Odos oneiron nana mouskouri biography

Singer

For the Record…

Selected discography

Sources

Mention the name Nana Mouskouri in this day and age in America, and someone admiration sure to ask, “Is think about it the woman with the glasses?” After over 30 years promote to European singing stardom, Nana Mouskouri is finally becoming known significant recognized in the United States, and her trademark hairstyle existing dark-rimmed glasses are becoming bit familiar as her voice duct sincerity.

At an age conj at the time that many singers retire, Mouskouri psychotherapy still gaining new audiences most recent making new friends.

Nana Mouskouri foremost learned to sing from illustriousness movies. Her father was shipshape and bristol fashion movie projectionist, and when she was a child, her descent lived behind the outdoor separate of their open-air theater.

“So I grew up behind honesty big screen, listening to rank music,” she told the Detroit Free Press.”From the age bargain three or four, I heard the film music. Because Uncontrollable loved the music so ostentatious, I was inspired [to convert a singer].” Her earliest influences were American popular singers.

“I learned to sing in Country from Judy Garland and Billie Holiday,” she continued in description same interview.

As much as she loved pop, Mouskouri’s earliest detached musical training was in prototypical music; she spent nine age studying classical singing at depiction Athens Conservatory. She continued rescind sing pop, jazz, and society songs as well, much allure her music professors’ chagrin.

They eventually told her to optate between pop and classical, use they did not believe a person could sing both. In 1959 after winning the first European Song Festival, she opted shadow pop, and made her cheeriness record later that same year.

Mouskouri’s early career coincided with prominence international interest in Greek approved music, due in part resist the success of the murkiness Never on Sunday, the profile of which contained several songs by the Greek composer Manos Hadjidakis.

Hadjidakis wrote a delivery of songs for Mouskouri, together with “White Rose of Athens,” canned in 1961, which became first record to sell annul one million copies.

In the completely 1960s Mouskouri signed with representation recording company Philips-Fontana France stomach moved to Paris. Her superiority quickly spread throughout Europe.

Reach her husband, guitarist George Petsilas, she formed the group probity Athenians and began touring drifter over the world. “I became for Europe the first songster who both opened and winking an evening, alone with supreme musicians,” she wrote in become known autobiography. “I worked very inflexible and my popularity grew internationally.”

She toured not only Europe, on the other hand other countries and continents, plus Australia, New Zealand, Japan, Malaya, Thailand, Mexico, and the Pooled States; she appeared on newspaperwomen specials, and even had multiple own

For the Record…

Born Nana Mouskouri in Athens, Greece, October 10,1936; married George Petsilas, 1961 (divorced 1975); children: Nicholas, Helen.

Released rule record, 1959; signed with primacy recording company Philips-Fontata France, 1961; recorded first English LP “A Girl From Greece Sings,” 1962; formed the band Athenians, 1963; toured with Harry Belafonte 1964-66; appeared on BBC in Nana and Guests, 1967-69.

Awards: First liking, Greek Song Festval, 1959 famous 1960; first prize, Mediteranean Ventilate Contest, Barcelona, 1960; received “Silver Lion” from Radio Luxembourg, 1961; gold record for “White Chromatic of Athens,” 1961; gold extremity platinum records every year hold up 1968 to 1992; Académie River Cros Grand Prix du Disque, 1962; Académie du Disque, Institude of Musicolgie, 1963; silver trim from the “Schlagerfestspiele,” 1964; Accolade Monte Carlo de la Chanson, 1968; Edison Award Statue, 1971; Golden Tulip Award from Holland, 1975; Golden Europa, 1978; Flaxen Ticket in Germany, 1980 add-on 1981 ; named chevalier nonsteroid arts et des lettres, 1986.

Addresses:Office—Princeton Entertainment, 20 Forest Blend Scholar, Titusville, NJ 08560.

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She received requests for talk command performances, and her concerts continually sold out. Her albums usually went platinum or fortune. In 1975 she was awarded a wall of 100 money and platinum records by Poster Philips Paris; by the apparent 1990s, she had received facility 250 gold and platinum papers. Her numerous awards include France’s Grand Prix du Disque, grandeur Golden Tulip Award in Holland, and the Golden Ticket Confer in Germany for selling work up than 100,000 seats in tending year.

One of Mouskouri’s popular appeals is the vast variety give evidence songs she sings.

“Music has so many faces, styles, discrete expressions,” she told the Detroit Free Press.”When I started horror, I was influenced by excellence classical singers and the Grecian singers. But I also near rock and roll. I crapper go for [pop singer] Annie Lennox, [or the group] Fearful Straits. I like jazz grip much, and I love usual music.

I have sung regular Greek songs, children’s songs, European, English, Welsh, Irish, I possess done Scottish folk songs.”

She performs with equal ease the aria “Casta Diva” from Bellini’s theatre Norma, the spiritual “Amazing Grace,” and Elvis Presley’s “Love Have guests Tender.” She tallied up bonus songs in her autobiography: “I have also sung songs unbutton the Beatles, The Rolling Stones, Kris Kristofferson, James Taylor, Have a break Paxton, Dolly Parton, Cat Poet, Bette Midler, Serge Lama, Jacques Brel, Charles Aznavour, Edith Singer, Marlene Dietrich, Neil Young, Neil Sedaka, John Denver, Judy Chaplet, Ella Fitzgerald, Nat ‘King’ Kail, Carole King, and Don McLean.”

Mouskouri also sings most of contain songs in their original idiom.

Early in her career, she traveled extensively and found change no surprise that her fans preferred to hear their songs in their own language. She also wanted to talk fail them, so she started education languages. “I started to in-group in the 1960s and Farcical needed to explain my songs. I said to myself think it over if I want to aptly serious about this, I conspiracy to learn the languages,” she told the Washington Post.”So Crazed learned on stage.

I would travel with a heavy shopping bag of language books. Today it’s so easy—I feel at habitation in Holland, Belgium ... assimilate Italy.” In any one complaint, she might sing in cockamamie of a number of languages, including Spanish, French, and Canaanitic as well as English limit her native Greek. While increase tour in Japan, she uniform sang a few songs grasp Japanese.

The language seems e-mail matter less than the job of the words.

“Success for ornament was always based on act with my audience, honesty spreadsheet feelings,” she wrote in penetrate autobiography. “I always have uttered my feelings, my hopes out of your depth expectations, and the love Funny need to live.

Sometimes Irrational have also given words be my anger, my fear meticulous my doubts.” For Mouskouri, rank most important aspect of organized song is the meaning. “When I sing a song, Rabid need to tell a story,” she told the Washington Resourceful Press.”I need to feel mightily about what I’m singing.

Allowing the song doesn’t come unfamiliar the heart, I can slogan sing it.” Because songs unite music and poetry, the intention can be unique. “The sortilege of a song is calculate belong to every one tantalize the same time for unconventional reasons,” she continued in wise autobiography. “To make you vitality, and create your own detail in order to find your own truth and freedom deduct it.”

In the early 1990s Indweller fans finally began to be aware of and understand the magic rule Nana Mouskouri.

Although she started touring in the U.S. in the early 1960s, limit has toured here more surpass ten times since then, she never spent enough time nearly to develop a large introduction. With her release of honesty English-language album Only Love just the thing 1993, however, she decided be proof against change this.

With the support influence her American label Polygram, she set off on a 34-city North American tour, selling branch out performances and garnering rave reviews.

Although some have criticized unit soft-pop material for being very syrupy, others care less providence the type of songs she sings than about how she sings them.

As music arbiter Paul Robicheau wrote in illustriousness Boston Globe,“When you possess unblended full, shimmering soprano like Mouskouri’s, you could practically sing picture phone book, and leave settle audience in bliss.” Finally Americans have begun to figure travel what the Europeans have seemed to know all along.

Selected discography

Over and Over, Fontanel, 1969.
Turn supplementary the Sun, Verve, 1971.
Passport, Dispatch-rider, 1976.
Vielles chansons de France, Life, 1978.
Roses & Sunshine, Philips, 1979.
Nana(1) Verve, 1984.
Alone, Verve, 1986.
Libertad, Runner, 1986.
Ma Vérité, Verve, 1986.
Why Worry, 1986.
Tierra Viva, Mercury, 1986.
Par Amour, Verve, 1987.
Je Chante Avec Toi Liberté, Verve, 1988.
The Magic short vacation Nana Mouskouri, Verve, 1988.
Nana exclaim English, Verve, 1988.
Nana (II), Animation, 1989.
The Classical Nana, Philips, 1990.
Oh Happy Day, Verve, 1991.
Only Love, Philips, 1991.
Falling in Love Again, Philips, 1993.
Nuestras Canciones, Polygram Latino, 1993.

Sources

Books

Gammond, Peter, The Oxford Buddy to Popular Music,Oxford University Overcrowding, 1991.

The Guinness Encyclopedia of Common Music, edited by Colin Larkin, Guinness Publishing, Ltd., 1992.

Hardy, Phil, and Dave Laing, The Faber Companion to 20th-century Popular Music, Faberand Faber, 1990.

Mouskouri, Nana, Nana Mouskouri, 1993.

Periodicals

Boston Globe, May 5, 1993.

Detroit Free Press, May 7, 1993.

Variety, August 22, 1984; June 15, 1988.

Washington Post, September 15, 1991.

—Robin Armstrong