ERT presented a unique document of Greek and international music history on Wednesday, November 1, 2023, in Studio C of the Hellenic Radio, in the Radio Megaro.
This is a selection of the first, hitherto anecdotal recordings by the internationally renowned performer Nana Mouskouri with the EIR Light Music Orchestra at the National Radio Foundation from the mid-fifties.
Nana Mouskouri, one of the most famous and successful singers, who honoured and spread Greek music all over the world for almost 70 years, attended the event, which presented a collection of 24 selected songs in CD format as well as a collector's edition vinyl, entitled 'Nana Mouskouri – Radio Days', to be released by MINOS EMI/UNIVERSAL.
The CD includes songs with music by Mimi Plessas, Attik, Kostas Giannidis, Takis Morakis, Michalis Souyouls, Niki Yakovlef, Kostas Klavvas and lyrics by Kostas Pretenderis, Giorgos Oikonomidis, Pythagoras, Kostas Kofiniotis and others. That is, songs by leading composers and lyricists of the light repertoire, but also by some creators that no one expects to hear from Nana Mouskouri, such as Stavros Kouyoumtzis.
According to the managing director of MINOS EMI/UNIVERSAL, Margarita Matsa, this double album has been released in dozens of countries, while the vinyl will be released in France, Germany and Greece.
The event was attended by influential personalities of Greek music, such as Giorgos Hatzinassios, Giorgos Katsaros and Manolis Mitsias. Despite her great emotion, the famous singer did not stop joking and chatting with the audience.
She recounted the early years of her career, saying that she was lucky as, when she left Greece, she found herself with people who took care of her.
"I grew up with the radio; I didn't expect after all these years to be told that these songs exist, which I remember very well. Today I return to my home. This is the most important thing. Music took me and brought me back. It never left me. My great success is that they loved my language," she confessed.
Wanting to convey her optimism, but also her hope for the future, after she remembered that people used to sing more efficiently and that's how she got rid of the weight she had, she took the microphone.
She sang, accompanied by a piano, the excellent "Paper Moon ", revealing that Nikos Gatsos entrusted it to her after Melina Merkouri had previously performed it.
The moment when the great music composer Mimis Plessas, who accompanied Nana Mouskouri in her first professional steps, came to Radiomegaros to meet her and wish her "good luck" was particularly touching.
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