Mario Frangoulis

Mario Frangoulis (2009)

Marios or Mario Frangoulis ( Greek Μάριος Φραγκούλης , born December 18, 1966 in Southern Rhodesia , now Zimbabwe ) is a Greek tenor .

Youth and education

At the age of four his Greek parents gave him to his aunt Loula in Athens because of the dangerous political situation . He began to play the violin at the age of five and enjoyed singing and music from an early age. He completed violin studies at the Athens Conservatory , where he received his diploma in 1984.

In 1985 Frangoulis went to London and began an acting training at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama , which he graduated with a diploma in 1988.

He later went to New York on a scholarship from the Alexander Onassis Foundation , studied at New York's Juilliard School with Marilyn Horne , where he received his diploma in classical singing. In 1989 he won the Maria Callas Prize and the Onassis Scholarship and was able to study with Carlo Bergonzi in Busseto for six months . In Rome he received an offer from Alfredo Kraus and became the only private student of the famous Spanish tenor. In 1994 he won the International " Luciano Pavarotti " Prize.

Roles and appearances

In London he played the puck in Shakespeare's Midsummer Night 's Dream and at the West End the role of Marius in Les Misérables . He then played the role of Tony in the West Side Story on the Milan scale .

Mario Frangoulis has also appeared in various films, on television, in various concerts and in epic representations of Greek tragedies.

In 1991 Frangoulis was invited by Andrew Lloyd Webber to take on the role of Raoul in the Phantom of the Opera . He also sang Isaac in Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat . He played Lun Tha in The King and I , whom Jonathan sang in Nosferatu The Vampire , Danny Zouko in Grease , Billy Chacker in Happy End , Dionysus in Bacchae , Achilles in Achilles , Alfred Drake from Kiss me Kate in the film De-Lovely and sang with Lara Fabian So in Love .

Because of the illness of his surrogate mother Loula, he returned to Greece. There he began a career as a solo singer with an extensive repertoire of the famous Greek composers Manos Hadjidakis , Mikis Theodorakis , Giannis Markopoulos and other composers such as Nicola Piovani , Cole Porter , Francesco Paolo Tosti .

He continued his international career in 1999 with a contract with Sony Classical New York. At the same time, his first album Fengari Erotevmeno went three times platinum. In 2000 Mario Frangoulis released the CD Das Akropolis Konzert . It contains recordings from his concert with Deborah Myers . In 2002 his first international album Sometimes I Dream was released and in 2004 his album Follow your Heart .

This was followed by recordings with Giorgos Dalaras , the albums: O Kipos ton evchon (The Garden of Wishes), 2006 Music of the Night , 2007 Amor Oscuro and Passione (a tribute to Mario Lanza ). In 2008 his double album was released: mario & friends “what a wonderful world” , with excerpts from his international music festival in Athens. He also received the platinum award for his last two albums.

Mario Frangoulis sang at the opening ceremony of the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens .

He is the founder of the Athens Arena International Music Festival, which was initiated in 2008 on the occasion of its 20th stage anniversary. Greek television dedicated two programs to him.

On September 19, 2008, he gave a concert at the Royal Albert Hall in London with guests such as Lara Fabian , Justin Hayward , Steve Balsamo , George Perris and Anthony Inglis, supported by the London Symphony Orchestra in front of 6,000 people, who earned him rave ovations and reviews. In late 2008, Frangoulis performed 28 concerts with Sarah Brightman in the USA and Canada. They sang duets from Phantom of the Opera and Canto della Terra ; Another new duet Carpe Diem was released on the CD Winter Symphony by Sarah Brightman (Limited Version).

In 2009 he was the only artist to perform live in Athens at the foot of the Acropolis at the Earth Hour event, and the second album mario & friends "It Makes The World Go Around" was also released . In 2009 Mario Frangoulis sang the theme song Voyage to the Horizon at the opening ceremony of the 2009 Games of Small States of Europe in Nicosia , Cyprus , and in the same year he performed at the Women's World Awards in Vienna .

Mario Frangoulis has been named Ambassador of Peace of the WCCI (World Centers of Compassion for Children International), thereby supporting the work of the Nobel Peace Prize laureate Betty Williams .

The album Seasons of Love , released in 2010, shows his longstanding relationship and collaboration with the Greek composer Manos Hadjidakis.

At the beginning of April 2010 Mario Frangoulis and George Perris gave a concert in Kiev with the National Orchestra of Kiev in the Conservatory Hall, a little later another concert in Saint Petersburg . In July 2010 he took on the title role of Prometheus in the ancient Asklepios Theater in Pergamon , Turkey.

Together with Steve Wood, Mario Frangoulis worked on his international CD "Beautiful things", on which internationally known artists, among others Vanessa Williams and Vittorio Grigolo , but also the Greek singer Alkistis Protopsalti took part. In the winter of 2010/11 he stood every evening for seven weeks with Alkistis Protopsalti in a musical show on the stage of the Pallas Theater in Athens.

In 2016 Frangoulis released the album "Kivotos" (Ark) where he interprets well-known Greek songs together with Giorgos Perris.

CD publications

Iera Odos (1998)
Fengari Erotevmeno - Mario Frangoulis (2 CDs, 1999)
Single Enas Hartinos Illios
Acropolis - Mario Frangoulis 2000
Mario Frangoulis - Sometimes I Dream (2002)
Enas Chartinos Ilios - Mario Frangoulis (2003)
Mario Frangoulis - Follow Your Heart (2004)
O Kipos Ton Evchon / The Garden of Hope (2005)
Passione (2007)
Skotinos erotas / Amor Oscuro / Federico Garica Lorca (2007)
Music of the Night (2007)
Mario & Friends / ... What a Wonderful World (2008)
Mario & Friends 2 ... It Makes the World Go Around (2009)
Seasons of Love (2010)
Seasons of Love 2 (2010)
ΒΙΒΛΙΟΠΩΛΕΙΟ ΜΙΕΤ / ΤΣΙΜΙΣΚΗ 11 / ΘΕΣΣΑΛΟΝΙΚΗ (2010)
Mario My best of Frangoulis (2010)
Beautiful things (2011)
Kivotos (2016)
Γαλάζια Λίμνη / Turquoise Waters (2019, GR 1st place )

DVD publications

2002: Mario Frangoulis - Sometimes I Dream
2005: Mario Frangoulis - Follow Your Heart

Web links

personal data
SURNAME	Frangoulis, Mario
ALTERNATIVE NAMES	Fragoulis, Marios
BRIEF DESCRIPTION	Greek singer
DATE OF BIRTH	18th December 1966
PLACE OF BIRTH	Zimbabwe