George Dalaras Γιώργος Νταλάρας | |
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| Background information | |
| Born | 29 September 1949 Piraeus, Greece |
| Origin | Greek |
| Genres | pop music, éntekhno, laïko, traditional folk music, rebetiko, byzantine music, rock music, music of Latin America, western classical music, contemporary classical music, symphonic music, opera, etc |
| Occupation(s) | Singer, musician, composer, instrumentalist, music arranger, record producer, recording artist |
| Instrument(s) | Voice, guitar, string instrument, bouzouki, oud, baglamas, tzouras, harmonica, percussion instrument |
| Years active | 1967–present |
| Website | http://www.georgedalaras.com |
George Dalaras (Γιώργος Νταλάρας, 29 September 1949) is a Greek singer and musician. He is one of the most prominent figures of Greek musical culture. In October 2006, he was selected as a Goodwill Ambassador for the UN Refugee Agency.
He was born in Piraeus. His first memories of music were the basic forms of Greek music, such as traditional, folk, rebetiko, laïka, which influenced him as an artist. In addition, he has performed many other music genres in several different languages, such as pop, rock, latin, contemporary, byzantine music, classical, opera etc. He has collaborated with many Greek and foreign artists (composers, poets, maestros, musicians, etc). In all, he has released almost 90 personal albums and has collaborated in more than 140 others as singer, musician or producer.[1][2] He is the Greek artist who has performed the biggest concerts of all time, both in Greece and abroad.[3] He has performed at some of the most famous concert halls and stadiums all over the world, and has collaborated with many of the most renowned symphonic orchestras of the world.[4] He has received several honors and awards, including the "Kennedy" Award and the UNESCO Goodwill Ambassadorship.
George Dalaras has released almost 90 personal albums (which in total have sold more than 18,000,000 copies worldwide) and has collaborated in more than 140 albums of others as singer, musician or producer, always expanding his musical horizons with his multi–faceted creativity.[5]
"George Dalaras sings in Greek, yet his music, springing from the heart, has a universal appeal" stated the French daily Le Figaro in 1993, long after his reputation had reached across the borders of his native land. The packed theatres and stadiums, the thousands of concerts, the tenths of tours around the world, the collaborations with many prominent Greek and foreign artists, the collaborations with many of the most renowned symphonic orchestras of the world etc, ascertain George Dalaras’ exceptional and unique course as an artist and as an ambassador of the Greek culture.
In 1983, he performed two back to back sold-out concerts in the Olympic Stadium of Athens, attended by more than 160,000 people.[6] It is the biggest music event ever held in Greece. "Greek music enters the era of the big stadiums" stated the Rolling Stone magazine.[7] In 1987, he performed a third personal sold-out concert at the Olympic Stadium of Athens.[8]
Since the late 1970s, he has performed in over 800 concerts outside Greece, promoting Greek culture abroad. He has performed at some of the most famous concert halls all over the world, such as Radio City Music Hall, Royal Albert Hall, Metropolitan Opera, Olympia, Roy Thompson Hall, Meadowlands Arena, Kooyong Stadium, Rod Laver Arena, Sydney Opera House, Hammerstein Ballroom, Madison Square Garden, Wembley Arena, Rosemont Theatre, Trump Taj Mahal, Heichal HaTarbut, The Wang Theatre, Apollo Theater, Place des Arts, Wiener Konzerthaus, Palais des Congrès, etc.[9][5]
He has also appeared at numerous cultural festivals, including Cuba (1981,1998), the Europalia Festival in Brussels (1982), the Peace Festival in Vienna (1983), the Youth Festival in Moscow (1985), the Aid to Africa Concert in the Peace and Friendship Stadium in Piraeus (1986), the Amnesty International Concert in Athens with Peter Gabriel, Sting, Bruce Springsteen, Tracy Chapman and Youssou'n'Dour (1988),[10] the Poznan Jazz Festival in Poland (1999), the Crossing Border Festival in Amsterdam (2001), the Saratoga Festival in USA, with the famous Philadelphia Orchestra conducted by Charles Dutoit (2001), etc.[11]
In 1992, he performed a sold-out concert at the Wembley Arena in London. It is the biggest Greek concert ever held in United Kingdom. It was a personal initiative of George Dalaras, to support Cyprus and to promote the Cyprus problem. Among others, Vanessa Redgrave and Georges Moustaki had taken part in the concert.[12]
In 1994, he performed at the Meadowlands Arena in New Jersey before an audience of 22,000.[13] It is the biggest Greek concert ever held outside of Greece. This concert was also dedicated to Cyprus. After this concert, he was invited to Washington D.C., where he received the "Kennedy" Award from Senator Edward Kennedy, in recognition of his humanitarian contributions.[14]
George Dalaras is a Greek traveler, an exceptional interpreter, a restless musician who deeply believes in the individual character of Greek music, in its power and its competence and, at the same time, in its global quality. His relentless pursuits journeyed Greece to the end of the world while, his conviction that the multinational model is based on the mutual possession of the artistic heritage has fused his interpretation abilities with the dexterity of a number of the most renowned orchestras of the world.[15][16][17]
Since the 1960s, George Dalaras has sung numerous different Greek music styles (e.g. rebetiko, laïkó, Latin, pop), Israeli and Arabic music, and religious music. He has collaborated with many contemporary Greek composers, including Mikis Theodorakis, Stavros Kouyioumtzis, Manos Loizos, Apostolos Kaldaras, Stavros Xarhakos, Manos Hadjidakis and Christos Nikolopoulos. He also discovered and supported young Areti Ketime, producing her first album. Apart from his prominent singing career, Dalaras is considered to be one a talented musician as he plays most of the stringed instruments of a Greek folk band with great success, including the guitar, bouzouki, baglamas, tzouras and outi. He has accompanied Al Di Meola and Paco de Lucía, among others. Dalaras' most important projects include collaborations with several international singers, including British singer Sting, releasing together a duet of Sting's song Mad About You. He has also collaborated with Pyx Lax, Bruce Springsteen, Jethro Tull, Yehuda Poliker, Emma Shapplin, Goran Bregovic, Apostolis Anthimos, Dulce Pontes, Andriana Babali and many others. Dalaras moved from his homestay label of Minos EMI in favour of Universal Music Greece in 2006, thus ending an almost 40-year collaboration.
In 2000, Dalaras discovered a new local orchestra that specialized at traditional Smirneiko (from Smyrna) and Rebetiko songs. The orchestra's name was "Εστουδιαντίνα Νέας Ιωνίας" (Estoudiantina Neas Ionias[21] and it came from Nea Ionia, a city near Volos. Dalaras pulled Estoudiantina in the light of publicity and make it known to the Greek public. Since then Estoudiantina has become one of the most important and famous orchestras in Greece. Estoudiantina's repertoire now also includes Modern Greek, Greek Laiko, and Mediterranean.
Dalaras' first song, "Προσμονή" (Prosmoni, "expectation"), was recorded in 1967. The single never reached any popular status, in fact it was barely released. Dalaras even had to struggle to get into the studio, as ironically the day he began his studio career was the day that the Greek military junta took over the streets of Athens, and the roads were littered with tanks. After several appearances on various recordings as a guest singer, his debut album was released in early 1969, a self-titled album released on the Minos label. The recording included many compositions by Stavros Kouyioumtzis, who in the early years proved a fountain of help towards Dalaras achieving musical success. As Dalaras has said in various interviews, he owes the fact that he became a singer to Kouyioumtzis, who composed Dalaras' first songs. His relation with Kouyioumtzis remained friendly until the sudden death of the composer due to a heart attack in March 2005.
The biggest hit of the record, "Που 'ναι τα χρόνια" (Pou 'ne ta chronia, "Where are the years?"), is still sung today, and is regarded as a mainstay in Dalaras' large repertoire. In 1970, he released the album "Να 'τανε το 21 " (Na 'tane to ikosi-ena, "If only it were '21", that is, 1821, a reference to the Greek War of Independence). The album was immediately more successful than his debut LP and included hits such as "Na 'tane to 21'", "Κάπου νυχτώνει" ("Kapou nichtoni", Somewhere the night falls), and an instrumental version of "Pou 'ne ta chronia". The album was made up entirely of compositions by Stavros Kouyioumtzis. The songs were mainly reinterpretations, as was common in the late 60s for new Greek singers; however, not all the songs on their first release (most of them on the smaller yet more distinctive LYRA label) had proved successful, and in many instances, even now, many people in Greece believe that the Dalaras songs are originals and not cover versions.
In 1972, Dalaras along with singer Haris Alexiou, received his big break in the Greek music industry when their LP "Μικρά Ασία" (Mikra Asia, Asia Minor) went gold, his first album to do so. The songs were written by Apostolos Kaldaras, a heavyweight in the laïkó scene of the 50s and 60s, who at this time decided to enter the political fray of Greek music. Dalaras and Alexiou were immediately thrown into the limelight. The LP was also recently re-released in both CD and limited edition LP format by Minos-EMI. The Mikra Asia LP was followed up by "Βυζαντινός Εσπερινός" (Vizantinos Esperinos, Byzantine Vespers) in 1973. The album consisted again of Dalaras and Haris Alexiou, and was composed by Apostolos Kaldaras, however the lyrics were by the emerging Lefteris Papadopoulos, who had written Dalaras' first official recording. This was the last time that Dalaras officially worked with Apostolos Kaldaras in the studio, however, they worked together in live performances. Unlike Mikra Asia, Vizantinos Esperinos did not meet with exceptional sales, and is somewhat 'forgotten' in the repertoire of Dalaras's songs.
After several LPs and further collaborations with Kouyioumtzis, Kaldaras, Manos Loïzos, Mikis Theodorakis and others, Dalaras decided to release his own renditions of rebetiko songs on the double LP "50 Χρόνια Ρεμπέτικο Τραγούδι" (Peninta Chronia Rebetiko Tragoudi, 50 Years of Rebetiko songs), released 1975. The recording proved an immediate success, despite the toning down of the lyrics. However, as a result, a new movement was set to take place in Greek music, and the once forgotten rebetes were finding themselves performing, in some cases for the first time in 30 to 40 years. He followed up this work with an LP in 1980, "Ρεμπέτικα της Κατοχής" (Rebetika tis Katohis, Rebetiko (songs) of the occupation), which was a more gritty and meaty release, more faithful to the tone of the original rebetika as heard in the 1930s. However, again references to drugs were cut out, and only mentioned in passing. Unlike the previous double LP, this one contained some of the original musicians, Bayianteras and Genitsaris in particular making an appearance on the album.
Dalaras had been scheduled to perform a concert on the closing night of the second International Orthodox Youth Conference held in Istanbul from 11 to 15 July 2007.[22] The event, organised by the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople, had drawn the ire of the Turkish press and Turkish nationalist politicians who filed complaints to the Governorship of Istanbul to revoke the licence for the concert it had issued, and the concert was abruptly cancelled by the Turkish authorities of the Governorship of Istanbul on the grounds that the country's Archaeological Service did not permit the use of the planned venue, the 15th century Rumeli Hisar castle. The site had previously been used for international theatre festivals and for an international dance festival, until its use was prohibited by the Archaeological Service.[23] The last-minute cancellation of the concert attracted strong media coverage and criticism in neighbouring Greece.[24]
Dalaras was born George Daralas, son of the rembetiko singer Loukas Daralas. He subsequently anagrammatized his name to Dalaras. Since 1983, Dalaras is married to Anna Ragousi, also his manager and former politician who served with the PASOK government in 2009 and 2011. They have one daughter, Georgianna. Dalaras is a collector of musical instruments and in his spare time he goes fishing and traveling on his motorcycle, being a big motorsports fan.
