Laatste nieuws:
Laatste nieuws:
In de Vogue van Griekenland, augustus 2009 is een compleet katern besteed aan Nana Mouskouri, in totaal 30 pagina's met heel veel mooie foto's. De tekst is in het Grieks uiteraard, maar Thanasis Laskaratos heeft een gedeelte in het Engels vertaald. Na zijn vakantie gaat hij verder met vertalen. Hieronder alvast het eerste gedeelte van de tekst.
VOGUE GREECE – AUGUST 2009
There are people that live a special moment, and they know deep down inside
that automatically they have in their heart a unique memory. Nana Mouskouri
cannot tell one out the many highlights of her life and her career, she doesn’t
know what to choose. She goes back in time, right after the end of the recording
of ‘San sfirixis tris fores’ . She tells Hadjidakis that this is
going to be an important song, a big success. But nobody believes her- and still,
‘San sfirixis tris fores’ becomes the hit from the album ‘Greece,
Land of Dreams’ , the album she thinks as her recording starting point
along with her cooperation with Quincy Jones in America.The song is translated
in many languages and renamed in ‘White Rose of Athens’, ‘Roses
blanches de Corfou’, ‘Weisse Rosen aus Athen’. It becomes
her international identity, a passport that ironically didn’t approve
of her big mentor, Manos. She reminded it him short before he dies, but he kept
refusing. She passes by Olympia, the first she ever sang in that historic Hall
as a first name, 7 years after her debut next to Georges Brassens. She was 5
months pregnant and Olympia’s manager, Bruno Coquatrix, had no other choice
but to trust her heavy hearted. Then she put on her taftan to cover her belly
and Coquatrix told her:’ It doesn’t matter; they will like you more
if you are pregnant’ This is how it all started with Nana asking herself
‘where do all this people come from?’ every time a concert was sold-out
or ‘will they like me?’ like she asked one Quincy Jones. Despite
all this, the modest Greek who conquest even the most difficult markets and
the most difficult accessible Halls with her voice as unique weapon, was like
an acrobat each time she had to sing and was wondering whether the public shared
the same love for music with her. Her sole philosophic question was only answered
50 years later, when she finally realized that love exists somewhere.
One year after her farewell concert at Herod Atticus Theatre – which has been recorded and will soon be released in DVD & CD – doesn’t feel bad that her musical journey is over. The circle is closed and the most recognizable Greek artist abroad has come back to the land she dreamed for the very first time. ‘That’s what you gave me, that’s what I’m bringing back to you’, she thinks of her last great performance , when she deposited to the feet of her country the way she was risen and the values she received. After an unbelievable, without like tour of the earth. She is always the same ‘Ioanna from Chania, Crete’ but she feels full, progressed and she adds ‘whenever I’ll have to sing again (which she will ) will be for a cause. For children, for AIDS or for ecology. She will sing only greek songs. Her tremendous sales of 300 hundred million records, in many languages, from South America to New Zealand, have given her the right to overcome her fears, her insecurities, her complexes, to look the people straight to the eyes and to admit that she at last found the meaning of love and acceptance, which she looked so intensively for.
Through music she became a woman, a mother, she met important people and took the chance to learn from them. At our meeting I met the woman I had in mind: a ‘certified’ Greek, who to my eyes looks as a woman without a country, a woman with much more force than her easy-listening repertoire lets show, a creature that breaks the time without offending it, a legendary singer but accessible , a next-door icon, Nana…
-‘I’ve got three houses, in Athens, Geneva and Paris, in Trocadero. I started at Saint Germain des Pres, then Boulogne , which now is very trendy , especially during Roland Garos tournament, but terribly noisy. Back then it used to be a humble quartier. Paris is magical, just like France, but tiring. It’s better to visit. Switzerland suited me. It made more sense for me to have a home there because of the children. At the beginning I was living in Germany, where I had success, then England , when I was still married to my first husband while he was working with his group-The Athenians – this was the name given by Manos (Hadjidakis), in the beginning it was called Trio Canzone. They took a drummer and a clarinetist and so they became five. Later on, in 1964, when I went to America to work with Belafonte, we came across the idea of moving everyone there, because we were all living in different countries until then. So, George Petsilas opted for Switzerland, he thought it was a quiet country (used to, because nowadays there is no quiet country!) and it gave him good professional perspectives. At the beginning I thought of Switzerland as a good destination for a weekend. My children were born and grew up in Switzerland. Yes, it is right to say that I have rather moved in my life than stayed in a place for a long time. I used to work in Germany and England, I started touring very early, first for one month then even for two months. I used to make long-haul trips at times that my children could join me. It’s hard for someone to realize the amount and the duration of the trips I’ve made. When I left Greece, my mind was set on one only thing, singing. I never said I will become a singer, but gradually I was becoming one. My parents dreamed that I would become an opera singer or at least part of a choir. Because they thought that pop singing was not serious’
-‘When we made the album Greece, land of dreams, Manos would mix instruments, he liked that, a bouzouki with a classical guitar, a jazz bass with a flute, composing was a game with words and sounds for him, he was a genius and I as his soloist, also he enjoyed going up and down with the notes, making me screaming or crying over singing. The choir, about 20 persons, told Manos that they had no intention of singing with an unknown, pop, singer. Manos got furious and told them: either they would record they way he wanted or we (Manos and me) leave.
I was then invited in Germany. Manos didn’t want me to go there. I was very successful, I was then invited to France and England and relatively soon to America. Everything happened very fast – and slowly, from another point of you: it took me seven years before I sing at the Olympia. I was trying to be wise, that’s how I was raised in Greece and that’s what my parents taught me, otherwise people would not appreciate me, my parents used to tell me. I never had free time except for my children and my work. Fifty years passed by and I didn’t realize it…
We talked about music, legends like Legrand, Quincy Jones. I asked her opinion on Eurovision. She doesn’t like it anymore, she thinks it’s a giant machine, a television contest not song contest, just like with the Olympics, a battle between sponsors. She thinks that countries get so hysteric about organizing such events because it has to do with their national tourism. But mostly she sees diversity fading out in Europe through homogenized music and English. Her dream is the organization – through her Foundation – of a European Ethnic Music, not obligatorily ethnic, even though all kinds of music will be accepted , either ‘demotiko’ (=greek folk song like ‘Ta Pedia tis Samarinas’) or hard rock.
-At school we used to learn a few English, but you know how foreign languages
were then taught… I learnt English listening to jazz songs. I don’t
think I was specially talented, it was more out of curiosity. Many times I wonder
whether I became a singer because I wanted to sing or to manage to communicate.
Singing filed me with safety. Hadjidakis would give me songs, Gatsos loved me,
the friends and above all public. Succes – a dangerous word and so fragile
– as much as a life, may I say.
When I first went to Germany I was singing in german but didn’t speak
the language. I tried to respond to the love of the public, tried to be able
to understand what they were saying between them. I was 25 years old then and
I said to myself that I was not going to be in a table unless I speak the language
of those who invite me. They were not supposed to approach me, I was supposed
to approach them. So, I bought vocabularies, then tapes came out and I was preparing
myself in the airplanes. This is why I was very much interested in each country’s
traditional music. From ours I knew only those of Corfu and Crete, not so much
Northern Greece’s because my mother was from an island. I like folk music
because I find they are mellow. Something strange: because I was complexed,
I was afraid to do something else other than what I knew, which was singing.
I loved so much jazz and improvising, this is why I never sang the same way.
That same courage I extended it to the languages. I had to speak them and use
them. Also as a courtesy towards the public. On stage they know I am greek and
obviously they expect you to sing songs from your country but in the same time
they expect to share the joy or the sadness of the songs. It’s complicated
but do you know many artists who are simple?
-The doubt started for me 15 years ago when Gatsos died and my parents had already passed away. Then I felt loneliness and wondered where I truly belong. I was loosing my roots and needed to find them back. The French and the Germans think I’m theirs, the Spanish speaking call me Nana Latina. I stopped to take a look behind. Manos was a very special creature, he wrote as well. Nikos was my father and Manos my mother , my both spiritual parents. Nikos stayed at my side and took me a step further. My parents were not educated people. My mother was adopted by a good family, learned good manners, learned how to sew, how to look people straight to the eyes, to respect. Even today I do housework and I do it the right way. When I have to wash the floor, I do it the right way.
-I submitted very much to my wedding. I do this even today, somehow I feel I must act that way. But one day I wanted to gain my independence , now I realize. In the 60s people fought for their freedom and independence, I didn’t realize until long time after. Everything was so confused in my mind. I was very in love but didn’t want the marriage. I was very weak in these matters, but I said no to Manos and to my husband. I used to call Gatsos after the concerts because I was feeling lonely. Andre doesn’t attend all concerts, just the important ones, he’s got his business too. So, after all these bravos and applause and the emotion of the show, I ask myself one thousand questions about life, about existence, about the public you touch and you love. The two-three hours that follow a concert are very important, you are not tired, you think you can open the sky and talk to the stars. I would ask Nikos and he would answer to me that only I hold the keys to my questions. I write things and this gives me the substance of the understanding of the others. You give yourself and you receive love in return. The rival of my children, of my husband, of my friends has always been music, my ally. That’s what I understood.
-‘ I don’t have the moments that I used now without the concerts.
My tours included a series of touching concerts, but I think that the decision
to stop was the right decision. There comes a time you don’t the courage
anymore, other artists arrive, the times change. But actually not many things
have changed in my way of living. I travel a lot to promote the books, to give
interviews. It’s important to talk to the public recalling moments of
an intense life or about things I didn’t do. I didn’t stand by my
children a lot, I didn’t teach them the songs I had to or I didn’t
cook enough for them, for my friends, for my own people.
I deal a lot with humanitarian, with Unicef, I travel to Africa to see the needs
in schools, I talk with leaders to see if legislation for children’s rights
apply. I have not stopped completely. Every year I used to gather up a group
of fans and have a party. Last one was held here , last July and fans are sending
me already letters for the next reunion. A while ago I learnt that Miriam Makeba
died on stage during a concert. I had seen Josephine Baker faint on stage. Also
Diedrich and Piaf short before they die – I didn’t even understand
Piaf in the beginning but when I saw her live I was ashamed to say that I did
the say job as she! It was amazing all the things she conveyed to you through
her singing! Last time I saw her, Teo Sarapo was her companion- you could see
that love making her beautiful and full of life. All these singers have had
hard times , so me selfishly thinking , I said to myself that I’d hate
if something similar happened to me. In my last tour, I was happy that the concert
was over and that nothing had gone wrong. Finishing in Athens made me so full
that I don’t feel the need to do it again. The idea only that I may lose
a note , not to be able to share the happiness that gives me a correct performance,
kills me. I want the people to remember me just the way I was; I want them to
love me also now that I am not a singer. Do realize how hard this is?
| De 2 afscheidsconcerten van Nana in Athene waren allebei
compleet uitverkocht, al weken tevoren. Meer informatie, zie: BBC -
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/7523827.stm De biografie van Nana in het Duits komt uit in oktober 2008.
* De Duitse CD-Box Dit boek is op 3 november 2006 uitgekomen in het Grieks met als titel: To Onoma mou ine Nana. Dit is een autobiografisch werk. Vertalingen in het Engels en Duits en waarschijnlijk ook in het Nederlands zijn gepland. De Engelse vertaling is gepland in oktober 2007!
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Nana Mouskouri in Erevan (Armenië) - Concert Charles Aznavour et ses Amis a Erevan Tijdens het concert van Charles Aznavour in Erevan, was Nana Mouskouri als speciale gast uitgenodigd. Zij heeft tijdens het concert, dat op 30 september 2006 gehouden werd, het lied ''Je chante avec toi liberté'' gezongen, live. Dit is ook op de officieel uitgebrachte dvd van dit concert, opgenomen. Behalve haar bijdrage aan het concert, is er ook een klein interview met Nana Mouskouri te zien en te beluisteren. Meer informatie over het concert van Charles Aznavour, is te vinden op:
Nieuws
van Armenië, de site van Libération
en op Armenië
2007. |
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| De luchtfoto van Nana's huis in Zwitserland, Geneve. Te zien vanuit Google Earth. In de uitzending van 'Mein Leben', als ook als bij de dvd Live in Berlin, laat Nana Mouskouri ook haar huis van binnen bekijken. | ||
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| President Griekenland eert Nana Mouskouri Op woensdag 28 februari 2007 heeft Nana Mouskouri een speciale prijs uit handen van de Griekse president Karolus Papoulias mogen ontvangen. Nana Mouskouri is geëerd vanwege het feit dat zij zoveel tijd en energie heeft geïnvesteerd om de Griekse cultuur in het buitenland uit te dragen. De uitreiking van de prijs is uitgezonden op de Griekse televisie, ERT, in het journaal. Meer informatie op de website van de: Griekse ambassade |
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Verzamelde citaten - Uitspraken van Nana Mouskouri door
de jaren heen. Brainy Quotes. |
