The Hellenic Project 2022-23 | Vangelis Korakakis: The Flame Hides Suffering, Veronica Davaki – Thodoris Matoulas – Maria Bildea: Rebetiko Arpeggio

The first part consists in the presentation of the leading folk composer Vangelis Korakakis’s new work, “The Flame Hides Suffering,” arranged by Dimitris Papadimitriou and performed by Veronica Davaki in this first presentation in Greece.

Thrilled by the material that has emerged from his new work, Vangelis Korakakis states the following: “My collaboration with the great vocalist Veronica Davaki came as a surprise and was totally unexpected. The five minutes we spent backstage in the dressing rooms of the TV Show “Mousiko Kouti” [Music Box], when I first approached her out of the blue, playing my song “Kapou Fysouse” [The Wind Was Blowing Somewhere], were enough to seal this partnership and put it into action.” Eight more songs of mine followed up, on the condition that they would be arranged by our great, unique musician and composer Dimitris Papadimitriou; this term was gladly accepted.

I will always treasure the magical, unthought-of moments of this recording, during which I was watching a classical orchestra performing my songs following the movements of Dimitris’s baguette. I wish them the best of luck, as they embark on this new journey.

The second part, “Rebetiko Arpeggio,” features rebetiko songs by Yorgos Mitsakis, Yannis Papaioannou, Markos Vamvakaris, and other well-loved composers, arranged for two harps and voice by Thodoris Matoulas, and performed by Veronica Davaki, who came up with the original idea.

In the words of Davaki, commenting on this original approach: “Our starting point was the wish to enjoy the sound of one of our favorite instruments, which we rarely encounter in solo pieces – and all the more scarcely in Greek folk compositions rendering well-loved songs that are stored in our cellular memory.

However, this unique idea could not be grounded in musicological and historical terms: The lyrical sound of the harp has been associated with Western symphonic music, baroque and the Renaissance, Irish and Latin American music. However, the relationship between this instrument and Eastern music goes back deeper in time. The harp appeared in Europe after the 8th century AD, while in Greece it was an instrument that played a key role in ancient Hellenic culture from as early as 3000 BC.

In the end, when listening to rebetika through the primordial sound of the harp, the audience is connected to the song’s ancient Hellenic root and witnesses the revival of the power and deepest essence of Greek musical tropes. At the same time, thanks to the instrument’s evolution in the context of European and contemporary music, this combination propels the repertoire to a global realm of the future. We sincerely hope you will also enjoy this ride!”

Both works are commissioned by the Hellenic Project, an initiative that aims at building a repertoire and fosters the production of original musical material by both younger and established composers.

In the telling words of Dimitris Papadimitriou, the founder and artistic director of the project, the study of the rebetiko songs and their impact on today’s artistic creation makes an attempt to “relaunch” the history of music from the “start” but also in other directions, in search of the ancient origins of power and truth.