Ηρακλής Οικονόμου

This week, here at GME, we turn to the music of our neighbour, Turkey, and to its multiple interactions with Greek music. Turkish music is multifaceted, rich in tradition and talent, and open to many creative influences. Today, we shall be exploring the discography of my favourite Turkish band, Yeni...

The final part of our trip to Crete takes us on a tour of some of its towns and landmarks, accompanied by traditional songs and dances of the island. A syrtos with lyra? A pidihtos from the village of Anogia? Or a dynamic Pentozalis? Pick your own dance style and immerse yourself into the sheer strength...

Many of Lina’s songs reaffirm the decision of the individual to live, to survive, to positively respond to challenges. Of course, this decision is not without contradictions. Vassilis Papakonstantinou sings: “And I live, always here, and I leave so as to not view the end”. Nikolakopoulou’s call for lif...

From Christiana to Dimitra Galani, from Margarita Zorbala to Tania Tsanaklidou and from Eleftheria Arvanitaki to Dionysis Theodosis, the greatest voices of our country served the aesthetics, the emotions and the images projected by the art of Lina Nikolakopoulou. Today, our week-long tribute to the...

Our track list, today, contains songs with references to lonely evenings, goodnight kisses and a night in Morocco, all written by Lina Nikolakopoulou. Slow songs, situated between melancholy and romance, that carry all the desires and the rejections associated with the night. Elli Paspala, Christianna,...

Sea of Ionia, Zeibekiko of the sea, Summer dreams, The waves have bloomed, Tango Piraeus… The titles of so many instrumentals by composer Michalis Koumbios reveal his fascination with voyages and ports, seas and waves. Melodies of emotional intensity, images that invite us to travel and dream. Koumbios, a...

In his career, vocalist Costas Karalis registered important collaborations with leading composers such as Yannis Spanos and Michalis Terzis. A red thread that runs through much of his repertoire is the motif of the sea, the seamen and the ships, the winds and the waves, the passion for voyages and departures....

Our track list today comes from three main pools, all associated with the sea, with endless voyages and hidden ports. Firstly, we will be appreciating the numerous songs about the sea that Lefteris Papadopoulos wrote and Manos Loizos composed, most of which are included in the album Thalassographies....

Thanasis Nikopoulos was born in Lamia in March 1953. He began his musical studies at the Municipal Conservatory of Lamia and then studied piano, flute and advanced theory at the Municipal Conservatory of Athens. He is a graduate of the Law School of the University of Athens and a doctoral candidate...

The entire week that ends today, here at GME, was dedicated to the beautiful island of Crete and to its exquisite musical past and present. At the heart of this unique genre lies the Cretan lyra, the island’s most emblematic musical instrument. Our track list contains special songs and instrumentals, a...

From the “rizitika” (root) songs of Manolis Lidakis and the Syrtos dances of Manolis Manouras to the beautiful coexistence of the oud of Giannis Dermitzakis with the voice of Katerina Zacharopoulou, today’s GME explores the rich past and vibrant present of Cretan music. Inventive folk poetry, plent...

Superb landscape, unique natural setting, rich history, and an outstanding musical heritage that includes plenty of uplifting rhythms and dances. Today, here at GME, we continue our week-long tribute to Crete and its music, while also telling the story of the Minotaur, Crete’s famous mythological c...

The week that starts today, here at GME, turns to the beautiful island of Crete and to its uplifting, rhythmic music that constitutes a distinct and much-admired genre. Today, we will be spending our entire broadcast exploring the history of Crete’s greatest landmark, the palace of Knossos. In parallel, w...

Our melodies, today, come from the discography of Nikos Kypourgos, one of the most prolific composers for film and theatre, and Nikos Portokaloglou, a pioneering rock singer-songwriter who also wrote soundtracks. Even though they are meant to accompany films, these melodies also stand autonomously,...

The musical images of Evanthia Reboutsika and Stamatis Spanoudakis have accompanied landmark cinematic images found in films such as Notias, Voice of the Aegean, Stone Years and The Shirt With Number ‘9’. Today, these atmospheric melodies are hosted by GME, together with several references to the lif...

Director Lakis Papastathis was influenced by his colleague and guru Alexis Damianos and the experience of “Evdokia” film, in the filming of which he participated as an assistant director. “I spent three years of my life on “Evdokia”, working with Alexis, because this film was anarchic not only in i...

Eleni Karaindrou – “Greece’s most eloquent living composer” in the words of Time magazine – and Marios Strofalis - an award-winning soundtrack composer for cinema, theatre and television – are at the heart of today’s GME. Their extensive discography is replete with well-known melodies that have mar...

The week that ends today, here at GME, was dedicated to New Wave – Neo Kyma, a soft, low-pitch style that prevailed in the late 1960s and early 1970s. Today, we will be remembering the early work of Notis Mavroudis, a renowned composer who started from Neo Kyma before lending his talent to art song. A...