Customer Reviews

Theodorakis Sings Theodorakis

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On this album you will find some of the most beautiful songs Mikis Theodorakis has written and he has performed almost all of them himself on prior occasions. I prefer these recordings over this one anytime. I used to think that this was due to the singing of Mikis which sounds less powerful than on the previous recordings but quite a few years have passed and since then other recordings have appeared with Mikis singing himself and I am moved again by the force of his conviction and passion even if I still prefer to hear some of these songs being sung by Maria Farantouri.
Still I am not fond of this album and the reason for this is I get so bored with the playing of the Yannis Zotos ensemble. Their dull playing and the overly sweet arrangements take every bite, drive and excitement out if the music. I recently saw a video of Theodorakis singing live in Berlin with these same, mostly german and as I understand semi-amateur musicians and I was as bored as I am here. For recent recordings I would advise listeners to look for cd's with the (greek) Mikis Theodorakis Orchestra or the live-album "a tribute to Grigoris Bithikotsis" from last year where you can here a lot of Theodorakis songs being performed as at least I think they should be. For recordings with Mikis I would still recomend the old stuff over this dreary album.

The value of this cd is of course not in the singing abilities of Theodorakis (who is a composer and never claimed to be a singer) but in the completeness of the experience of listening to the music performed by the composer himsef. I am afraid the reviewer above totally missed it... For anybody who understands Greek music, Theodorakis' catalytic influence has not been in creating the music for "Zorba the Greek" but in his ability to voice whatever was essential in greek culture during the last three decades. His political music and his musical transcriptions of some of the best greek poems have defined a generation. They have also educated musically a nation to expect a lot from the lyrics and the music. This record, which contains songs of Theodorakis sang by himself, allows the listener to become intimately acquainted with one of the greatest Greek composers. This is not Zorba the Greek, but some of the greatest greek music ever. For the ones who can appreciate it.

This is a supurb CD,containing some of the best works by the great Theodorakis. I listen to it every day, because it is very uplifting. Theodorakis has a rough voice & can't sing (and he obviously knows that), but that is part of the beauty & uniqueness of this CD. Only a great composer & musician could get away with a CD like this one, mainly because his adoring fans don't care about the quality of the singing. I suspect that Mikis has purposely made his voice sound so harsh. Theodorakis clearly is enjoying the singing. The more one listens to this CD, the more one enjoys it & appreciates it.

What we hear again is the same western-like melodies performed in an oriental way and sang by a bad voice.Mikis Theodorakis is a rather good composer of folk melodies but his attempt to make classical music or sing famous poets are a complete failure.What a pity for the popular composer of Zorbas and so many other tourist songs!