Greece - Korina Miller [43]
After WWII a new wave of rembetika performers and composers emerged, including Vasilis Tsitsanis, Apostolos Kaldaras, Yiannis Papaioannou, Georgos Mitsakis and Apostolos Hatzihristou; one of the greatest female rembetika singers, Sotiria Bellou, also appeared at this time. Their music later morphed into lighter laïka (urban folk music), with the lyrics reflecting more social and sentimental themes. It was played in bigger clubs with electrified orchestras, losing much of the essence of the original music.
Rembetika’s anti-authoritarian themes made the genre popular among political exiles and left-wing activists during the junta years.
Interest in genuine rembetika was revived in the late 1970s to early ’80s – particularly among students and intellectuals, and it continues to be popular today.
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CONTEMPORARY & POP MUSIC
All of the different Greek musical styles are still heard today, with most leading performers drawing on rembetika, laïka and regional music at some stage in their careers. Comparatively few Greek performers have made it big on the international scene – 1970s icons Nana Mouskouri and kaftan-wearing Demis Roussos remain the best known.
Greek music veteran George Dalaras has covered the gamut of Greek music and collaborated with Latin and Balkan artists, as well as Sting, while Dionysis Savopoulos is known as the Dylan of Greece. Distinguished women of Greek music include Haris Alexiou, Glykeria, Dimitra Galani and Eleftheria Arvanitaki.
Contemporary Greek music also includes elements of folk rock, heavy metal, rap and electronic dance music, as well as a host of music that fits no established category, reflecting a strong underground music scene. The pop-rock band Raining Pleasure is breaking into Europe with English lyrics.
Stand-out new-generation artists include Cypriot-born ‘modern troubadour’ Alkinoos Ioannides, with his brand of rocky folk-inspired songs and ballads, as well as singer-songwriters Thanasis Papakonstantinou, Dimitris Zervoudakis and Miltiadis Pashalidis.
Acclaimed vocal artist Savina Yannatou, along with ethnic jazz fusion artists Kristi Stasinopoulou and Mode Plagal, are making a mark on the world-music scene, while other notable musicians include the band Haïnides and guitarist Ahilleas Persidis.
Greece’s answer to Madonna is Anna Vissi, while the youth vote was firmly with pop idol Mihalis Hatziyiannis and Greek-Swedish singer Elena Paparizou, who claimed Greece’s first-ever Eurovision Song Contest win in 2005 (a feat heart-throb Sakis Rouvas failed to repeat in his two attempts). The big laïka performers include Yiannis Ploutarhos and Antonis Remos, while siren Despina Vandi has broken into the US dance charts.
During summer you can see Greece’s leading acts in outdoor concerts around the country. In winter they perform in clubs in Athens and Thessaloniki. The popular nightclubs known as bouzoukia are glitzy, expensive, cabaret-style venues where the bouzouki reigns supreme. Musical taste can sometimes takes a back seat in second-rate clubs referred to as skyladhika or dog houses – apparently because the crooning singers resemble a whining dog.
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The comprehensive www.rebetiko.gr has an extensive discography and database of more than 2500 songs, while Matt Barrett gives a history and personal guide to the main players in modern Greek music at www.greektravel.com/music/index.html.
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CLASSICAL MUSIC
For a nation without a strong classical Western tradition, Greece has spawned a surprisingly formidable list of soloists and conductors, many of whom lived abroad.
Sopranos Elena Kelessidi and Irini Tsirakidou are following in the footsteps of original