The extraordinary Nana Mouskouri vies with Madonna as the most popular female singer of all time. In a career spanning six decades she has sold 350 million records, sung in fifteen different languages.
At first Nana captivated audiences in the tavernas and nightclubs of Athens. Her early recordings were made under the auspices of the two most important post- war Greek composers, Manos Hadjidakis and Mikos Theodorakis, the former collaborating with the poet Nikos Gatsos in the creation of some of these compositions.
Nana recorded for the local Fidelity label and while in 1958 ‘Hartino To Fengaraki’ (The Paper Moon) proved a domestic hit, it was the success of ‘Ta Pedia Tou Pirea’ (The Children of Piraeus), the themesong of Jules Dassin’s movie, Never On Sunday, that heralded the breakthrough. Nominated for five Academy awards, the film won the Oscar for Best Original Song, sparking unprecedented interest in Greek music and culture that helped propel Nana onto the world stage.
The Voice of Greece is a 3 cd box set presentation that concentrates exclusively on recordings made in Nana’s formative years in Greece. A quantity of rare single A & B sides complement Hadjidakis’ breezy, eclectic score for the German film production, Greece, ‘Dreamland Of Desire’ (Hellas i chora ton oniron), alongside selections from his “prayer-offering” to modern Greece, Lilacs Out Of The Dead Land. Also featured is the Song cycle Epitaphios – the poet Yannis Ritsos’ lament inspired by the death of a Thessaloniki tobacco-factory worker during a strike – set to music by Mikis Theodorakis and orchestrated by Hadjidakis. Profoundly moving, the Epitaphios sessions stand as some of the finest work of Nana’s long career.
CD ONE – THE VOICE OF GREECE
01. XYPNA AGAPI MOU
02. ILISSOS
03. MIA SINNEFIA
04. ERINI
05. KANELA – KANELORIZA
06. TA PEDIA TOU PIREA
07. TO TRAGOUDI TIS KHALIMAS
08. SAN PARAMITHI, SAN ISTORIA=
09. KONTESSA KONESSINA MOU
10. I VROCHOULA
11. MIA MERA AKOMI (ONE MORE DAY)
12. ELA PARE MOU TI LIPI (TAKE MY SORROW AWAY)
13. I PRODOSIA
14. KATHE TRELLO PEDI
15. TO FENGARI INE KOKKINO
16. XERO KAPIO ASTERI
17. TRIANTAFILO STO STITHOS
18. I TIMORIA
19. O IMITTOS
20. HARTINO TO FEGGARAKI (THE PAPER MOON)
21. YA SENA TIN AGAPI MOU (MY LOVE IS FOR YOU)
22. O KARAGIOZIS
23. KAPOU IPARHI AGAPI MOU (MY LOVE IS SOMEWHERE)
24. AGAPI POU EJINES DIKOPO MACHERI
25. MAZI ME SENA
26. FASCINATION
27. POTE TIN KYRIAKI
DISC TWO – EPITAPHOIS AND MORE SONGS OF HER HOMELAND
01. POU PETAXE T’AGORI MOU?
02. CHILI MOU MOSCOMIRISTO
03. MERA MAYOU
04. VASSILEPSES ASTERI MOU
05. ISSOUN KALOS (ISSOUN GLIKOS)
06. STO PARATHIRI STEKOSSOUN
07. T’ATHANATO NERO
08. GLIKE MOU ESSI
09. VREXEI STI FTOXOGEITONIA
10. ENA TO HELIDONI
11. I HARTAETI
12. O KYR ANTONIS
13. KOURASMENO PALIKARI
14. XERO KAPIO STENO
15. TO MIKRO TO MAGAZI
16. TO TRAGOUDI TIS EURIDIKIS
17. TO KIPARISSAKI
18. I MANA MOU ME DERNEI
19. ANNISTA MOU ANNOULA MOU
20. PAME MIA VOLTA STO FENGARI
21. THALASSA PLATIA
22. PISSO AP’TIS TRIANDAFILES
23. LA LA LA
24. O KALOS KALO DEN EXI
25. BOUZOUKIA
DISC THREE
01-19 GREECE DREAMLAND OF DESIRE (HELLAS I CHORA TON ONIRON)
20-26 SELECTIONS FROM PASHALIES MESA APO TIN NEKRI GI (LILACS OUT OF THE DEAD LAND)
01. A LINDEN BRANCH
02. TWO SMALL CYCLAMENS
03. YOUNG MOON
04. A PLUME OF BLUE SMOKE
05. AN OLD WINDMILL
06. ACROSS THE CUT REEDS
07. ATHENS THEME
08. PELOPONNISSOS – MYSTRAS
09. PYLOS – METHONI – MANI
10. STREET IN THE MARKET
11. RIVERS AND BRIDGES
12. METEORA
13. DODONI PELLA
14. SOUNION – AEGEAN SEA
15. IOS – THEME FROM AEGEAN
16. SKYROS – SKOPELOS
17. RHODES – MIRAMARE
18. MYKONOS – WINDMILLS
19. IKARIA – KAMEROS – LINDOS
20. FTOHO KOMBOLOGAKI MOU (WORRY BEADS)
21. PERIPATOS (BAXE TSIFLIKI)
22. TO DOMATIO ENAS PEDIOU (A CHILD’S BEDROOM)
23. ANDREAS ZEPOS (CAPTAIN ANDREAS ZEPOS)
24. ENA KORITSI APO TIN ALEXANDRIA (A GIRL FROM ALEXANDRIA)
25. I ORA APO TOU APOHERETISMOU (DANCE FROM THE DODECANESE ISLANDS)
26. APO TIS ZEAS TO LIMANI (FROM THE HARBOUR OF ZEA)
