends today, we explored the work of some very talented and perhaps less advertised singers-songwriters who recently released personal albums of theirs and who definitely deserve our attention. Born in the neighborhood of Kesariani in 1987, Vassilis Korakakis has collaborated...
Today, we are honouring the memory of an outstanding rock singer-songwriter who sadly died six years ago, on September 9, 2019. Our destination - the best live recordings of Lavrentis Maheritsas – will remind us of the talent and the sensitivity of an influential artist who stood at the crossroads o...
Nasos Matrakas is one of the most interesting singer-songwriters of a slightly older generation, having first appeared in the discography in 1994. Thankfully, he continues to offer his knowledge and his talent to today's artistic reality. As for Stavros Stavridis, the number 1 element that captivates...
Today, we will be enjoying a rather predictable partnership between Greek rock and the theme of streets and roads. Why predictable? Because the roads contain all the mystery, the dynamism, the freedom found in rock. They are unexpected, unknown, noisy and burning, just like our rock songs are. From...
Today, we will be enjoying a rather predictable partnership between Greek rock and the theme of streets and roads. Why predictable? Because the roads contain all the mystery, the dynamism, the freedom found in rock. They are unexpected, unknown, noisy and burning, just like our rock songs are. From...
Roads are a permanent theme of Greek popular song; they represent fate, motion, life itself, with its multiple options and choices, its dilemmas, its dead ends, its fresh starts. Roads can be wide but they can also be narrow, tired and tiring, straight or with obstructions, empty and closed. And those...
Antonis Vardis was a major composer and singer-songwriter who sadly passed away on September 2, 2014, at the age of just 66. In his massive 40-year career, he collaborated with several major singers, including George Dalaras, Vassilis Papakonstantinou, Haroula Alexiou, Christina Maragozi, Manolis Lidakis...
Throughout the week that starts today, here at GME, we will be exploring the theme of streets and roads and other urban paths in Greek music. Today, we start with a tribute to the streets of Athens. Why? Well, because I somehow miss urban songs, i.e. songs that contain references to urban themes and...
Undoubtedly, Stelios Kazantzidis and Sotiria Bellou became famous thanks to their contribution to folk, popular song. However, it is interesting to note that art-song composers also entrusted them with their creations; from Mikis Theodorakis to Elias Andriopoulos and from Manos Hadjidakis to Dionysis...
Stelios used to say: “My homeland has been tyrannizing me, torturing me since I was a three-month-old baby. It is one of the reasons why I sing with pain, because I sing for myself first and then for the world”. Sotiria had her own fair share of persecution and hardship, starting with the abuse tha...
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