Nana Mouskouri

Nana Mouskouri (2012)

Nana Mouskouri ( Greek Νάνα Μούσχουρη , born October 13, 1934 in Chania , Crete ; actually Ioanna Mouschouri ( Ιωάννα Μούσχουρη )) is a Greek singer and politician . In the German-speaking world, she was best known for the hit White Roses from Athens . Her musical versatility and linguistic talent enabled her to pursue a worldwide career. According to a survey by the World Association of the Phono Industry in 2015, Mouskouri was the most successful singer in the world after Madonna, with 300 million records sold. More than 300 gold , platinum and diamond records document Mouskouri's decades of success. In 2015 she received the ECHO for her life's work.

biography

Training and first musical appearances

Nana Mouskouri was born in Chania , where her father worked as a projectionist in a cinema, her parents came from Corfu (city) . Together with her older sister, Nana Mouskouri moved to Athens, where both trained at the Athens Conservatory . Nana Mouskouri completed her studies and took the subjects of classical singing , piano and harmony . During this time she was also interested in jazz, which she presented at her first appearances. She later named Ella Fitzgerald , Billie Holiday and Frank Sinatra as role models . Because of her turn to jazz, Mouskouri left the conservatory without a degree.

As a singer, she became a member of The Athenians quartet in 1958 , which played jazz in small clubs in the Greek capital and called itself Trio Kantsone (sic) as a trio . A little later she made the acquaintance of the composer Manos Hadjidakis , whose songs later enabled her to break through as a singer.

Their first singles appeared on the Greek market in 1958. Over the decades, more than 1,550 titles were to follow, published in a wide variety of languages: Greek, French, German, English, Spanish, Italian, and a few songs also in Dutch, Portuguese, Japanese, Russian, Walloon and Hebrew. Distinctive features of Nana Mouskouri are her long black hair and her rectangular, black-framed glasses, the shape of which has changed little over the decades. In interviews, she stated that she owns over a hundred different models. She was the first important artist to appear in public with glasses.

breakthrough

In October 1959 she won first prize at the Festival de la Chanson Héllenique (Festival ellinikou tragoudiou) with the title Kapou yparchi i agapi mou (Somewhere my love exists) . At the same time, she was able to claim second place in a joint performance with the Trio Kantsone and with the song Xero kapio asteri (I know a star). Her appearances there were similarly successful in the two following years, in 1960 both of the songs she performed, Kyparissaki and Timoria , tied for first place and in 1961, where Mouskouri and Kourasmeno palikari won second prize. In 1960 she won the first international prize in Barcelona. Mouskouri became famous in Greece when Mikis Theodorakis recorded the record Epitafios with her , a setting of the poems by Giannis Ritsos . However, Theodorakis was not entirely satisfied with this version and recorded the album again with the singer Grigoris Bithikotsis , with the bouzouki as a workers instrument dominating the sound in this version . Nevertheless Mouskouri was able to book a great success with the record.

She published her hit White Roses from Athens in 1961 in various languages. In French, the musical journey did not go to Athens, but to Corfu: Roses blanches de Corfou . The German-language single sold over one and a half million times within the first six months. For this she received a gold record in 1962. She originally sang this title in Manos Hadzidaki's film music Traumland der Sehnsucht , although the original had nothing to do with roses ( San sfyrixis tris fores - When you whistle three times).

World career

Ron Kroon : Nana Mouskouri (1966)

In 1962, a great dream of Mouskouri came true: the producer and musician Quincy Jones asked her to record in the USA - this is how the jazz album The Girl From Greece Sings was created , which opened the doors to American show business for her, but initially hardly had any commercial traces left behind. A re-release in 1999 as Nana Mouskouri in New York was a great success, especially in Germany, as the largely unknown recordings showed a completely different side of Mouskouri, who is known as a pop and chanson singer. Harry Belafonte became aware of the Greek woman through her jazz recordings : tours with the musician followed from 1963. In the same year she represented Luxembourg at the Eurovision Song Contest with the song A force de prier , but only finished eighth. In the same year she appeared in the French preliminary round with the song Encore plus près de toi . Three years later the LP An Evening With Belafonte / Mouskouri was released. Although the record sold well on the US market, Mouskouri was denied success like in Europe or the rest of the world. Regular tours and countless record releases made Mouskouri one of the most successful artists in the world. Exceptionally, she never took a long break - new recordings are constantly being released every year.

In Germany she worked with the songwriter Rolf Zuckowski in the 1970s ( Guten Morgen, Sonnenschein , 1977). She had her second biggest hit after White Roses from Athens in 1986: The song Only Love , from the successful TV miniseries Mistral's Daughter , reached number two in the British charts - to this day the only single of her long career that could even be placed there. The German and French versions of Only Love , but the love remains or L'amour en héritage , was their last hit in Germany and France. After that, she concentrated again largely on the album market. In 1993, for example, the album Hollywood - Great Songs From the Movies, arranged by Michel Legrand , was created . Almost ten years later, after her jazz recordings had been rediscovered in Germany, she performed live with the same repertoire in Stuttgart ; the CD Nana Swings contains these recordings.

In 2004, the extensive box collection with its French recordings was released on 34 CDs along with countless bonus titles in various languages. The box also contains a comprehensive book about her life and work. A year later the English box Complete English Works was published: 17 CDs with English songs, various bonus titles and a book. Around the same time Mouskouri announced her farewell tour, during which she toured the world again for four years. The tour ended in Athens in summer 2008. For isolated concerts or special events, Mouskouri still wants to take the stage. On November 21 of the same year she was a guest at Till Brönner's Talkin 'Jazz in the Bonn Forum. In 2010 Nana Mouskouri sang as part of a gala evening for the 80th birthday of the German concert promoter legend Fritz Rau on March 20th in the Alte Oper. In 2018 she was awarded the European Taurus Culture Prize for her life's work.

Mouskouri published her memoirs as early as 2007: Mémoires: La fille de la chauve-souris in French and Memoirs in English, in Germany the work was published in October 2008 with the title Voice of Longing - My Memories .

Private

Nana Mouskouri with her then husband Georgios Petsilas, 1969

On December 19, 1960, Mouskouri married Georgios Petsilas, the conductor, composer and guitarist of their longtime accompanist Athenians. From this marriage she has two children: Nicolas (born February 13, 1968) and Hélène (born July 7, 1970). The marriage was divorced in 1976. The two children followed their mother into show business: Nicolas works in various areas of the film industry, Hélène released the album Any Given Day (2004) under the stage name Lénou . Mouskouri has been married to her long-term partner André Chapelle since January 13, 2003. Mouskouri lives alternately in Geneva, Athens and Paris.

politics

Nana Mouskouri participated in the opposition to the dictatorship of the colonels in Greece . After the end of the military dictatorship , after more than 20 years of exile, she performed on July 23 and 24, 1984 in the Odeon of Herodes Atticus in Athens. Recordings of these concerts were later released on record.

She has been a UNICEF special envoy since 1993 . From 1994 to 1999 she was a MEP for the conservative Nea Dimokratia . She turned down the candidacy for a second term because, according to her statement in the European Parliament, everything revolves around maintaining power and party politics, truth and freedom are neglected.

Others

The songwriter Funny van Dannen released a song on his album Clubsongs , which is entitled Nana Mouskouri . It was recorded in 1996 under the title Nana M. by Udo Lindenberg on his album Und ewig rausch die Linde as a cover version. In 1997 she sang in the French music project Les Enfoirés .

Discography

→ Main article : Nana Mouskouri / Discography

literature

• Nana Mouskouri: Voice of Longing. My memories . Schwarzkopf & Schwarzkopf , 2008, ISBN 978-3-89602-848-8 .

Web links

Commons : Nana Mouskouri  - collection of images, videos and audio files

• Works by and about Nana Mouskouri in the catalog of the German National Library
• nana-mouskouri.net
• Nana Mouskouri in the Internet Movie Database (English)
• Nana Mouskouri on MusicBrainz (English)
• Tribute and photo by Nana Mouskouri
• nanamouskouri.qc.ca
• Interview with Nana Mouskouri on Spiegel Online , October 3, 2014

Individual evidence

1. ^ Nana Mouskouri: Outstanding lifetime achievement | All media content | DW.COM | 03/23/2015 . German wave .
2. ↑ Universal record company ( Memento of the original from February 17, 2009 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. 
3. ↑ Echo 2015: Nana Mouskouri receives an award for her life's work . ( Memento of the original from March 15, 2015 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. 
4. ↑ Discography of your fan club ( Memento of the original from December 18, 2008 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. 
5. ↑ UK Top 40 Hit Database
6. ^ German single charts archive
7. ↑ mouskouri.de
8. ↑ kasse4.wordpress.com
9. ↑ Nicolas Petsilas in the Internet Movie Database (English)
10. ↑ Official site: Lénou ( Memento of the original from September 21, 2008 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. 
11. ↑ General-Anzeiger Bonn ( Memento of the original from February 20, 2009 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. 
12. ↑ Greece has lived with a lie for 30 years on www.welt.de, accessed on May 16, 2020.
13. ↑ Nan Mouskouri live at the Odeon Herodes Atticus at www.whyathens.com, accessed on May 16, 2020.
14. ^ Entry on Nana Mouskouri in the European Parliament 's database of representatives
15. ↑ lyrics.wikia.com