MARIA DO ROSÁRIO PESTANA sobre “PERIPLUS”

MARIA DO ROSÁRIO PESTANA sobre “PERIPLUS”

/ENGLISH/ MARIA DO ROSÁRIO PESTANA on PERIPLUS

Maria do Rosário Pestana: Este texto foi lido no Colóquio Internacional “Espaços Literários e Territórios Críticos. Para
uma abordagem do espaço literário: geopoética e geocrítica
na transposição das fronteiras do conhecimento”, realizado
na Faculdade de Letras da Universidade do Porto, entre 29
de junho e 1 de julho de 2017. Agradeço à Organização do Colóquio – Instituto de Literatura Comparada Margarida
Losa (ILCML) – o convite para participar no evento.

Música e interlocução

“Tão longe, tão perto:

PERIPLUS –

deambulações
luso-gregas”

de Amélia Muge e Michales Loukovikas

Maria do Rosário Pestana

Universidade de Aveiro

Instituto de Etnomusicologia

– Centro de Estudos
em Música e Dança

Periplus, edição portuguesa

O projeto musical Periplus / deambulações luso-gregas foi concebido por dois músicos do sul da Europa: Amélia Muge, cantora, compositora, instrumentista, e autora de inúmeras letras, uma referência da música portuguesa desde os anos 90 do século passado; e Michales Loukovikas músico, compositor, produtor de rádio e jornalista grego. Este trabalho artístico, materializado num belíssimo fonograma, foi apresentado ao público português em 2012, nos palcos da Culturgest, do Centro Cultural Vila Flor ou do Festival Músicas do Mundo.

Periplus é um projeto exemplar do papel das artes, e da música em particular, em 2012 e no século XXI: surge num contexto cultural pautado por “valores” neoliberais, valores esses que segundo Castoriadis orientam os seres humanos “dans un mode de socialisation où coopération et communauté ne sont considérées et n’existent que sous le point de vue instrumental et utilitaire” (Castoriadis 1979, 36);(*) e no ponto alto da crise económica e financeira que assolou e fraturou a Europa em norte e sul e relegou para a periferia dos assuntos a vida social e os indivíduos.

• (*) Castoriadis, Cornelius (1979), Transformation sociale et création culturelle. Sociologie et sociétés. 111: 33–48.

Proposta para um novo dracma com Castoriadis no centro (e Sócrates no fundo à esquerda )
– só se os políticos gregos os tivessem no seu lugar e não fossem eunucos…

O acolhimento que teve por parte do público – sendo agora um conteúdo introduzido pelos organizadores deste congresso sobre geopoética e geocrítica na transposição das fronteiras do conhecimento – ilustra a possibilidade do poder criador e de participação dos indivíduos músicos na construção de um Outro conhecimento, um conhecimento sensível aberto ao diálogo, à partilha, assente no valor da alteridade, na ética do respeito pelo outro.

Periplus faz-nos imergir numa história de circum-navegação, num espaço recortado pelos mares do Mediterrâneo, do Índico, do Atlântico, atravessando territórios de memórias de viagem e também de dominação. No contexto social e político que referi, este périplo introduz um novo assunto a propósito de Portugal e da Grécia – a partilha ancestral de músicas e de conhecimentos – e propõe um novo lugar de enunciação, dando visibilidade a outra geografia relacional: o Mediterrâneo. Na verdade, a costa e o mar Mediterrâneo estão no centro da música – nos navios que o atravessaram, que dele partiram e a ele regressaram – um perímetro de comunicação e de vida social que rompe com as fronteiras territoriais e étnicas que definem os estados-nação, revelando uma outra cartografia da coexistência, da conexão entre pessoas, do pertencimento e da identificação pela música. Aliás, este projeto documenta a sustentação do etnomusicólogo Bruno Nettl de que a música expressa e interpreta relações entre pessoas, entre culturas e entre sociedades, independentemente das barreiras que as separam.

Pausa, de C. Guedez

Os músicos Amélia Muge e Michales Loukovikas começaram o projeto nas redes da Internet num processo de descoberta mútua, o qual passou pela revelação e partilha de canções e poesias de um e outro lado da Europa. A constatação da proximidade e o compromisso intersubjetivo deu-se imediatamente nos primeiros contactos. Michales Loukovikas diz que começaram a trocar e a pesquisar canções e poesias das tradições lusitana e helénica, portuguesa e grega, do passado e do presente. No documentário que podemos ver e ouvir neste site, Amélia Muge referiu: “o que me impressionou muito foi o trabalho [O Ouro do Céu] baseado na poesia do grego Ares Alexandrou: uma poesia imediatamente ligada ao espaço e ao lugar, feita uma parte durante o fim da 2ª guerra mundial, nos campos de concentração da Líbia e uma segunda parte nas ilhas do exílio”. O espaço, a viagem, mas também o tempo, começaram a desenhar a visão de mundo que une estes dois indivíduos músicos e que culminaria em Periplus.

Periplus, edição internacional

Atrás referi que este projeto é exemplar. Defendo que é exemplar na medida em que proporciona uma experiência assente numa prática cognitiva de viagem, que abre uma possibilidade em rutura com o paradigma do mundo atual, desconstruindo criticamente tanto as visões unitárias da música local/nacional – a referência ao mundo – como as visões relativistas ‘pós-modernas’ que indiferenciam as produções musicais e culturais.

Periplus espelha bem a dimensão dialogante, interlocutória e transformadora da música. Por exemplo, em “Dos Caminhos”, percorrendo as rotas da escala pentatónica, os músicos seguem trilhos em África e desenham itinerários em Epiro, num discurso musical em constante transformação. Nessa cartografia as rotas dos caminheiros são densificadas pelo cruzamento com os caminhos do tempo: o longo passado de convivialidade entre grupos, de conexão entre pessoas, de partilha e tensão de conhecimentos e valores.

A cicládica “frigideira” usada
na capa do Periplus

A ideia de transformação autónoma e crítica aparece em inúmeras metáforas musicais e visuais ao longo deste projeto, desconstruindo as conceções unitárias da música e da cultura. Essa ideia é representada também visualmente no disco, com a imagem do fundo de uma frigideira de barro onde se fazia o pão (como metáfora de um neo-humanismo?), que faz parte de um acervo arqueológico. Os círculos concêntricos, trabalhados pela designer Cristiana Serejo transformam-se adquirindo outras formas, inclusive humanas.

Em “Palavra dada” os músicos encontraram na partilha de um mesmo ritmo um ponto de partida e também uma conexão entre duas línguas e diferentes conceitos de justiça e de usos da palavra seja para punir ou salvar, para fazer crescer ou honrar: pragas algarvias, a canção da rega, o hino a Némesis (deusa que personifica o destino e também a vingança divina), a dança cretense Syrtós. Os músicos entrelaçaram estas canções – tão divergentes nos conhecimentos de mundo que veiculam – de modo crítico e autónomo, realçando a conexão de um elemento comum: a palavra. Neste sentido, podemos dizer que a prática destes músicos – a música que fazem em Periplus – define uma geopoética, na acepção de Bertrand Westphal. Considero que este conceito é nuclear do projeto artístico Periplus e que se estende a outras dimensões, sempre críticas. No depoimento que ouvimos, Michales Loukovikas descreveu a surpresa que teve ao encontrar pontos de conexão, proximidades, entre uma canção cretense e uma canção portuguesa, tendo, a partir daí, construído uma história musical dessa canção da idade média aos nossos dias.

Epitáfio de Seikilos

A ideia de pontes, de conexão estende-se a domínios da música como o da chamada música culta – do primeiro documento escrito de música de que há memória, o epitáfio de Seikilos – da música folclórica, da música de intervenção com Zeca Afonso, etc. Esse princípio aplica-se ao tempo passado/presente: também o passado não é neste projeto musical uma determinação que priva estes indivíduos músicos da liberdade de construir o seu presente e pensar o seu futuro. As tradições, os documentos históricos que testemunham as viagens cantadas e tocadas neste disco, são assumidos de modo crítico e emancipado, enunciando passo a passo um Outro passado, aberto à partilha e conexão intersubjetiva, rompendo tanto com a atomização dos indivíduos nos seus egoísmos narcisistas, como com a sua redução a massas ou a coletivos estereotipados. O projeto musical Periplus oferece a cada um de nós essa visão crítica e comprometida através de uma experiência de conexão cultural e musical, nas relações históricas, na valorização da diferença, na horizontalidade das participações e aberta a quem se dispuser a ouvir e a deixar-se mobilizar.

● Ver também: GIORGOS ANDREOU sobre “PERIPLUS”

TROUPE MUSICAL do PERIPLUS: Amélia Muge: voz, guitarra braguesa, coros, fala, sons de ambiente. | Michales Loukovikas: voz, coros, fala, amostras de vozes e sons, estalos, percussão, acordeão, palmas.
António Quintino: contrabaixo. | Filipe Raposo: piano, teclados, acordeão. | Harris Lambrakis: ney (flauta oriental), flauta de bisel. | José Martins: percussão, kalimba, sintetizador, sons, palmas. | José Salgueiro: percussão, palmas. | Kyriakos Gouventas: violin, viola, bandolim. | Manos Achalinotopoulos: clarino (clarinete folk), voz, coros. | Ricardo Parreira: guitarra portuguesa.

CONVIDADOS ESPECIAIS: Eleni Tsaligopoulou, cantora: lengalengas, risos, coros, voz. | Hélia Correia, escritora: voz. | Outra Voz, coro dos cidadãos de Guimarães: sons de água, de vento, de mar, de ambiente, coros, lengalengas, respirações, falas.

OUTROS PARTICIPANTES: André Maia: fala. | Catarina Anacleto: violoncelo, coros. | Cristina Benedita: coros. | Dimitris Mystakidis: bouzouki, djurá, guitarra de rebético. | Eduardo Salgueiro: palmas. | Francisco e Sofia Van Epps: lengalengas, risos. | Irene Bakalopoulou: harpa. | José Barros: bandolim, cavaquinho, guitarra braguesa, coros. | José Manuel David: kalimba, voz, trompa, gaita, coros. | Kostas Theodorou: contrabaixo, percussão. | Mariana Abrunheiro: coros. | Margarida Guerreiro: pragas. | Pedro Pinhal: viola de fado. | Rui Vaz: fala, coros. | Teresa Muge: voz, pragas. | Ziad Rajab: oud. | Zoe Tiganouria: acordeão.

La Justice et la Vengeance divine poursuivant le Crime (A Justiça e a Vingança divina [Némesis] perseguindo o Crime, de Pierre Paul Prud’hon (1808)

MARIA DO ROSÁRIO PESTANA on “PERIPLUS”

MARIA DO ROSÁRIO PESTANA on “PERIPLUS”

/PORTUGUÊS/ MARIA DO ROSÁRIO PESTANA sobre PERIPLUS

Maria do Rosário Pestana: professor in the University of Aveiro, and researcher of the Institute of Ethnomusicology – Centre of Studies on Music and Dance. She developed ethnomusicological studies on musical associativism, processes of documentation of music of rural matrix and music of local expression. She coordinated the book SINGING IN ALENTEJO – the land, the past and the present (2017).

Music and Dialogue

“So Distant, so Near:

PERIPLUS

Luso-Hellenic Wanderings”

by Amélia Muge and Michales Loukovikas

Maria do Rosário Pestana

University of Aveiro

Institute of Ethnomusicology – Centre of Studies on Music and Dance

● Speech at the International Colloquium “Literary Spaces and Critical Territories. Towards an Approach to Literary Space: Geopoetics and Geocriticism on Broadening the Frontiers of Knowledge”, organized by the Institute of Comparative Literature Margarida Losa (ILCML) at the Faculty of Letters of the University of Porto (June 29 to July 1, 2017).

Periplus, the Portuguese edition

The musical project Periplus / Luso-Hellenic Wanderings was conceived by two musicians from southern Europe: Amélia Muge, singer, composer, instrumentalist and author of countless lyrics, a reference in Portuguese music since the 1990s; and Michales Loukovikas, musician, composer, radio producer and journalist in Greece. This artistic work, materialized in a most beautiful phonogram, was presented to the Portuguese public in 2012, on the stages of Culturgest (Lisbon), Centro Cultural Vila Flor (Guimarães), or Festival Músicas do Mundo (Sines).

Periplus is an exemplary project on the role of the arts, and music in particular, in 2012 and in the 21st century: it emerged in a cultural context ruled by neoliberal “values”, values that, according to Castoriadis, orient human beings “dans un mode de socialisation où coopération et communauté ne sont considérées et n’existent que sous le point de vue instrumental et utilitaire” (“in a mode of socialization where cooperation and community are considered and exist only from an instrumental and utilitarian point of view”; Castoriadis, 1979, 36);(*) and at the peak of the economic and financial crisis that devastated and fractured Europe into North and South and relegated social life and the individuals to the periphery of public affairs.

• (*) Castoriadis, Cornelius (1979), Transformation sociale et création culturelle. Sociologie et sociétés. 111: 33–48.

New Drachma proposal with Castoriadis in the centre (and Socrates in the background left)
– if only Hellas had politicians with guts and not eunuchs…

The public’s reception of Periplus – being now a subject-matter introduced by the organizers of this congress on geopoetics and geocriticism on broadening the frontiers of knowledge – illustrates the possibility of the creative power and participation of individual musicians in the construction of Another knowledge, a sensitive knowledge open to dialogue, to sharing, based on the value of alterity, on the ethics of respect for the other.

Periplus makes us immerse in a history of circumnavigation, in a space delineated by the Mediterranean Sea, the Indian and Atlantic Oceans, crossing territories of memories of voyages and also of domination. In the social and political context that I mentioned, this periplus introduces a new approach regarding Portugal and Greece – the ancestral sharing of music and knowledge – and proposes a new place of enunciation, giving visibility to another relational geography: the Mediterranean. In fact, the Mediterranean Coast and Sea are at the centre of music – on the ships that crossed her, departed and returned to her – a perimeter of communication and social life that breaks with the territorial and ethnic borders which define nation-states, revealing another cartography of coexistence, of connection among people, of belonging and identifying through music. Moreover, this project documents the ethnomusicologist Bruno Nettl’s argument that music expresses and interprets relationships among people, among cultures and among societies, regardless of the barriers that separate them.

An abstract musical painting by C. Guedez

The musicians Amélia Muge and Michales Loukovikas started the project on the Internet network in a process of mutual discovery, which involved the acquaintance and sharing of songs and poetry from both sides of Europe. The verification of proximity and the intersubjective commitment took place immediately in the first contacts. As Michales Loukovikas says, they started exchanging and exploring songs and poetry of the Lusitanic and Hellenic, the Portuguese and Greek traditions, past and present. In the documentary that we can watch and listen to in the web, Amélia Muge says: “what impressed me a lot was the work [The Gold in the Sky] based on the Greek poet Ares Alexandrou’s poetry: a poetry immediately linked to space and place, done in part at the end of World War II, in [British] concentration camps in Libya, and in another part on the [Greek] islands of exile”. Space, voyage, but also time, gradually shaped the worldview that these two musicians share, culminating in Periplus.

Periplus, the international edition

I already mentioned that this project is exemplary. I argue that it is exemplary in that it provides an experience based on a cognitive practice of voyage, which opens up a possibility in contrast with the paradigm of the current world, critically deconstructing both the unitary views of local/ national music – a reference to the world – as well as the ‘postmodern’ relativistic views that undifferentiate musical and cultural productions.

Periplus mirrors well the dialogical, interlocutory and transformative dimension of music. For example, in “On Routes”, wandering on the pentatonic scale routes, the musicians follow trails in Africa and plan itineraries in Epirus, in a musical discourse in constant transformation. In this cartography the wayfarers’ routes are densified crossing the routes of time: the long past of conviviality among groups, of connection among people, of sharing and tension of knowledge and values.

The Cycladic “frying pan” used for the Periplus cover

The idea of autonomous and critical transformation appears in countless musical and visual metaphors throughout this project, deconstructing the unitary conceptions of music and culture. This idea is also represented visually on the disc, with the image of the bottom of a clay frying pan where bread was made (as a metaphor for neo-humanism?), which is part of an archaeological collection. The concentric circles, worked by the designer Cristiana Serejo, are transformed acquiring other forms, including human ones.

In “Word of Honour”, sharing the same rhythm, the musicians found a starting point and also a connection between two languages and different concepts of justice and uses of the word, to either punish or save, to grow or honour: Algarvian Anathemas, the Watering Song, the Hymn to Nemesis (the goddess who personifies destiny and also divine revenge), the Cretan dance Syrtos. The musicians intertwined these songs – so divergent in the knowledge of the world they convey – in a critical and autonomous way, enhancing the connection of a common element: the word. In this sense, we can say that the practice of these musicians – the music they made in Periplus – defined a geopoetics, in Bertrand Westphal’s meaning. I believe that this concept is central in the artistic project Periplus and that it extends to other dimensions, always critical. In his testimony, Michales Loukovikas described his surprise when he found connection points, proximities, between a Cretan song and a Portuguese song, and thenceforth he constructed a musical history of that song from the Middle Ages to our days.

Seikilos Epitaph: engraved on a stele, it’s the oldest extant complete musical composition in the world.

The idea of bridges, of connection, extends to areas of music such as the so-called erudite music – of the first written document of music in memory, the Seikilos Epitaph – of folk music, of protest songs by Zeca Afonso, etc. This principle applies to the past/present time: the past in this musical project, as well, is not a determination that deprives these individual musicians of the freedom to construct their present and think about their future. Traditions, historical documents that testify to the voyages sung and played in this disc, are taken over in a critical and emancipated way, enunciating step by step Another past, open to sharing and intersubjective connection, breaking with both the atomization of individuals in their narcissistic egoisms, and with their reduction to masses or to stereotyped collectives. The musical project Periplus offers each one of us this critical and committed vision through an experience of cultural and musical connection, in historical relationships, in the appreciation of difference, in the horizontality of participations and open to anyone willing to listen and let oneself be mobilized.

● This text was read at the International Colloquium “Literary Spaces and Critical Territories. Towards an Approach to Literary Space: Geopoetics and Geocriticism on Broadening the Frontiers of Knowledge”, at the Faculty of Letters of the University of Porto between June 29 and July 1, 2017. I thank the Organization
of the Colloquium for the invitation to participate in the event.
(Maria do Rosário Pestana)

● See also: GIORGOS ANDREOU on “PERIPLUS”

PERIPLUS MUSICAL TROUPE: Amélia Muge: voice, vocals, guitarra braguesa, talk, sound-effects. | Michales Loukovikas: voice, vocals, accordion, finger-snaps, hand-claps, percussion, drone, talk, samples of voices and sounds.
Manos Achalinotopoulos: clarino (folk clarinet), voice, vocals. | Kyriakos Gouventas: violin, viola, mandolin. | Harris Lambrakis: ney (oriental flute), recorder. | José Martins: percussion, synthesizer, hand-claps, kalimba, sound-effects. | Ricardo Parreira: guitarra portuguesa. | António Quintino: double bass. | Filipe Raposo: piano, keyboards, accordion. | José Salgueiro: percussion, hand-claps.

SPECIAL GUESTS: Hélia Correia, writer: voice. | Eleni Tsaligopoulou, singer: voice, vocals, children’s songs, laughs. | Outra Voz, a Guimarães citizens’ choir: sounds of the sea, water, wind, space, vocals, children’s songs, respirations, talk.

OTHER PARTICIPANTS: Mariana Abrunheiro: vocals. | Catarina Anacleto: vocals, cello. | Irene Bakalopoulou: harp. | José Barros: vocals, mandolin, cavaquinho, guitarra braguesa. | Cristina Benedita: vocals. | José Manuel David: voice, vocals, drone, kalimba, bagpipe, horn. | Margarida Guerreiro: anathemas. | André Maia: talk. | Teresa Muge: voice, anathemas. | Dimitris Mystakidis: bouzouki, djura, rebetiko guitar. | Pedro Pinhal: fado viola (guitar). | Ziad Rajab: oud. | Eduardo Salgueiro: hand-claps. | Kostas Theodorou: percussion, double bass. | Zoe Tiganouria: accordion. | Francisco & Sofia Van Epps: children’s songs, laughs. | Rui Vaz: vocals, talk.

Justice and Divine Vengeance [Nemesis] Pursuing Crime, by Pierre Paul Prud’hon (1808)

ΜΙΧΑΛΗΣ ΛΟΥΚΟΒΙΚΑΣ – βιογραφικό

ΜΙΧΑΛΗΣ ΛΟΥΚΟΒΙΚΑΣ – βιογραφικό

/ENGLISH/ MICHALES LOUKOVIKAS – bio

Ο ΜΙΧΑΛΗΣ ΛΟΥΚΟΒΙΚΑΣ, γόνος μουσικής οικογένειας της Ξάνθης, διδάχθηκε μουσική από τον πατέρα του, στο πλευρό τού οποίου έκανε τα πρώτα του επαγγελματικά βήματα στα 15 του ως μουσικός (ακορντεόν, κιθάρα και τραγούδι), ασχολούμενος με διάφορα είδη: ποικίλη μουσική τού κόσμου, rock, μελοποιημένη ποίηση, τραγουδοποιία, μουσική για θέατρο και κινηματογράφο, ρεμπέτικο, ιδίως σμυρναίικο, και τροπική (modal) μουσική.

Σπουδάζοντας στη Θεσσαλονίκη, διηύθυνε φοιτητικά μουσικά σχήματα, και αργότερα συμμετείχε σε ρεμπέτικα και λαϊκά συγκροτήματα. Υπήρξε μέλος τής ομάδας Ευρυδίκη, που έγραφε και ανέβαζε έργα για ποικίλα θεατρικά είδη (θέατρο, κουκλοθέατρο, θέατρο σκιών), επιμελούμενος και τη μουσική τους (σύνθεση ή επιλογή μουσικών θεμάτων). Συνέβαλε επίσης στην ηχητική υπόκρουση της ταινίας Ιστορίες μιας κερήθρας (1981), του Νίκου Βεργίτση, ως δημιουργός τού μουσικού θέματος, τραγουδιστής και μουσικός.

Πτυχιούχος Αγγλικής Φιλολογίας τού Αριστοτελείου Πανεπιστημίου Θεσσαλονίκης, εργάστηκε ως καθηγητής αγγλικών, μεταφραστής, εκδότης (εκδόσεις Έρευνα), και δημοσιογράφος (εφημερίδες Μακεδονία, Θεσσαλονίκη, και Αγγελιοφόρος, ραδιοσταθμοί ΕΡΤ3), με ειδικότητα τη διεθνή σκηνή και τον πολιτισμό (ειδησεογραφία, αναλύσεις, ιστορικά χρονικά, μουσική, τέχνη, εκπαίδευση, κύρια άρθρα). Έγραψε κείμενα περί μουσικής σε ειδικά έντυπα, και συνεργάστηκε σε ραδιοφωνικές μορφωτικές εκπομπές (κείμενα, μουσική επιμέλεια, παρουσίαση).

Θέλοντας να εμβαθύνει στις διαφορές τής μουσικής Δύσης και Ανατολής, εστίασε την προσοχή του στην τροπική παράδοση, λαϊκή ή κλασική. Κρίσιμοι σταθμοί στην έρευνά του ήταν η γνωριμία του με τον Ross Daly το 1987, και η συμμετοχή του στη Διεθνή Μουσικολογική Συνάντηση των Δελφών περί μεσογειακής μουσικής το 1988.

Μια σειρά άρθρων του για τις πολιτισμικές ανταλλαγές στη Μεσόγειο, με τίτλο Μεσογείου παράπλους (εφημερίδα Θεσσαλονίκη), μετεξελίχθηκε σε ραδιοφωνική εκπομπή μακράς διάρκειας (πάνω από δώδεκα χρόνια: 1998-2010, 9,58 fm, ΕΡΤ-3) και μεγάλης ακροαματικότητας. Είχαν προηγηθεί εκπομπές όπως Flamenco: το ρεμπέτικο της Ανδαλουσίας, προσαρμόζοντας στα ελληνικά το βιβλίο Η τέχνη τού flamenco, τού Donn Pohren, κι επισημαίνοντας τις ομοιότητες ανάμεσα στα δυο είδη. Συμμετείχε, επιπλέον, μαζί με μουσικούς παραγωγούς τού σταθμού, στον δίσκο Ραδιο…+θέσεις (2002).

Συνεργάστηκε ως μουσικός με τον συνθέτη και μουσικό παραγωγό Πάρι Παρασχόπουλο στη μουσική τού θεατρικού έργου Αλεξάνδρεια-Αθήνα (2003), για τους Βίους παραλλήλους των ποιητών Κωνσταντίνου Καβάφη και Κωστή Παλαμά, που ανέβασε το θέατρο τέχνης Ακτίς Αελίου. Επίσης συνέπραξε με τον συγγραφέα, ερευνητή και τραγουδοποιό Θωμά Κοροβίνη σε συναυλίες.

 

 

 
Αποτέλεσμα της έρευνάς του γύρω από την τροπική μουσική ήταν Το Χρυσάφι τ’ Ουρανού (2008), ένα ταξίδι Δύσης-Ανατολής, σε ποίηση Άρη Αλεξάνδρου, με τη συμμετοχή 35 κορυφαίων μουσικών (όπως οι Ross Daly, Γιώργος Ανδρέου, Μάνος Αχαλινωτόπουλος, Κυριάκος Γκουβέντας, Κώστας Θεοδώρου, Ανδρέας Καρακότας, Χάρης Λαμπράκης κι Ελένη Τσαλιγοπούλου). Παρουσίασε το Χρυσάφι (φωνή, πιάνο, ακορντεόν) στο Μικρό Θέατρο της Θεσσαλονίκης, παρέα με τον Κ. Θεοδώρου (κοντραμπάσο, κιθάρα, κρουστά).

Η γνωριμία του με την Amélia Muge στη “Διαδικτυακή θάλασσα” οδήγησε σε καρποφόρα συνεργασία, αρχικά με τη δική του απόδοση στ’ αγγλικά των τραγουδιών της στην έκδοση Uma Autora, 202 Canções (2009), κι έπειτα με την ερμηνεία της στα πορτογαλικά των ποιημάτων στο Χρυσάφι τ’ Ουρανού, στο δίγλωσσο βιβλίο με δίσκο, O Ouro do Céu / Ares Alexandrou por Michales Loukovikas (2011), που παρουσιάστηκε στο βιβλιοπωλείο Buchholtz τής Λισαβόνας. Η Αμέλια και ο Μιχάλης εμφανίστηκαν για πρώτη φορά στον ίδιο χώρο το 2010, παίζοντας παρέα με τον πιανίστα Filipe Raposo.

Οι δυο τους, δουλεύοντας on line, συνθέτοντας μουσική ή διασκευάζοντας αρχαία και παραδοσιακά τραγούδια, πραγματοποίησαν έναν ελληνοπορτογαλικό περίπλου: Periplus / deambulações luso-gregas (Luso-Hellenic Wanderings στη διεθνή έκδοση, 2012), με προσκεκλημένους την ποιήτρια Hélia Correia, την Ε. Τσαλιγοπούλου και το φωνητικό σύνολο Outra Voz. Ο Περίπλους παρουσιάστηκε στο Γκιμαράες (Centro Cultural Vila Flor), τη Λισαβόνα (Culturgest), το Sines (Festival Músicas do Mundo), την Θεσσαλονίκη (Δημήτρια, Womex), την Αθήνα (βιβλιοπωλείο Ιανός), και το Rio de Janeiro (Festival Tão Longe, Tão Perto, για τη μουσική και την ποίηση, στο Πανεπιστήμιο της Βραζιλίας), με τέσσερις συναυλίες, οι δυο σε σύμπραξη με το σχήμα Música Surda.

Ο Μιχάλης συμμετείχε στη δουλειά τής Αμέλιας σε στίχους τής Amália Rodrigues, Amélia com versos de Amália (καλλιτεχνική συνδιεύθυνση, σύνθεση, ενορχήστρωση, και απόδοση των στίχων τής Αμάλιας στ’ αγγλικά, 2014). Πήρε επίσης μέρος σε συναυλίες τής Αμέλιας στο Alte (Αλγκάρβ), στην Αίθουσα Carlos Paredes (Μπενφίκα, Λισαβόνα), και στην Πόλη των Παραδόσεων (INATEL, Λισαβόνα).

Το τελευταίο εγχείρημα των Amélia Muge και Μιχάλη Λουκοβίκα, ARCHiPELAGOS / Passagens (ΑΡΧΙΠΕΛΑΓΟΣ / Δίαυλοι) (2017), πρωτοπαίχθηκε στο θέατρο Sãο Luiz τής Λισαβόνας τον Νοέμβρη τού 2017, με εξαιρετικές κριτικές στον Τύπο. Στην Ελλάδα, παρουσιάστηκε στον Ιανό τής Αθήνας, τον Μάιο του 2018, με ανάλογη υποδοχή. Ειδικοί προσκεκλημένοι στο Αρχιπέλαγος είναι η ποιήτρια H. Correia και πάλι, ο συνθέτης Γ. Ανδρέου, οι τραγουδιστές Teresa Campos, Α. Καρακότας, Catarina Moura και Rita Maria, το γυναικείο παραδοσιακό φωνητικό σύνολο Cramol, της Εργατικής Βιβλιοθήκης τής Oeiras, και η Ορχήστρα Νυκτών Εγχόρδων Θανάσης Τσιπινάκης, του Δήμου Πατρέων.

Το ταξίδι συνεχίζεται…

● Με αφετηρία το Αρχιπέλαγος (το Αιγαίο) του Friedrich Hölderlin, και συγκινημένοι από την τραγωδία Ορέστης τού Ευριπίδη (408 ΠΚΧ), ταξιδεύουμε στη Συρία για ν’ ακούσουμε έναν αρχαίο ύμνο (1400 ΠΚΧ) ως νανούρισμα… αφύπνισης, ή ως μοιρολόι για τη Μάγισσα Θάλασσα και το δράμα των προσφύγων. Διασχίζοντας τη Μεσόγειο και τις Ηράκλειες Στήλες, περιπλέουμε τη Μακαρονησία (τις Μακάρων νήσους, τα Ηλύσια: Αζόρες, Μαδέρα, Κανάρια και Πράσινο Ακρωτήρι) αναζητώντας την Cesária Évora.

Επιστροφή στην Ελλάδα, με τη Σαπφώ να τραγουδά τον έρωτα και τη μοναξιά, αλλά και στην Πορτογαλία, με την κόπωση του είναι, του Fernando Pessoa. Από την ταβέρνα τού λιμανιού, όπου οι João de Deus, Γιώργος Μητσάκης και Βασίλης Τσιτσάνης τραγουδούν για ταξίδια δίχως γυρισμό, πετούμε σε νησιά τής φαντασίας: την Ουτοπία, την Ιθάκη τής Πηνελόπης, και την Χώρα τού Ποτέ, με τα παιδιά που χάθηκαν χορεύοντας… ζωναράδικο!

Η Hélia Correia μας “προσγειώνει” στην εποχή τής ένδειας, χωρίς θεούς ή Αργοναύτες, δίχως πόλη ή Αγορά, με τον Πάνα νεκρό στα νησιά τού Αιγαίου, στον χαμό τής Ελλάδας, ή στην Αλεξάνδρεια τυλιγμένη στις φλόγες, στον αντίποδα της δημοκρατίας τού Περικλή, υπό τους ήχους τού Πένθιμου εμβατηρίου τού Ludwig van Beethoven.

Στα τραγούδια τής νοσταλγίας, ο Τσιτσάνης συναντά τους Rosalía de Castro, José Niza, Armando Soares, και Violeta Parra, καθώς σμίγουν Ελλάδα, Γαλικία, Πορτογαλία, Πράσινο Ακρωτήρι και Χιλή, για ν’ ακολουθήσουν οι χαρές και οι χοροί τού νόστου, με τον José Saramago και τον Γιώργο Ανδρέου. Άλλη μια συνάντηση, στους μύθους των κυμάτων, είναι εκείνη του μεσαιωνικού βάρδου Martín Codax με τον συνθέτη τού σμυρναίικου ρεμπέτικου Παναγιώτη Τούντα, καταλήγοντας σ’ ένα γλέντι με μιαν ιδιόμορφη ελληνοπορτογαλική και αφροανδαλουσιανή bulería: όσοι πιστοί (στην τέχνη) προσέλθετε – είστε όλοι ευπρόσδεκτοι!

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Κάποιες συναυλίες και φεστιβάλ

● Φεβρουάριος 2012: Centro Cultural Vila Flor (Guimarães, Πορτογαλία).
● Φεβρουάριος 2012: Culturgest (Λισαβόνα).
● Ιούλιος 2012: Festival Músicas do Mundo (Sines, Πορτογαλία).
● Οκτώβριος 2012: Womex (Θεσσαλονίκη).
● Οκτώβριος 2012: Ιανός (Αθήνα, Περίπλους).
● Μάιος 2013: Festival Tão Longe, Tão Perto (Rio de Janeiro, Βραζιλία).
● Οκτώβριος 2013: Δημήτρια (Θεσσαλονίκη).
● Νοέμβριος 2017: Θέατρο Sãο Luiz (Λισαβόνα, Αρχιπέλαγος).
● Μάιος 2018: Ιανός (Αθήνα, Αρχιπέλαγος).

Ο Περίπλους στο Guimarães με τους: Μάνο Αχαλινωτόπουλο (κλαρίνο, φωνή), Κυριάκο Γκουβέντα (βιολί πεντάχορδο, μαντολίνο), Χάρη Λαμπράκη (νέυ, φλογέρα με ράμφος), Ricardo Parreira (πορτογαλική κιθάρα), António Quintino (κοντραμπάσο), Filipe Raposo (πιάνο), José Salgueiro (κρουστά), και τη μαζική συμμετοχή τής χορωδίας Outra Voz.

Διακρίσεις τού Περίπλου

● Η Ένωση Πορτογάλων Δημιουργών (SPA) τον περιέλαβε στις τρεις κορυφαίες μουσικές παραγωγές τού 2012.
● Η κριτική επιτροπή τού ιστότοπου Sopa da Pedra τον ανέδειξε ως το καλύτερο album τής χρονιάς.
● Η εφημερίδα Expresso ως τον 2ο καλύτερο δίσκο.
● Οι Crónicas da Terra τής ραδιοφωνίας Terra Pura ως το 2ο καλύτερο album folk μουσικής στην Ευρώπη.
● Οι Mundofonias τής Ισπανικής Ραδιοτηλεόρασης τον περιέλαβαν στους καλύτερους δίσκους τής χρονιάς διεθνώς.
● Προτάθηκε επίσης στο βρετανικό περιοδικό fRoots για τα δέκα κορυφαία album τού 2012.

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Οι αρπισμοί τής Εισαγωγής
τού Νανουρίσματος
από Το Χρυσάφι τ’ Ουρανού

Δισκογραφία

● 2002: Ραδιο… +θέσεις, Μουσικοί παραγωγοί τού 9,58 fm
● 2003: Αλεξάνδρεια – Αθήνα, Πάρις Παρασχόπουλος, Ακτίς Αελίου
● 2008: Το Χρυσάφι τ’ Ουρανού, Μιχάλης Λουκοβίκας, Άρης Αλεξάνδρου
● 2009: Uma Autora, 202 Canções, Amélia Muge
● 2011: O Ouro do Céu / Ares Alexandrou por Michales Loukovikas
● 2012: Periplus / deambulações luso-gregas, Amélia Muge, Μιχάλης Λουκοβίκας
● 2012: Periplus / Luso-Hellenic Wanderings (διεθνής έκδοση)
● 2014: Amélia com Versos de Amália, Amélia Muge, Amália Rodrigues
● 2017: ARCHiPELAGOS / Passagens, Amélia Muge, Μιχάλης Λουκοβίκας

Ο Περίπλους στις Μουσικές τού Κόσμου τού Sines με τους: Catarina Anacleto (τσέλλο), Manuel Maio (βιολί, μαντολίνο), Νίκο Παραουλάκη (νέυ, φλογέρα με ράμφος), António Quintino (κοντραμπάσο), José Salgueiro (κρουστά), Miguel Tapadas (πιάνο).

>> AMÉLIA MUGE – βιογραφικό

AMÉLIA MUGE – βιογραφικό

AMÉLIA MUGE – βιογραφικό

/ENGLISH/ AMÉLIA MUGE – bio

Η Amélia Muge άρχισε να τραγουδά και να συνθέτει μελετώντας πιάνο, κιθάρα και διδασκαλία τής μουσικής στη Μοζαμβίκη όπου γεννήθηκε. Σπούδασε Ιστορία, επικοινωνία και μεθόδους περιφερειακής ανάπτυξης στο Πανεπιστήμιο του Maputo, καθώς και μουσική κινουμένων σχεδίων, οπτικοακουστικές τέχνες, design και σχέδιο στην Πορτογαλία όπου εγκαταστάθηκε το 1984.

 

 

Ασχολήθηκε με μουσική, ποίηση, χορό, θέατρο, κινούμενα σχέδια, πολυμέσα, εικαστικά, την τοπική ανάπτυξη, ενώ έγραψε και ζωγράφισε παιδικά βιβλία. Συνεργάστηκε με μουσικούς όπως οι José Mário Branco, Fausto, Júlio Pereira (Πορτογαλία), Amancio Prada, Ester Formosa, Camerata Meiga (Ισπανία), Elena Ledda, Lucilla Galeazzi, Riccardo Tesi (Ιταλία), και Pirin Folk Ensemble (Βουλγαρία). Έγραψε τραγούδια για άλλους ερμηνευτές όπως οι Mísia, Ana Moura, Cristina Branco, Camané, Pedro Moutinho, Gaiteiros de Lisboa, Mafalda Arnauth, Ana Laíns, και ανέλαβε την παραγωγή δίσκων άλλων καλλιτεχνών.

Το πρώτο της προσωπικό album, Múgica, κυκλοφόρησε το 1992. Ακολούθησε μετά από δυο χρόνια ο δίσκος Todos os Dias, που περιλήφθηκε από την εφημερίδα Público στα “100 κορυφαία album πορτογαλικής μουσικής τού αιώνα”, ενώ η ίδια προτάθηκε για τα βραβεία τής επιθεώρησης Blitz ως καλύτερη ερμηνεύτρια. Ασχολήθηκε και με την καλλιτεχνική διεύθυνση και προσαρμογή τής ηχητικής μπάντας τηλεοπτικών σειρών κινουμένων σχεδίων.

Taco a Taco

 

 

Το Βραβείο Zeca Afonso τής απονεμήθηκε δυο φορές: για το Maio Maduro Maio, αφιερωμένο στο έργο τού Zeca, που παρουσίασε το 1995 με τους J.M. Branco και João Afonso, και για την επόμενή της δουλειά, Taco a Taco, του 1998. Αυτήν την χρονιά συνεργάστηκε επίσης στον δίσκο Novas Vos Trago με διασκευασμένες παραδοσιακές μπαλάντες, στις Terras de Canto με τις E. Ledda και L. Galeazzi, και με τις Βουλγάρικες Φωνές τού Πιρίν στην Expo ’98 τής Λισαβόνας. Το 2002 εξέδωσε το album A Monte στην Πορτογαλία και τη Γερμανία.

Το θεατρικό της έργο για παιδιά και μεγάλους, O Dono do Nada, ανέβηκε στη Sintra το 2003 και στη Λισαβόνα το 2006. Το album Não Sou Daqui κυκλοφόρησε την επόμενη χρονιά. Ακολούθησε ο δίσκος-λεύκωμα, Uma Autora, 202 Canções – όσα και τα τραγούδια της που ήταν καταχωρημένα στη SPA (Ένωση Πορτογάλων Δημιουργών) το 2009. Την άλλη χρονιά η Ευρωπαϊκή Πολιτιστική Πρωτεύουσα του Guimarães 2012 την κάλεσε να διευθύνει το φωνητικό σχήμα Outra Voz. Το 2011 η SPA την ανακήρυξε κορυφαία δημιουργό τού fado.

 
Σε συνεργασία με τον Μιχάλη Λουκοβίκα, απέδωσε στα πορτογαλικά Το Χρυσάφι τ’ Ουρανού (O Ouro do Céu), ένα δίγλωσσο βιβλίο-CD με μουσική του σε ποίηση Άρη Αλεξάνδρου, που εκδόθηκε το 2011 στην Πορτογαλία. Η σύμπραξή τους συνεχίστηκε με την κυκλοφορία τού album Periplus / deambulações luso-gregas (ελληνοπορτογαλικές περιηγήσεις) τον Φλεβάρη τού 2012, με μουσική και ποίηση από Πορτογαλία και Ελλάδα και προσκεκλημένους την Hélia Correia, την Ελένη Τσαλιγοπούλου και την χορωδία Outra Voz. Η διεθνής έκδοση, Periplus / Luso-Hellenic Wanderings, κυκλοφόρησε στην Ελλάδα τον Οκτώβρη. Στο μεταξύ, η Amélia συμμετείχε στην παραγωγή των βραβευμένων Ruelles στη Γαλλία, με μαθητές να ερμηνεύουν με Πορτογαλόφωνους καλλιτέχνες τραγούδια των χωρών τους (Πορτογαλία, Βραζιλία, Πράσινο Ακρωτήρι).

Η τελευταία της δουλειά, Amélia com versos de Amália, σε στίχους τής Amália Rodrigues, κυκλοφόρησε αμέσως μετά από τη σύμπραξή της με το Kronos Quartet στη συναυλία τού κουαρτέτου στη Λισαβώνα το Νοέμβρη τού 2014, παρουσιάστηκε στο Culturgest τον Ιανουάριο του 2015 και κρίθηκε ως ο καλύτερος δίσκος τού 2014 στην Πορτογαλία (Expresso και Público).

Το τελευταίο εγχείρημα των Amélia Muge και Μιχάλη Λουκοβίκα, ARCHiPELAGOS / Passagens (ΑΡΧΙΠΕΛΑΓΟΣ / Δίαυλοι), εκδόθηκε τον Νοέμβρη τού 2017, και πρωτοπαίχθηκε στο θέατρο Sãο Luiz τής Λισαβόνας, με εξαιρετικές κριτικές στον Τύπο. Στην Ελλάδα, παρουσιάστηκε στον Ιανό τής Αθήνας, τον Μάιο του 2018, με ανάλογη υποδοχή. Το ταξίδι τώρα συνεχίζεται, με στάσεις σε διάφορα άλλα μέρη τής Πορτογαλίας, μεταξύ αυτών και στη Μαδέρα, όπως και στο Παρίσι, και – ποιος ξέρει; – μπορεί και σε άλλα μέρη τής Ελλάδας.

● Με αφετηρία το αρχιπέλαγος (το Αιγαίο) του Friedrich Hölderlin, και συγκινημένοι από την τραγωδία Ορέστης τού Ευριπίδη (408 ΠΚΧ), ταξιδεύουμε στη Συρία για ν’ ακούσουμε έναν αρχαίο ύμνο (1400 ΠΚΧ) ως νανούρισμα… αφύπνισης, ή ως μοιρολόι τής Μάγισσας Θάλασσας για το δράμα των προσφύγων. Διασχίζοντας τη Μεσόγειο και τις Ηράκλειες Στήλες, περιπλέουμε τη Μακαρονησία (τις Μακάρων νήσους, ή τα Ηλύσια: Αζόρες, Μαδέρα, Κανάρια και Πράσινο Ακρωτήρι) αναζητώντας την Cesária Évora.

Επιστροφή στην Ελλάδα, με τη Σαπφώ να τραγουδά τον έρωτα και τη μοναξιά, αλλά και στην Πορτογαλία, με την κόπωση του είναι, του Fernando Pessoa. Από την ταβέρνα τού λιμανιού, όπου οι João de Deus, Γιώργος Μητσάκης και Βασίλης Τσιτσάνης τραγουδούν για ταξίδια δίχως γυρισμό, πετούμε σε νησιά τής φαντασίας: την Ουτοπία, την Ιθάκη τής Πηνελόπης, και την Χώρα τού Ποτέ, με τα παιδιά που χάθηκαν χορεύοντας… ζωναράδικο!

Η Hélia Correia μας “προσγειώνει” στην εποχή τής ένδειας, χωρίς θεούς ή Αργοναύτες, δίχως πόλη ή Αγορά, με τον Πάνα νεκρό στα νησιά τού Αιγαίου, στον χαμό τής Ελλάδας, ή στην Αλεξάνδρεια τυλιγμένη στις φλόγες, στον αντίποδα της δημοκρατίας τού Περικλή, υπό τους ήχους τού Πένθιμου εμβατηρίου τού Ludwig van Beethoven.

Στα τραγούδια τής νοσταλγίας, ο Τσιτσάνης συναντά τους Rosalía de Castro, José Niza, Armando Soares, και Violeta Parra, καθώς σμίγουν Ελλάδα, Γαλικία, Πορτογαλία, Πράσινο Ακρωτήρι και Χιλή, για ν’ ακολουθήσουν οι χαρές και οι χοροί τού νόστου, με τον José Saramago και τον Γιώργο Ανδρέου. Άλλη μια συνάντηση, στους μύθους των κυμάτων, είναι εκείνη του μεσαιωνικού βάρδου Martín Codax με τον συνθέτη τού ρεμπέτικου Παναγιώτη Τούντα, καταλήγοντας σ’ ένα γλέντι με μιαν ιδιόμορφη ελληνοπορτογαλική και αφροανδαλουσιανή bulería: όσοι πιστοί (στην τέχνη) προσέλθετε – είστε όλοι ευπρόσδεκτοι!

Το ταξίδι συνεχίζεται…

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Κάποια φεστιβάλ και συναυλίες

• Πορτογαλία, Λισαβόνα: Misty Fest· Culturgest, Centro Cultural de Belém, Μεγάλο Αμφιθέατρο Ιδρύματος Gulbenkian, Teatro São Luiz. Sintra: Centro Cultural Olga Cadaval. Almada: Solar dos Zagalos, Αμφιθέατρο Lopes Graça. Seixal: Festival Cantigas do Maio. Πόρτο: Festival Inter-Céltico· Teatro Sá da Bandeira, Palácio de Cristal, Casa da Música, Coliseu. Κοΐμπρα: Festival Zeca Afonso· Teatro Gil Vicente. Guimarães: Centro Cultural Vila Flor· Συναυλία λήξης τής Πολιτιστικής Πρωτεύουσας. Viseu: Teatro Viriato. Αβέιρο: Teatro Aveirense. Έβορα: Teatro Garcia de Resende. Sines: Festival Músicas do Mundo. Algarve: Encontros do DeVIR· Φάρο: Teatro Lethes.
• Γαλλία, Παρίσι: Cité de la Musique, Institut du Monde Arabe, Méditerranée, Méditérranées. Bourg-en-Bresse: Les Temps Chauds. Rouen: Tranches d’Europe Express. Rennes: Les Tombées de la Nuit. Aigues-Mortes: 7 Nuits d’Encens. Montpellier: Les Voix du Sud. Amilly: Fête de l’Europe. Κορσική: Rencontres de Musiques Classique et Contemporaine de Calenzana.
• Ολλανδία, Άμστερνταμ: Concertgebouw; Wereldmuziek, Μουσικές συναντήσεις ευρωπαϊκής παράδοσης.
• Ισπανία, Μαδρίτη: Festival Folk. Βαρκελώνη: Barnasants. Κόρδοβα: Grande Teatro de Córdova.
• Ιταλία: Sete Sóis, Sete Luas· Itinerari Folk. Σικελία: Festival Novas Musicas.
• Τσεχία, Πράγα: Πορτογαλόφωνες συναντήσεις.
• Βραζιλία, Rio de Janeiro: Festival Tão Longe, Tão Perto.
• Ελλάδα, Θεσσαλονίκη: Δημήτρια, Womex. Αθήνα: Ιανός

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Σημαντικές διακρίσεις

• 1994-1995: ο δίσκος Todos os Dias περιλήφθηκε στα “100 καλύτερα album πορτογαλικής μουσικής τού αιώνα” από την εφημερίδα Público και η Αμέλια προτάθηκε για τα βραβεία τής επιθεώρησης Blitz ως καλύτερη τραγουδίστρια.
• 1995/1998: τιμήθηκε δυο φορές με το Βραβείο Zeca Afonso: για το Maio Maduro Maio και για το Taco a Taco.
• 2011: η SPA την ανακήρυξε κορυφαία δημιουργό τού fado.
• 2013: η SPA περιέλαβε τον Περίπλου στα τρία καλύτερα album τού 2012· η κριτική επιτροπή τού ιστότοπου Sopa da Pedra τον επέλεξε ως το καλύτερο album τής χρονιάς· οι Mundofonias τής Ισπανικής Ραδιοτηλεόρασης (RTVE) τον περιέλαβαν στους καλύτερους δίσκους τού 2012 διεθνώς· ο Περίπλους ήταν υποψήφιος και για τα δέκα καλύτερα album τής χρονιάς τού βρετανικού περιοδικού fRoots.
• 2013: η Αμέλια κέρδισε το Βραβείο τής Ακαδημίας Charles Cros για τον δίσκο Ruelles.

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Επιλογή δισκογραφίας

• 1992: Múgica, Amélia Muge
• 1994: Todos os Dias, Amélia Muge
• 1995: Maio Maduro Maio, Amélia Muge, João Afonso, José Mário Branco
• 1996: Ó Tambor, Rui Júnior
• 1997: Rosas a Rosalía, Amancio Prada
• 1998: Taco a Taco, Amélia Muge
• 1998: Novas Vos Trago, Amélia Muge, Brigada Victor Jara, Gaiteros de Lisboa, João Afonso, Sérgio Godinho
• 1999: Habelas Hailas, Camerata Meiga
• 2002: A Monte, Amélia Muge (Πορτογαλία και Γερμανία)
• 2003: A Ópera Mágica do Cantor Maldito, Fausto
• 2006: O Dono do Nada, Amélia Muge
• 2007: Não Sou Daqui, Amélia Muge
• 2008: Meu Bem, Meu Mal, José Barros e Navegante
• 2009: Uma Autora, 202 Canções, Amélia Muge
• 2011: Os Fados e as Canções do Alvim, Fernando Alvim
• 2011: Ciclorama, A Presença das Formigas
• 2012: Periplus / deambulações luso-gregas (Luso-Hellenic Wanderings), Amélia Muge, Μιχάλης Λουκοβίκας (Πορτογαλία και Ελλάδα)
• 2012: Ruelles, Amélia Muge, Teófilo Chantre, Magna Fereira, Roda do Cavaco, Choeurs d’enfants de l’Ain
• 2014: Canto & Autores 06, Amélia Muge
• 2014: Amélia com Versos de Amália, Amélia Muge, Amália Rodrigues
• 2017: ARCHiPELAGOS / Passagens, Amélia Muge, Μιχάλης Λουκοβίκας

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>> MICHALES LOUKOVIKAS – bio

MICHALES LOUKOVIKAS – bio

MICHALES LOUKOVIKAS – bio

/ΕΛΛΗΝΙΚΑ/ ΜΙΧΑΛΗΣ ΛΟΥΚΟΒΙΚΑΣ – βιογραφικό

MICHALES LOUKOVIKAS, born in a Thracian musical family, was taught music by his father, with whom he made his first professional steps at 15, as a musician (accordion, guitar) and singer, taking an interest in various genres: varied world music, rock, music based on poetry, songwriting, theatre and film music, rebetiko, especially the school of Smyrna, and modal music.

Studying in Thessaloniki, he directed student musical ensembles, and later participated in rebetiko and popular musical groups. He was a member of the Eurydice company, writing and producing plays for various genres (theatre, puppetry, shadow plays), where he also composed or selected musical themes. Besides, he contributed to the soundtrack of the film Stories of a Honeycomb (1981), by Nikos Vergitsis, as a composer (theme music), singer and musician.

He graduated in English Language and Literature from the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki and worked as a teacher and translator of English, publisher (Research publishers), and journalist (Macedonia, Thessaloniki, and Angeliophoros newspapers, Hellenic Broadcasting Corporation (ERT) radio stations), specializing on the international arena, and culture (news, analyses, chronicles, music, art, education, and editorials). He wrote texts on music for special publications, and collaborated on radio educational programs (texts, selection of music, presentation).

Wishing to delve into the differences between the Oriental and Occidental music, he focused on the modal tradition, folk or classical. Turning points in his research were his acquaintance with Ross Daly in 1987, and his participation in the International Musicological Symposium at Delphi on Mediterranean music in 1988.

A series of articles on cultural exchange in the Mediterranean, entitled Mediterranean Paraplus (a term similar to Periplus, Thessaloniki newspaper), evolved into a successful radio program lasting for more than twelve years (1998-2010, 9.58 fm, ERT3). It followed programs such as Flamenco: the Rebetiko of Andalusia, where he adapted Donn Pohren’s The Art of Flamenco, indicating the similarities between the two genres. In addition, he took part, together with other musical producers of the radio station, in the album Radio… com+positions (2002).

He worked as a musician with the composer and musical producer Paris Paraschópoulos for the theatrical play Alexandria–Athens (2003), on the Parallel Lives of the poets Constantine Cavafy and Kostís Palamás, produced by the art company Aktis Aeliou, Thessaloniki. He also teamed up with the writer, researcher and songwriter Thomás Korovinis in concerts.

 

 

 

 

A result of his research in modal music was The Gold in the Sky (2008), a West-to-East musical voyage based on Ares Alexandrou’s poetry, featuring 35 distinguished musicians (such as Manos Achalinotópoulos, Giorgos Andreou, Ross Daly, Kyriakos Gouventas, Andreas Karakotas, Harris Lambrakis, Kostas Theodorou, and Eleni Tsaligopoulou). He presented the Gold (voice, piano, accordion) in the Small Theatre, Thessaloniki, in company with K. Theodorou (double bass, guitar, percussion).

His meeting with Amélia Muge in the “Internet sea” led to a productive partnership, initially with his English adaptation of her songs in Uma Autora, 202 Canções (2009), and then with her Portuguese version of The Gold in the Sky poems, in the bilingual book-disc O Ouro do Céu / Ares Alexandrou por Michales Loukovikas (2011), presented in the bookstores Buchholtz, Lisbon. Amélia and Michales appeared for the first time together in the same hall, playing in company with the pianist Filipe Raposo in 1910.

Adapting ancient and traditional songs, as well as composing originals on line, Amélia and Michales carried out their Periplus / deambulações luso-gregas (Luso-Hellenic Wanderings in the international edition, 2012), with the poetess Hélia Correia, the singer E. Tsaligopoulou, and the vocal ensemble Outra Voz, as special guests. Periplus was presented in Guimarães (Centro Cultural Vila Flor), Lisbon (Culturgest), Sines (Festival Músicas do Mundo), Thessaloniki (Demetria Festival, Womex), Athens (Ianos bookstores), and Rio de Janeiro (Festival Tão Longe, Tão Perto, on music and poetry, at the University of Brazil, in four concerts, two of them together with the ensemble Música Surda.

Michales participated in Amélia’s work on Amália Rodrigues’ verses, Amélia com versos de Amália (2014), as artistic co-director, composer, arranger, and with Amália’s verses adapted into an English version. He also took part as a guest in Amélia’s concerts in Alte (Algarve), Auditório Carlos Paredes (Benfica, Lisbon), and City of Traditions (INATEL, Lisbon).

Amélia and Michales’ latest project, ARCHiPELAGOS / Passages (2017), was premiered at the Sãο Luiz Theatre, Lisbon, in November 2017, with excellent reviews in the press. In Greece, it was presented at Ianos, Athens, in May 2018, with equal reception. Special guests in this venture were the poetess H. Correia again, the composer G. Andreou, the singers Teresa Campos, A. Karakotas, Catarina Moura and Rita Maria, the women’s traditional vocal ensemble Cramol of the Workers’ Library in Oeiras, and the Plucked Strings Orchestra Thanasis Tsipinakis of the Municipality of Patras.

The voyage goes on…

● With Friedrich Hölderlin’s Archipelago (i.e. the Aegean) as a starting point, and deeply moved with Euripides’ tragedy Orestes (408 BCE), we voyage to Syria to listen to an ancient hymn (1400 BCE) as a lullaby of… awakening, or as a lament on the Sorceress Sea and the refugees’ drama. Crossing the Mediterranean and the Pillars of Heracles, we sail around Macaronesia (Macárōn nẽsoe, or Elysium: the Azores, Madeira, the Canaries and Cape Verde) in search of Cesária Évora.

We sail back to Greece, with Sappho singing about love (Eros) and loneliness, or to Portugal, with Fernando Pessoa’s weariness of being. From a harbour’s tavern, where João de Deus, Giorgos Mitsakis and Vasilis Tsitsanis sing of voyages with no return, we fly to imaginary islands: Utopia, Ithaca of Penelope, and Neverland, where lost kids dance a… Thracian traditional dance!

Hélia Correia “takes us down to earth” in times of indigence, without gods or Argonauts, polis or agora, with Pan dead on the Aegean islands, in the ruin of Hellas, or in Alexandria engulfed in flames, in the antipode of Pericles’ democracy, to the accompaniment of Ludwig van Beethoven’s Marcia funebre.

In the songs of nostalgia, Tsitsanis meets Rosalía de Castro, José Niza, Armando Soares, and Violeta Parra, as Greece, Galicia, Portugal, Cape Verde, and Chile are joined together. Joys and dances of nostos follow, with José Saramago and Giorgos Andreou. Another meeting, on the sea waves, is that between the medieval minstrel Martín Codax and the rebetiko composer Panagiotis Tountas, concluding the voyage in a feast with a peculiar Greco-Portuguese and Afro-Andalusian bulería: o come, all ye faithful (to art) – you are all welcome!

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Some concerts and festivals

• February 2012: Centro Cultural Vila Flor (Guimarães, Portugal).
• February 2012: Culturgest (Lisbon, Portugal).
• July 2012: Festival Músicas do Mundo (Sines, Portugal).
• October 2012: Womex (Thessalonica, Hellas).
• October 2012: Ianos (Athens, PERiPLUS).
• May 2013: Festival Tão Longe, Tão Perto (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil).
• October 2013: Demetria Festival (Thessaloniki, Hellas).
• November 2017: Teatro Sãο Luiz (Lisbon, ARCHiPELAGOS).
• May 2018: Ianos (Athens, ARCHiPELAGOS).

Periplus in Guimarães with: Manos Achalinotopoulos (folk clarinet, voice), Kyriakos Gouventas (5-string violin, mandolin), Harris Lambrakis (ney, blockflute), Ricardo Parreira (guitarra portuguesa), António Quintino (double bass), Filipe Raposo (piano), José Salgueiro (percussion), and the choir Outra Voz participating en masse.

Periplus distinctions

• The Society of Portuguese Authors (SPA) selected the disc among the three best albums of 2012.
• The jury of the Sopa da Pedra blogspot elected it as the best album of the year.
• The Expresso newspaper as the 2nd best disc.
• Crónicas da Terra of Terra Pura radio as the 2nd best folk album in Europe.
• Mundofonias of RTVE selected it among the best discs of 2012 in the world.
• Periplus was also nominated for the British fRoots charter with the ten best albums of the year.

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Discography

Lullaby’s Intro from The Gold in the Sky

• 2002: Radio… com+positions, 9.58 fm music producers
• 2003: Alexandria – Athens, Paris Paraschopoulos, Actis Aeliou theatrical company
• 2008: The Gold in the Sky, Michales Loukovikas, Ares Alexandrou
• 2009: Uma Autora, 202 Canções, Amélia Muge
• 2011: O Ouro do Céu / Ares Alexandrou por Michales Loukovikas
• 2012: Periplus / deambulações luso-gregas, Amélia Muge, Michales Loukovikas
• 2012: Periplus / Luso-Hellenic Wanderings (international edition)
• 2014: Amélia com Versos de Amália, Amélia Muge, Amália Rodrigues
• 2017: ARCHiPELAGOS / Passagens, Amélia Muge, Michales Loukovikas

Periplus at Sines Músicas do Mundo with: Catarina Anacleto (cello), Manuel Maio (violin, mandolin), Nikos Paraoulakis (ney, blockflute), António Quintino (double bass), José Salgueiro (percussion), Miguel Tapadas (piano).

>> AMÉLIA MUGE – bio

AMÉLIA MUGE – bio

AMÉLIA MUGE – bio

/ΕΛΛΗΝΙΚΑ/ AMÉLIA MUGE – βιογραφικό

Amélia Muge started singing and composing while studying piano, guitar and music education in Mozambique where she was born. She also studied History, communication and training for development in the University of Maputo, as well as music for animation, design, drawing and audio-visual arts in Portugal where she moved in 1984.

 

 

 

 
She has participated in projects related to music, poetry, dance, theatre, animation, multimedia, visual arts, training for local development, and also written and drawn books for children. She has worked with musicians such as José Mário Branco, Fausto, Júlio Pereira (Portugal); Amancio Prada, Ester Formosa, Camerata Meiga (Spain); Elena Ledda, Lucilla Galeazzi, Riccardo Tesi (Italy); and Pirin Folk Ensemble (Bulgaria). She has composed for other artists such as Mísia, Ana Moura, Cristina Branco, Camané, Pedro Moutinho, Gaiteiros de Lisboa, Mafalda Arnauth, Ana Laíns, and produced other artists’ discs.

Múgica, her first solo album, was released in 1992, followed by Todos os Dias two years later. The latter was included in the “100 best Portuguese music albums ever” by the Público newspaper; she was also nominated for the Blitz review prizes as best female singer. Around that time she started directing and adapting TV cartoon soundtracks into Portuguese – a work that lasted for almost ten years.

Taco a Taco

 

 

 
She was awarded the Zeca Afonso Prize twice: in 1995 for Maio Maduro Maio, dedicated to Zeca’s work and presented together with J.M. Branco and João Afonso, and for her new disc, Taco a Taco, in 1998. That year she also collaborated in Novas Vos Trago, where traditional romances were recreated, in Terras de Canto with E. Ledda and L. Galeazzi, and in As vozes embarcam with the Pirin Bulgarian Voices in the Lisbon Expo ’98. In 2002 she released A Monte in Portugal and Germany.

 
Her children’s play O Dono do Nada was staged in Sintra in 2003 and three years later in Lisbon. Her album Não Sou Daqui was released in 2007, followed by the disc-book Uma Autora, 202 Canções – as many as her songs registered in the Society of Portuguese Authors (SPA) in 2009. The next year she was invited by the Guimarães European Capital of Culture 2012 to direct the vocal group Outra Voz, while in 2011 she was honoured as one of the most important fado lyricists and composers by SPA.

 
Working with Michales Loukovikas, she adapted into Portuguese his book-disc The Gold in the Sky (O Ouro do Céu), based on Ares Alexandrou’s poetry, and published in Portugal in 2011. This partnership continued with Periplus / deambulações luso-gregas, released in February 2012, featuring music and poetry from Portugal and Hellas, with Hélia Correia, Eleni Tsaligopoulou and Outra Voz as special guests. Its international edition, Periplus / Luso-Hellenic Wanderings, was released in Greece in October. In the meantime, Amélia participated in the production of Ruelles in France, where children interacted with guest artists from Lusophone countries and sang their songs.

Her next work Amélia com versos de Amália, based on Amália Rodrigues‘ verses, was released immediately after her collaboration with Kronos Quartet in their Lisbon concert in November 2014. It was presented in Culturgest in January 2015, and rated as the best album of 2014 in Portugal (Expresso and Público).

Amélia Muge and Michales Loukovikas’ latest project, ARCHiPELAGOS / Passages, issued in November 2017, was premiered at the Sãο Luiz Theatre, Lisbon, with excellent reviews in the press. In Greece, it was presented at Ianos, Athens, in May 2018, with equal reception. The voyage goes on, with stops at several other places in Portugal, including Madeira, in Paris, France, and – who knows? – maybe elsewhere in Greece, as well.

● With Friedrich Hölderlin’s archipelago (i.e. the Aegean) as a starting point, and deeply moved with Euripides’ tragedy Orestes (408 BCE), we voyage to Syria to listen to an ancient hymn (1400 BCE) as a lullaby of… awakening, or as a lament of the Sorceress Sea about the refugees’ drama. Crossing the Mediterranean and the Pillars of Heracles, we sail around Macaronesia (Macárōn nẽsoe, or Elysium: the Azores, Madeira, the Canaries and Cape Verde) in search of Cesária Évora.

We sail back to Greece, with Sappho singing about love (eros) and loneliness, or to Portugal, with Fernando Pessoa’s weariness of being. From a harbour’s tavern, where João de Deus, Giorgos Mitsakis and Vasilis Tsitsanis sing of voyages with no return, we fly to imaginary islands: Utopia, Ithaca of Penelope, and Neverland, where lost kids dance a… Thracian traditional dance!

Hélia Correia “takes us down to earth” in times of indigence, without gods or Argonauts, polis or agora, with Pan dead on the Aegean islands, in the ruin of Hellas, or in Alexandria engulfed in flames, in the antipode of Pericles’ democracy, to the accompaniment of Ludwig van Beethoven’s Marcia funebre.

In the songs of nostalgia, Tsitsanis meets Rosalía de Castro, José Niza, Armando Soares, and Violeta Parra, as Greece, Galicia, Portugal, Cape Verde, and Chile are joined together. Joys and dances of nostos follow, with José Saramago and Giorgos Andreou. Another meeting, on the sea waves, is that between the medieval minstrel Martín Codax and the rebetiko composer Panagiotis Tountas, concluding the voyage in a feast with a peculiar Greco-Portuguese and Afro-Andalusian bulería: o come, all ye faithful (to art) – you are all welcome!

The voyage goes on…

●

Some Festivals and Venues

• Portugal, Lisbon: Misty Fest; Culturgest, Centro Cultural de Belém, Gulbenkian Grande Auditório, Teatro São Luiz. Sintra: Centro Cultural Olga Cadaval. Almada: Solar dos Zagalos, Auditório Lopes Graça. Seixal: Festival Cantigas do Maio. Porto: Festival Inter-Céltico; Teatro Sá da Bandeira, Palácio de Cristal, Casa da Música, Coliseu. Coimbra: Festival Zeca Afonso; Teatro Gil Vicente. Guimarães: Centro Cultural Vila Flor; European Capital of Culture final show. Viseu: Teatro Viriato. Aveiro: Teatro Aveirense. Évora: Teatro Garcia de Resende. Sines: Festival Músicas do Mundo. Algarve: Encontros do DeVIR; Faro: Teatro Lethes.
• France, Paris: Cité de la Musique, Institut du Monde Arabe, Méditerranée, Méditérranées. Bourg-en-Bresse: Les Temps Chauds. Rouen: Tranches d’Europe Express. Rennes: Les Tombées de la Nuit. Aigues-Mortes: 7 Nuits d’Encens. Montpellier: Les Voix du Sud. Amilly: Fête de l’Europe. Corsica: Rencontres de Musiques Classique et Contemporaine de Calenzana.
• Netherlands, Amsterdam: Concertgebouw; Wereldmuziek, Musical Meetings of the European Tradition.
• Spain, Madrid: Festival Folk. Barcelona: Barnasants. Córdova: Grande Teatro de Córdova.
• Italy: Sete Sóis, Sete Luas; Itinerari Folk. Sicily: Festival Novas Musicas.
• Czech Republic, Prague: Lusophony meetings.
• Brazil, Rio de Janeiro: Festival Tão Longe, Tão Perto.
• Greece, Thessalonica: Demetria Festival, Womex. Athens: Ianos.

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Main Distinctions

• 1994-1995: Todos os Dias was included in the “100 best Portuguese music albums ever” by the Público newspaper; Amélia was also nominated for the Blitz review prizes as best female singer.
• 1995/1998: she was awarded the Zeca Afonso Prize twice: for Maio Maduro Maio and Taco a Taco.
• 2011: she was honoured as one of the most important fado lyricists and composers by SPA.
• 2013: SPA selected Periplus among the three best albums of 2012; the jury of the Sopa da Pedra blogspot elected it as the best album of the year; Mundofonias of RTVE selected it among the best discs of 2012 in the world; Periplus was also nominated for the British fRoots charter with the ten best albums of the year.
• 2013: Amélia won the Académie Charles Cros Award for Ruelles.

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Selected Discography

• 1992: Múgica, Amélia Muge
• 1994: Todos os Dias, Amélia Muge
• 1995: Maio Maduro Maio, Amélia Muge, João Afonso, José Mário Branco
• 1996: Ó Tambor, Rui Júnior
• 1997: Rosas a Rosalía, Amancio Prada
• 1998: Taco a Taco, Amélia Muge
• 1998: Novas Vos Trago, Amélia Muge, Brigada Victor Jara, Gaiteros de Lisboa, João Afonso, Sérgio Godinho
• 1999: Habelas Hailas, Camerata Meiga
• 2002: A Monte, Amélia Muge (Πορτογαλία και Γερμανία)
• 2003: A Ópera Mágica do Cantor Maldito, Fausto
• 2006: O Dono do Nada, Amélia Muge
• 2007: Não Sou Daqui, Amélia Muge
• 2008: Meu Bem, Meu Mal, José Barros e Navegante
• 2009: Uma Autora, 202 Canções, Amélia Muge
• 2011: Os Fados e as Canções do Alvim, Fernando Alvim
• 2011: Ciclorama, A Presença das Formigas
• 2012: Periplus / deambulações luso-gregas (Luso-Hellenic Wanderings), Amélia Muge, Michales Loukovikas (Portugal-Greece)
• 2012: Ruelles, Amélia Muge, Teófilo Chantre, Magna Fereira, Roda do Cavaco, Choeurs d’enfants de l’Ain
• 2014: Canto & Autores 06, Amélia Muge
• 2014: Amélia com Versos de Amália, Amélia Muge, Amália Rodrigues
• 2017: ARCHiPELAGOS / Passagens, Amélia Muge, Michales Loukovikas (Portugal-Greece)

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>> MICHALES LOUKOVIKAS – bio