Traditional Greek music and more on Museum Day

This weekend, the Traditional Greek Folk Instruments Museum in Plaka, celebrates Museum Day. This is a good chance for the children and the young at heart to learn more about Greek traditions in music with guided tours of the museum by renowned exprerts.

Warning: No fun in the sun for eurovisionary Greece

WARNING: A country in financial crisis should be punished and should NOT participate in any international events. Sadly, this is what many Greeks (and foreigners) believe should be the case in this day and age of a modern Greece seen (and in so many cases intentionally depicted by the international media) as going down the drain of history with its people jobless, its foreigners facing racism and its children starving. And yet is in not in the poorest of countries that the greatest art forms emerged? Do we not dance (or wish we could) the sensual salsa of a communist Cuba today across the globe? Does the pulsing samba, born in the favelas of Brazil, not take our breath away (and offer a feast for the eyes) during Mardi Gras? Isn’t Diego Maradona from one of the world crisis’ most recent victims? And yet, if I am not mistaken… Brazil, Cuba and Argentina have produced some of the world’s greatest music, dances, athletes and writers….

This said; the by now customary disputes (and their obstinate advocates) over whether Greece should participate in the 58^th Eurovision Song Contest, to take place in Sweden’s Malmo in May, have once again reared their ugly heads. And yet strangely enough these very same adversaries of the need of this flamboyant song contest dare not speak a word about the infinite meetings in boring Brussels and elsewhere across the globe, where we - the very same taxpayers that pay for public broadcaster ERT - pay for the freshly baked croissants, freshly squeezed orange juice, fine grain coffee and shiny limos, not to mention airplane fare and the lavish Ritz Carlton-styled hotels, for our politicians (who got us into this mess in the first place) to agree that Greece is yes, poor, ill-disciplined and deserves to suffer?

So let me get this right… as a country that is now selling off its last remaining assets to our “caring” lenders, we its suffering people do not deserve to have fun, listen to music, send our athletes to international sporting events but we do have to pay out of our empty pockets to watch our lying “collaborating” politicians travel the globe to meet up with the loan sharks (pardon, I meant lenders) to announce formally that we are bankrupt.

Well, much to the dismay of the Greeks (and foreigners) who support this Protestant-styled idea of punishment and penance, art and music will emerge stronger from this crisis even if it has to start through a simplistic song contest that many feel is a disgrace to music. Whatever the case, Greece is participating in the Eurovision song contest this year, and rightfully so.

The event is being organized by MAD TV - a Greek music channel that has for the past two decades successfully for the most part (and by Greek standards) played the role of a Greek-styled MTV. And yes, there are sponsors.

The four contestants - as diverse as they could be, this is Greece after all and everyone has something to say (or sing) - will perform on Monday, February 18 and a panel of judges (paid by public TV- that’s us) together with the viewers’ tele-vote will select the song that will represent this country, that has not yet dropped off the face of the earth, on May 18 in Malmo.

The groups and artists vying for a place on the Swedish stage are:

The Thessaloniki-based rembetika group Koza Mostra and Agathonas with the Balkan-tinged “Alcohol Is Free” - in efforts to get our creditors so drunk that they will eventually see the light. Of course, in crisis-era Greece nothing is free… but oh well. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WsHdCjLnWtA

Nightclub chanteuse and grand-daughter of one of Greece’s supreme laika singers, Kaiti Grey http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o6iAckk6LKo (having failed to inherit gran’s talent and personality), Angeliki Iliadi will perform the laiko-pop tsifteteli  “1,000 & One Nights”… of the hunger our lenders have promised us… just to bring us back to reality. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wEhscYujD30

Sexy Thomais Apergi, straight off the Aegean island of Tinos,delivers a sensual “One Last Kiss”…  hopefully in efforts to lure our lenders into a ménage a trois – Greece, the IMF and the EU – that will change our predicament.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RKpy4f4Aj8s

Innovative radio producer, DJ and composer Alex Leon and Giorgina, the daughter of the brilliant ’60s singer Tammy http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x8oqgFV2WOA - call upon an “Angel”… to save us no doubt from the dark days of doom that our friends, neighbours and allies – all in good will, of course, and out of thoughtfulness - remind us is drawing near. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KfYHr6qyQSo

The Greek final will be hosted by actor Yiorgos Kapoutzidis and MAD TV’s “flagship” artist Despina Vandi and will be broadcast by public broadcaster ET1 on Monday, February 18.

From there, the winner will head to chilly Sweden to represent this poor but proud Mediterranean country in the 58th Eurovision Song Contest on Saturday, May 18, among 38 other countries - many rich, many poor and some, just like us a few years back, on the brink of joining Europe’s neo povera.

‘Kalanta’: A Greek Christmas carol

“Hionia sto kabanario, pou Christougenna simainoun…” (Snow on the bell tower mark the coming of Christmas)…  Though our mother was anything but religious, on Christmas Eve morning in a usually very snowy Chicago suburb she would sing to us this carol. She still insists that children should have something to believe in and look forward to… and indeed, this carol marked the official countdown to Christmas, which for us meant finally opening our presents.

The poem, penned by Stelios Sperantzas (1888-1962), is performed here by folk singer Mariza Koch and her children’s choir. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_IpBOFW0Gg8

Like most Greek folk music (demotika), Christmas carols date back to the Byzantine times and are still mostly sung in the purist katharevousa form of the Greek language. The word “kalanta” derives from the latin “calenda”, which is defined as the start of the month.

Kalanta from the Peloponnese: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I7BDGkxePYY

Early on Christmas morning, children across the land would gather (and fortunately still do, especialy in rural Greece), gloves, caps and triangles in hand and would visit each and every household and shop in the village or town. “Na Ta Poume?” (Shall We Sing?), they would yell waiting for that special “nod”. Once the carol was over, the youngsters would then wish the home- or shopowner health, happiness and prosperity, and in some cases, a good crop. In return, the carolers were offered edible goodies such as traditional holiday sweets including honey-dipped melomakarona or sugar-topped kourabiedes, pies, specially knitted breads and pomegranate.

Kalanta from Crete: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9BoJ_4FO5cM

Again, much like Greek folk song, the lyrics and music of the kalanta vary depending on the region, and this is evident not only in the musical instruments accompanying the carolers but also the rhythm and the wishes. In some regions, the musical accompaniment includes guitars, the daouli drum, harmonica, clarinet or accordeon.

Kalanta from Thrace: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oDp62vmIi0I

Today, city carolers go from one apartment to the other and in return they are “tipped” with change.

The carols always culminate in a Wish: “Ke tou Chronou, Chronia Polla” (May we be well again to celebrate next year and for many years to come).

The Greek Vibe wishes all a very Merry Christmas full of music to soothe the soul.

♪The painting above, titled “Ta Kalanta”, is the work of one of Greece’s greatest painters, Tinos-born Nikiforos Lytras (1832-1904).

Alkis Alkaios: Losing a voice of the times

Alkis Alkaios, one of Greece’s finest poets, passed away on Monday. He was 63. Alkaios, a pen name for Vangelis Liaros, shunned publicity, appearing publicly only once for the purposes of a recording. His verse, however, has been widely sung and will continue to express the musings and pains of the contemporary Greek. Two of his most memorable works have gone down in Greek music history – Embargo (1982) and Stou Aiona tin Paraga (1996). In remembrance, the Greek Vibe posts one of his most loved works, which took Greek music by storm. The powerful zeibeikiko “Roza” interpreted by Dimitris Mitropanos. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sliaSXxnNcg

 He will be laid to rest in Parga, northern Greece.

Once upon a time… in the land of Lilipoupoli

Plump peas dance and prance with the good-humored greens on the grass as the silver lining of night appears… http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pk7yMEbPc5U Blissful golden roses stretch out in spring at the tender touch of the sun’s rays. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uV-fbGJbHAY The view from the almond- and hazelnut-rooftops of Lilipoupoli to the delightful beach of Lilli below is intoxicatingly sweet. Lo and behold: This is a land made of sugar and spice… and everything nice.

It’s all about song and dance and fun in Lilipoupoli, where everyone excitedly awaits nightfall so they can run down to Porto Lilli, to sing and sail under the silvery gaze of the full moon. “We’re not Zulu, were not Papua, we’re the wild race of Lillipoua.” http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qz17HbYjq8s

If there ever was a time (and need) to believe in fairytales in Greece, then this must be it. Some three decades after it first aired over the radio waves of the national broadcaster’s (ERA) Trito (3rd) Programma, the tales of Lilipoupoli are back to remind us now more than ever that fairytales can - even in the darkest of days - soothe the soul. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lCzVrXw4qpk

Rise and shine, youngsters across Greece would tune in to the Trito Programma to listen to the yarns of Edo Lillipoupoli. The brainchild of Eleni Vlachou and Reggina Kapetanaki, the show came to life when Marianina Kriezi made words out of colours and Lena Platonos, Nikos Kypourgos and Dimitris Maragopoulos gave those colors a voice. Every morning, Savina Yannatou, Marielli Sfakianaki, Spyros Sakkas and Antonis Kontogeorgiou would sing of the feats of the Lilipoua.

Lilipoupoli, which aired between 1976 and 1980, stood out as being a bright example of composer Manos Hadjidakis’ (then head of the Trito Programma) foresight. He described the project as “the conception of a free and experimental radio… and a group of young people with lots of talent who got together on the 3rd [programme] and worked with high spirit, dignity and self-respect”. That’s probably why Lilipoupoli made history.  

What started out as a children’s show - introducing kiddies to the “basics” of this world and instilling in them a love of Greek tradition and a yearning for learning “Mes’ To Mouseio” - ended up attracting the young at heart. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n32ANLHcKH4

Back in the late ’70s, Greek radio was at its heyday, keeping Greeks company throughout the day with theatre shows, music and trivia. Radio was the sole source of entertainment at a time when YENED and ERT, the country’s sole television channels, (both public) broadcast after 5pm until midnight.

The album featuring the songs of Lilipoupoli was released in 1980. And in 1997, it was adapted into a full stage spectacle and presented at the Athens Concert Hall (Megaron Mousikis, tel 210-72.82.333). 

Having withstood the test of time, Lilipoupoli is back, marking the beginning of the Christmas season at the Megaron this year. On Sunday (December 2), a choir of 140 children and dozen musicians team up with singer Alkistis Protopsalti and Vassilis Argokostas and take us now when we most need it on an aural trip to the magical land of Lilipoupoli. Can we afford to miss it?