Ηρακλής Οικονόμου

Our week-long visit to a very beautiful country, its friendly people and its amazing musical legacy ends today with a superb Greek vocalist who acts as a bridge between two nations and their cultures. With her interpretations, Aliki Kagialoglou delivers a powerful statement of cultural affinity and...

On opposite ends of the Mediterranean world, two musical traditions grew out of remarkably similar soil. One took root in the narrow streets of Lisbon, the other in the port neighborhoods of Athens and Piraeus. Fado and rebetiko never influenced each other directly — there is no evidence that one b...

With 19 albums released, nearly 30 years of career, and countless concerts around the world, Cristina Branco is a true ambassador of Portuguese culture. Traditional music is her main aesthetic root, but the influence of jazz, literature, and the musicians she shares the stage with gives her art a universal...

Throughout this week, we are visiting a very beautiful country with very friendly people and an amazing musical legacy. And, we are attempting to find similarities between the best-known genre of this country and Greek music such as rebetiko and art song. Our destination: Portuguese Fado II: Kalliroi...

Today, we are listening to an imaginary concert held jointly by Amalia Rodriguez and Maria Farantouri at L’Olympia in Paris. Well, the two queens of world music did appear at Olympia, but separately, on two separate occasions, in 1956 and 1984 respectively. By placing them together at the same venue, w...

Σήμερα, εισβάλλουμε στον κόσμο ενός μεγάλου εικαστικού δημιουργού, ο οποίος έχει και έντονες μουσικές ανησυχίες. Συγκεκριμένα, διατηρεί ιδιαίτερη σχέση με τη μουσική ως ακροατής, δημιουργός εξωφύλλων δίσκων, και παραγωγός, και εμπνέεται σταθερά απ’ αυτήν. Σημείο συνάντησης για το αποψινό μας ραντεβού: Ο ...

Today, we return to the music of a talented composer who stands out for his melodic consistency and sentimental touch. Our destination: Apollo's Voices – Songs by Apollon Kouskoumvekakis. Τραγούδια του Απόλλωνα Κουσκουμβεκάκη Σήμερα επιστρέφουμε στη μουσική ενός ταλαντούχου συνθέτη, ο οποίος ξεχωρί...

Rebetiko: the Greek urban folk song of the early 20th century, which gave voice to the outlook on life and the experiences of the marginalized, the lower social classes, mainly in the commercial and industrial centers (Piraeus, Syros, Thessaloniki, Smyrna, among others). It was widely popular through...

Today we're exploring the connection between Greece's greatest living singer and a genre that shaped the evolution of Greek song. Our destination: George Dalaras sings rebetiko songs, part 1. Νταλάρας & Ρεμπέτικο Ι Σήμερα και αύριο, διερευνούμε τη σύνδεση μεταξύ του μεγαλύτερου εν ζωή Έλληνα...

“The true artist is the sensitive receiver of their era's messages, the detector and antenna tuned to the future, which is why they come to express the desires and demands of their time. So, by nature and position, the artist stands on the side of progress. In each specific historical era, a specific c...

Today and tomorrow, we return to a very special singer-songwriter who brought guerilla songs into the mainstream of the recording industry and onto the concert stage. Thankfully, he also wrote many fascinating songs of a more “laiko” orientation, recorded by voices such as Keti Grey, Haris Alexiou, Geo...

Paris Perisinakis was born in Athens and grew up in Agios Nikolaos, Crete. At the age of eight, he started lessons on the Cretan lyre with the great Kostas Moudakis, while at the same time he began to play the mandolin, lute and guitar. He also studied theory at the National Conservatory of Athens....

With his lyre, Kostas Moudakis became known throughout Greece and toured all over the world, wherever there were Cretans. His work is considered important and his contribution to the popularization of the music of Crete remains unsurpassed. A great virtuoso and teacher, who continues to inspire with...

Although of Irish descent, Ross Daly does not really fit into any particular ethnic stereotype given that his life has been spend in many different parts of the world and his home for the last several decades is the island of Crete in Greece. Ross Daly, at a very early age, discovered that music was,...

Today, our focal point is Greece’s leading Celtic music band: Iernis. In a country whose musical identity is so strongly tied to traditional, rebetiko and popular song, the existence of a long-running Celtic music band might seem like an unlikely footnote. Yet for nearly three decades, the Athens-based g...

Today, we turn to a true master of tango and some exceptional performances of songs of his by one of Greece’s most versatile vocalists. Our destination: Aliki Kagialoglou sings Astor Piazzolla. Η Αλίκη Καγιαλόγλου ερμηνεύει Πιατσόλα Σήμερα, απευθυνόμαστε σε έναν πραγματικό δεξιοτέχνη του tango και σε μερικές...

Today, our tribute to the cosmopolitan dimension of Greek song takes us to a vocalist of a younger generation, whom I truly admire for the clarity and austerity of her interpretations. Her multicultural, Greek-Swedish origins align well with artistic choices that move fluidly across borders and genres....

Today, we explore the multiple ways in which the three Italian grand masters of film music inspired Greek artists. Our destination: Greek covers of songs and instrumentals by Nino Rota, Ennio Morricone and Nicola Piovani. Ελληνικές φωνές, ιταλικά σάουντρακ Σήμερα, εξερευνούμε τους πολλαπλούς τρόπους...