The World of Music: Maria Farantouri in the service of Art and Greece

Maria Hadzara

Hadzara M., The World of Music: Maria Farantouri in the service of Art and Greece, HOU, Athens, 2020.
Language | Greek.

M. Hadzara is a radio producer and -since 1994- collaborator of M. Farantouri.

Ηερ text constitutes her thesis, integrated within the framework of the study unit The Dimensions of Cultural Phenomena, for the completion of the postgraduate programme in Cultural Organisations Management, at the Hellenic Open University.

Maria Farantouri is a symbol of democracy, freedom, focused in quality, moving with ease through various genres, singing sometimes with large symphony orchestras, sometimes with small musical ensembles and sometimes with just a piano. Like an ancient rhapsodist she sews her odes, creating excitement and mental euphoria in her audience, always raising it a little higher.

If the ancient rhapsodist functions as an intermediary between the divine and human community, delivering to the listeners what has been revealed to the creators by the Muses, M. Farantouri initiates the audience word by word, note by note, into the poet’s discourse where it meets the composer’s music, turning the concert into a ritual with the audience following her willingly. Combining the qualities of the ancient teachers, she handles her material with unique mastery and builds her programmes according to the occasion and the audience, opening paths where everyone will find their space to walk and take off.