Angélique Ionatos

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Angélique Ionatos ( Greek Αγγελική Ιονάτου , born 1954 in Athens ) is a singer , guitarist and composer of the Greek diaspora in Paris . She set and interpreted poetry by Sappho and contemporary Greek poets.

life and work

Her parents fled the Greek military dictatorship to Belgium , where Angélique Ionatos followed them in 1969. With her brother Photis she recorded her first album in 1972 under the title Résurrection with her own compositions of political chansons , which was awarded the Grand Prix du disque of the Charles Cros Academy . In 1976 the duo separated and Angélique moved to Paris, where she still lives today.

Since 1977 she has been writing songs based on poems by contemporary Greek poets, interpreting them and accompanying her singing with the concert guitar . She also set verses by the ancient poet Sappho to music in the modern Greek translation of Odysseas Elytis , such as the archaic-looking song composition Sappho De Mytilene , which she recorded with Nena Venetsanou . During her 40-plus year career, Angélique Ionatos has released 19 albums. Many of her recordings are co-productions with the Théâtre de la Ville in Paris or the Théâtre de Sartrouville. She works with classical and jazz musicians and since 2006 with the Greek guitarist and singer Katerina Fotinaki .

When she writes her compositions, she abandons herself to the prosody of the poems, which is followed by the music that is rooted in Greek culture. With the odd rhythms that are typical of traditional Greek music , it seems boisterous and rough. However, Ionatos does not compose and arrange in the sense of Mikis Theodorakis with bouzouki and rembetiko . Elements from classical music, jazz, chanson , oriental and tango traditions are incorporated. A French jazz journalist wrote that your guitar playing was unique, exuding grace and determination. Her voice is warm, but not heavy, and dramatic with the grandeur of great Mediterranean singers.

She has a special artistic relationship with Odysseas Elytis. His scenic poem María Neféli (1978), a kind of conversation between a young woman who embodies the young generation after the dictatorship and a man who reveals himself to be a poet, inspired her to write a dialogical cantata with the French title Marie des Brumes . In 2015 her album Reste la lumière was released with twelve songs, two of them based on poems by Elytis, accompanied by musicians with cello , contrabass and bandoneon . She dedicated it to today's Greece in the Depression with the message that poetry has the power to change the future.

Prices

  • 1972: Grand Prix du disque of the Charles Cros Academy for Résurrection
  • 1984: Grand Prix Audiovisuel de l'Europe for Marie des Brumes

Discography (selection)

  • 1972: Résurrection (with Photis Ionatos)
  • 1979: I Palami sou (first solo album based on poems by Dimitris Mortoyas)
  • 1984: Marie des Brumes ( Maria Nepheli , Odysseas Elytis)
  • 1991: Sappho De Mytilene (vocals with Nena Venetsanou)
  • 1992: O Erotas (based on verses by Odysseas Elytis, Kostas Karyotakis , Iakovos Kambanellis , Sappho)
  • 1994: Mia Thalassa (music and text: Mikis Theodorakis )
  • 2000: D'un Bleu très noir (based on lyrics by Konstantin Kavafis, Christos Chryssopoulos , Dionisis Karatzas , Kostas Varnalis )
  • 2003: Alas Pa 'volar (based on texts by Frida Kahlo )
  • 2007: Eros y muerte (based on poems by Pablo Neruda )
  • 2009: Comme un jardin la nuit (duet guitar and vocals with Katerina Fotinaki)
  • 2015: Reste la lumière (based on texts by Dyonissis Kapsalis, Dimitris Mortoyas, Odysseas Elytis)

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Robert Wangermée: Ionatos, Angélique . In: Dictionnaire de la chanson en Wallonie et à Bruxelles , Editions Mardaga, Brussels 1995, ISBN 978-2-87009-600-0 , p. 196
  2. ↑ ANGÉLIQUE IONATOS. La Chartreuse - Center national des écritures du spectacle, 2013 ( Memento of the original of March 24, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link has been inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.chartreuse.org
  3. ↑ a b Bruno Pfeiffer: Angélique Ionatos, entre cadences et poésie , La Liberation , November 5, 2015
  4. ^ A b L'Orient d'Angélique Ionatos , Le Monde, November 4, 2015
  5. ^ Reste la lumière - Angélique Ionatos , Critique de Salon, November 11, 2015
  6. ↑ Anne Berthod: Reste la lumière , Télérama, November 2, 2015 ( Memento of the original of March 24, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.telerama.fr
  7. ↑ «LE GRAND LIVRE DES PASSAGES. LITTÉRATURES »CONFÉRENCE d'ANGÉLIQUE IONATOS CYCLE, Musée des Civilizations de l'Europe et de la Méditerranée, 2016 ( Memento of the original of March 24, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link has been inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.mucem.org
  8. ↑ Musiques du Monde. Comme un jardin la nuit. Angélique Ionatos & Katerina Fotinaki , telerama.fr
personal data
SURNAME Ionatos, Angélique
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Ιονάτου, Αγγελική; Ionátou, Angelikí (transcribed)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Greek singer, guitarist and composer
DATE OF BIRTH 1954
PLACE OF BIRTH Athens