30. ΜΙΧΑΛΗΣ ΛΟΥΚΟΒΙΚΑΣ – βιογραφικό

30. ΜΙΧΑΛΗΣ ΛΟΥΚΟΒΙΚΑΣ – βιογραφικό

/ENGLISH/ Χρονικά 1830. MICHALES LOUKOVIKAS – bio

ΩΣ ΓΟΝΟΣ ΜΙΑΣ ΜΟΥΣΙΚΗΣ ΟΙΚΟΓΕΝΕΙΑΣ της Ξάνθης, διδάχθηκα μουσική από τον πατέρα μου, Γιάννη. Στο πλευρό του έκανα και τα πρώτα μου επαγγελματικά βήματα, στα 15 μου, ως μουσικός (ακορντεόν, κιθάρα και τραγούδι), ασχολούμενος κατόπιν με διάφορα είδη: ποικίλη μουσική τού κόσμου, rock, μελοποιημένη ποίηση, τραγουδοποιία, μουσική για θέατρο και κινηματογράφο, ρεμπέτικο, ιδίως σμυρναίικο, και τροπική (modal) μουσική.

Σπουδάζοντας στην Θεσσαλονίκη, διηύθυνα φοιτητικά μουσικά σχήματα, και συμμετείχα σε ρεμπέτικα και λαϊκά συγκροτήματα. Υπήρξα 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). Συνέβαλα επίσης στην ηχητική υπόκρουση της ταινίας Ιστορίες μιας κερήθρας (1981), του Νίκου Βεργίτση, ως ο δημιουργός τού μουσικού θέματος, τραγουδιστής και μουσικός.

Πτυχιούχος τού Αριστοτελείου Πανεπιστημίου στην Αγγλική Φιλολογία, δούλεψα ως καθηγητής αγγλικών, μεταφραστής, εκδότης (Έρευνα), και δημοσιογράφος (εφημερίδες Μακεδονία, Θεσσαλονίκη, και Αγγελιοφόρος, ραδιοσταθμοί ΕΡΤ3), με ειδικότητα τη διεθνή σκηνή, την ιστορία, τον πολιτισμό και τη μουσική.

Μια σειρά άρθρων για τις πολιτισμικές ανταλλαγές (Μεσογείου παράπλους, εφημερίδα Θεσσαλονίκη), μετεξελίχθηκε σε μια ραδιοφωνική εκπομπή μακράς διάρκειας (πάνω από δώδεκα χρόνια: 1998-2010, 9,58 fm, ΕΡΤ-3) και μεγάλης ακροαματικότητας. Συνέπραξα με τους άλλους παραγωγούς τού σταθμού στο CD, Ραδιο…+θέσεις, και με τον συγγραφέα-τραγουδοποιό Θωμά Κοροβίνη, ή και με τον συνθέτη Πάρι Παρασχόπουλο, στη μουσική τού θεατρικού έργου Αλεξάνδρεια-Αθήνα, με τους Βίους παραλλήλους των ποιητών Κωνσταντίνου Καβάφη και Κωστή Παλαμά.

Επιθυμώντας να εμβαθύνω στις διαφορές τής μουσικής Δύσης και Ανατολής, εστίασα την προσοχή μου στην τροπική παράδοση, λαϊκή ή κλασική. Κρίσιμοι σταθμοί στην έρευνά μου ήταν η γνωριμία μου με τον Ross Daly το 1987, και η συμμετοχή μου στη Διεθνή Μουσικολογική Συνάντηση των Δελφών περί τη μεσογειακή μουσική το 1988.

Αποτέλεσμα της έρευνας 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). Υπογράφω το έργο αυτό ως συνθέτης, ενορχηστρωτής και παραγωγός, ενώ συμμετέχω και ως τραγουδιστής ή μουσικός, καθώς και στην απαγγελία των ποιημάτων.

Η γνωριμία με την Amélia Muge στην θάλασσα του Διαδικτύου οδήγησε σε μια καρποφόρα συνεργασία, αρχικά με την επανέκδοση του Χρυσαφιού ως ένα δίγλωσσο βιβλίο με CD, O OURO DO CÉU / Ares Alexandrou por Michales Loukovikas (2011). Δουλεύοντας on line, συνθέτοντας, μα και διασκευάζοντας αρχαία ή παραδοσιακά κομμάτια, φέραμε σε πέρας μιαν ελληνοπορτογαλική περιήγηση: PERIPLUS / deambulações luso-gregas – Luso-Hellenic Wanderings (Ελληνοπορτογαλικές περιηγήσεις) στη διεθνή έκδοση (2012), με προσκεκλημένη την λογοτέχνιδα Hélia Correia. Ο Περίπλους περιελήφθη στα τρία κορυφαία album τής χρονιάς από την Ένωση Πορτογάλων Δημιουργών (Sociedade Portuguesa de Autores)· μας ταξίδευσε, μάλιστα, μέχρι το Rio de Janeiro, στο Πανεπιστήμιο της Βραζιλίας, παίζοντας μελοποιημένη ποίηση, ή μιλώντας για την σχέση τής μουσικής με την ποίηση, κι επιχειρώντας μιαν ιστορική αναδρομή (βλέπε Χρονικό 15. Πλώρη για Rio de Janeiro). Συνεχίσαμε μελοποιώντας στίχους τής Amália Rodrigues (Amélia com versos de Amália, 2014).

Σ’ ένα ακόμη εγχείρημά μας, ARCHiPELAGOS / Passages, (2017), παρελαύνουν πολλοί και ποικίλοι δημιουργοί: Γιώργος Ανδρέου, Μάνος Αχαλινωτόπουλος, Ludwig van Beethoven (1770 – 1827), Rosalía de Castro (1837 – 1885), Hélia Correia, João de Deus (1830 – 1896), Εὐριπίδης (±480 – ±406 ΠΚΧ), José Gomes Ferreira (1900 – 1985), Friedrich Hölderlin (1770 – 1843), Fernando Lopes-Graça (1904 – 1994), Μιχάλης Λουκοβίκας, Martín Codax (13ος αιώνας ΚΧ), Γιώργος Μητσάκης (1921 – 1993), Amélia Muge, José Niza (1938 – 2011), Violeta Parra (1917 – 1967), Fernando Pessoa (1888 – 1935), Σαπφώ (±630 – ±570 ΠΚΧ), José Saramago (1922 – 2010), Armando Soares (1920 – 2007), Παναγιώτης Τούντας (1886 – 1942), Βασίλης Τσιτσάνης (1915 – 1984), κι ένας ανώνυμος Χουρρίτης τής Ουγκαρίτ (±1400 ΠΚΧ) – πρόκειται για ένα Αρχιπέλαγος δημιουργών!

Amélia Muge & Μιχάλης Λουκοβίκας: Periplus & Archipelagos

Στην Πορτογαλία, εκτός από την Amélia Muge και τον σύντροφό της, τον José António Martins (τελευταία μας συνεργασία: Amélias, 2022), συνέπραξα με, ή συνέθεσα για, άλλους μουσικούς και τραγουδιστές: José Mário Branco, Filipe Raposo, Maria Monda, Sofia Vitória, Carla Pires, και André Santos. Στην Ελλάδα, επεξεργάστηκα κι ένα αφιέρωμα στον Παναγιώτη Τούντα: Προσωπογραφίες γυναικών τού ρεμπέτικου / Η τέχνη τής μετατροπίας.

Ο περίπλους στο αρχιπέλαγος συνεχίζεται….

● Όσοι επιθυμείτε να επιστρέψετε στην αφετηρία μας:

• >> Αγκυροβόλι. ΠΡΟ ΤΟΥ ΑΠΟΠΛΟΥ
• << 29. ΒΙΒΛΙΟ – ΔΙΣΚΟ – ΓΡΑΦΙΑ

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.

30. MICHALES LOUKOVIKAS – bio

30. MICHALES LOUKOVIKAS – bio

/ΕΛΛΗΝΙΚΑ/ 30. ΜΙΧΑΛΗΣ ΛΟΥΚΟΒΙΚΑΣ – βιογραφικό

BORN INTO A MUSICAL FAMILY of Thrace, I was taught music by my father, with whom I made my first steps as a professional musician (accordion, guitar and voice) at 15, taking later on 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 Thessalonica, I directed student musical ensembles, and participated in rebetiko and popular musical groups. As a member of the Eurydice company, I co-wrote and co-produced plays for various genres (theatre, puppetry, shadow plays), where I also composed or selected musical themes. Besides, I contributed to the soundtrack of the film Stories of a Honeycomb, by Nikos Vergitsis (1981), as a composer (theme music), singer and musician.

I graduated in English Language and Literature from the Aristotle University of Salonica and worked as a teacher and translator of English, publisher (Research publishers), and journalist (Macedonia, Thessaloniki, Angeliophoros newspapers, and the ERT3 – Hellenic Broadcasting Corporation – radio stations).

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

A series of articles on cultural exchange (Mediterranean Periplus, Thessaloniki newspaper) evolved into a homonymous radio program that went on for more than twelve years (1998-2010, 9.58 fm, ERT3). I teamed up with the writer and songwriter Thomás Korovinis, and also worked with Paris Paraschópoulos on the music of the play Alexandria–Athens, on the Parallel Lives of Constantine Cavafy and Kostēs Palamās, two outstanding Greek poets.

My research in modal music led me to The Gold in the Sky (2008), an Occident-to-Orient musical voyage on Ares Alexandrou’s poetry, featuring 35 musicians, where I composed, arranged, produced, played, recited and sang, as well.

My meeting with Amélia Muge in the “Internet Sea” led to a partnership, initially with the Portuguese version of The Gold in the Sky, in the bilingual book-disc O OURO DO CÉU / Ares Alexandrou por Michales Loukovikas (2011). Adapting ancient and traditional songs, as well as composing originals on line, Amélia and I embarked on a PERIPLUS / Luso-Hellenic Wanderings (2012) with the poetess Hélia Correia as a special guest. Our Periplus took us as far as Rio de Janeiro, at the University of Brazil, playing and talking about music and poetry. Later on, we worked on Amália Rodrigues’ verses, in the CD Amélia com versos de Amália (2014). Our latest project, ARCHiPELAGOS / Passages, was out late 2017, with many composers, singers, musicians, poets, sailing together in our archipelagos.

Periplus & Archipelagos covers

In Portugal, except Amélia Muge, and also her partner, José António Martins, I have worked with and/or composed for other musicians, such as José Mário Branco, Maria Monda, Carla Pires, Filipe Raposo, André Santos, Sofia Vitória. While in Greece, I’ve arranged a tribute to Panaiotes Tountas and his Art in Modulation: Portraits of Rebetiko Women.

Periplus goes on….

● For all those who wish to return to our starting point:

• >> At Anchor. BEFORE SAILING OFF
• << 29. BIBLIO – DISCO – GRAPHY

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.

●

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

Navegando para o Rio de Janeiro!

Navegando para o Rio de Janeiro!

/ENGLISH/ Sailing to Rio de Janeiro!
/ΕΛΛΗΝΙΚΑ/ Πλώρη για Rio de Janeiro!

Museu Afro-Brasileiro

ΙΙΙ Festival

TÃO LONGE, TÃO PERTO

Música e Poesia em Língua Portuguesa

(Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Maio de 2013)*

Testemunho para debate de Michales Loukovikas

* O Festival Tão Longe Tão Perto foi organizado em colaboração com o grupo Música Surda: Andréia Pedroso, Antônio Jardim, Artur Gouvêa e Eduardo Gatto.
 
 

Quando Amélia Muge e eu começámos a trocar e pesquisar material relacionado com as nossas tradições, a lusitana-portuguesa e a helénica-grega, muitas pessoas ergueram as sobrancelhas com ironia e descrença:

“Ah, eles são loucos”, pensaram, outros até disseram: “Portugal e Grécia são tão distantes, é impossível encontrar uma base comum”…

Imaginem o que dirão estas pessoas de “sobrancelha erguida” agora que estamos falando num triângulo, não o das… Bermudas, mas de Portugal, Brasil e Grécia. Bom, Portugal e Brasil, tudo bem, a relação é evidente: antiga colónia e metrópole. Mas… a Grécia?!!

Flamenco (de Hyatt Moore):
uma arte ligando a Iberia e a India

Posso dizer que os resultados de nossa colaboração até a nós surpreenderam! Devo acrescentar que mesmo a alguém que como eu tem vindo a pesquisar neste campo há muitos anos, concluindo que civilização e cultura são o
resultado do dar e receber, de trocas. Também provei nos meus programas de rádio que lugares tão distantes como Índia e Ibéria por exemplo têm estado interconectados faz milhares de anos, desde os tempos antigos… Bem, quando nós, gregos, dizemos “antigos” significa AEC (antes da era comum) ou AC (antes de Cristo), se preferirem.

Todas essas ideias foram ainda mais reforçadas quando Amélia e eu começamos a trabalhar no Periplus. Claro que mesmo agora ainda há alguns “pontos obscuros”; questões que permanecem sem resposta. É por exemplo uma questão intrigante para mim: como pode a Amélia, uma portuguesa nascida em Moçambique, compor em estilo antigo? Isto porque todos os três temas gregos antigos que temos no Periplus (o Epitáfio de Seikilos, o Primeiro Hino Délfico dedicado a Apolo e o Hino a Némesis de Mesomedes) foram incluídos por causa das composições dela, que me lembraram as canções gregas antigas supra mencionadas. É muito estranho.

Pyxis (Píxis): uma pequena caixa cilíndrica andalusa, de marfim, para cosméticos ou joalharia (séc. X)

 

Mas fora esses “pontos obscuros”, que sempre nos irão desafiar a encontrar respostas satisfatórias, fomos capazes de organizar o resto do puzzle com algum conforto. E quando o nosso Periplus foi lançado, eu pude dizer:

“As conexões estão aí, esperando por nós para serem descobertas. Só é necessário pesquisar metodicamente, é claro, e com uma bússola adequada” – como vocês dizem, bússula, como nós dizemos.

• ^(a) Temos a mesma palavra vinda do grego (pyxos > pyxis-pyxida > buxis-buxida > box, boîte, e bussola), com o nome dado à planta pyxos (> buxo) como ponto de partida; é um arbusto de madeira muito dura, compacta e durável que tem sido usada desde a antiguidade para construir recipientes, tais como pyxides (pequenas caixas), e instrumentos musicais de corda e sopro. As suas sementes estão dentro de uma cápsula que também se chama pixídio. De facto, quem dentro dos não-especialistas poderia imaginar que a inglesa box (caixa) tinha tido uma origem grega?

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Mecanismo de Anticítera

A península grega e o seu arquipélago não foram um começo da história da civilização. Os gregos receberam a sabedoria do Oriente (Ásia Menor, Egipto e Mesopotâmia) e transformaram-na em ciência;^(b) foi um grande feito! E deixaram uma literatura maravilhosa! A civilização helênica tornou-se por isso a base fundadora das culturas ocidentais.

• ^(b) Não pode existir uma grande civilização sem a tecnologia equivalente. Uma maravilha neste domínio é o Mecanismo de Anticítera, o mais antigo computador analógico, concebido para calcular as posições dos astros. Datado de 100 AC, foi recuperado em 1901 de um navio naufragado perto da Anticítera entre o Peloponeso e Creta, mas o seu significado e complexidade só foram compreendidos um século depois. Dispositivos de um nível correspondente reaparecerão na Europa no séc.14, com a construção dos relógios astronómicos. O professor Michael Edmunds da Universidade de Cardiff, que dirigiu em 2006 um estudo sobre este mecanismo, refere:
  “Este mecanismo é simplesmente extraordinário, único dentro deste género. O design é maravilhoso, a astronomia exacta. A forma como foi concebido deixa-nos de queixo caído… Em termos de valor histórico e raridade, sou obrigado a olhar para este mecanismo como sendo mais valioso que a Mona Lisa.”

Victória, a única nau da frota de F. Magalhães que completou o periplus ou circum-navegação à volta da terra (detalhe de um mapa de Ortelius, 1590)

Os periploi (plural de periplus) que chegaram até nós ocorreram no mar Mediterrânico e nos oceanos Índico e Atlântico. Heródoto também escreveu sobre um périplo por África feito pelos fenícios em nome de um faraó egípcio. Um grego de Alexandria (Egipto) descreveu as costas do Oceano Índico na África do leste e Índia. Píteas, da colónia grega de Massália (moderna Marselha, França) viajou pelo norte até às Ilhas Britânicas e Escandinávia e concluiu um periplus europeu navegando através dos rios da Europa do Báltico ao Mar Negro, voltando ao Mediterrâneo. Há também quem acredite que os minoicos cretenses, os gregos, os egípcios, os púnicos e outros povos da antiguidade navegaram até ás Américas antes dos vikings ou de Colombo – ou, é claro, de Fernão de Magalhães que tentou um periplus à volta da terra mas não teve a sorte de concluí-lo.

Mas essas viagens começaram na Idade do Bronze, muito antes dos registos históricos. Há muitos indícios de que os minóicos na época do seu domínio marítimo (talassocracia) viajaram até á Cornualha (Bretanha) à procura de estanho, ou obtinham-no no sul da Gália. O estanho é um componente necessário ao fabrico do bronze (10% de estanho com 90% de cobre). Havia naquela época muito cobre no Mediterrâneo. Chipre por exemplo estava cheio de cobre e o nome desta ilha tem origem nesta palavra. Mas estanho? Não havia muitos lugares no Mediterrâneo que o tivessem e os que o tinham era em pouca quantidade.

Andaluzia com Tartessos e Gadir-Gadeira-Gades-Cádis, uma colónia fenícia em três ilhas com nomes gregos: Erytheia, Kotinoussa e Antipolis, enquanto Melcarte, o deus tutelar, se assemelha a Héracles, o fundador da cidade segundo um mito grego…

Os minoicos e mais tarde os gregos e os fenícios, navegaram até á Ibéria que era rica em minerais. Muito provavelmente teriam sido os andaluzes a levar os cretenses até à Galiza, Bretanha e Cornualha: eles sabiam o caminho… Todos esses lugares, especialmente a Cornualha, possuíam grandes depósitos de estanho. Lá, perto da Galiza, ou talvez da Cornualha, estariam as chamadas Cassitérides Nesoi, as Ilhas de Estanho (cassiteros significa estanho em grego). Heródoto e outros historiadores escreveram também sobre as ligações dos gregos e fenícios com Tartessos na Andaluzia, na foz do Guadalquivir, e há quem nos dias de hoje correlacione Tartessos com a misteriosa Atlântida…

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Uma das duas famosas estátuas gregas de tamanho inteiro de guerreiros barbudos despidos, as chamadas Bronzes de Riace, fundidas em cerca de 460-450 AC, redescobertas em 1972 e consideradas como um dos símbolos da Calábria

A minha investigação começou com algumas perguntas muito simples:

• Aonde é que a Idade do Bronze Mediterrânica encontrou estanho para produzir o bronze?

• Quem foram os comerciantes marítimos desse tempo a trazer este metal crucial para o Mediterrâneo e onde é que o encontraram?^(c)

• ^(c) Podem consultar detalhes desta saga no blogue de Periplus, na categoria Once Upon a… Wave, nas Crónicas de 1 a 10: tendo como ponto de partida um Périplo mediterrânico; deambula-se pela Creta minóica, pela Grécia micénica, pela Fenícia; desvenda-se o Enigma dos Povos do Mar; descobre-se o “El Dorado” na Ibéria; Revivendo um Périplo ibérico; e observa-se os esforços para Restringir a liberdade de pensamento, bem como a catástrofe de Tartesso e Cartago (“Carthago Delenda Est”), enquanto se vê a Ibéria com olhos imparciais, e se tiram conclusões a partir de um Waterloo arquelógico.

A conclusão é que certas necessidades levam as pessoas a viver em conjunto, a comunicar, a fazer trocas entre elas. Foi assim que a sociedade nasceu, as cidades foram criadas, apareceram as classes e a divisão social do trabalho, e a escrita foi inventada. A interacção embora ligada a necessidades materiais transformou os que trabalharam em conjunto também pela troca de ideias e ideais, processo que está na base do nascimento da civilização e da cultura.

Safo e Alcaeu, de Lawrence Alma-Tadema

Não é assim tão óbvio, mas temos também coisas como um “periplus” noutros empreendimentos humanos. A música nasceu em conjunto com a fala. Num estado mais avançado, na Grécia antiga, música significava quer o instrumental quer a canção. A poesia na Grécia clássica era inconcebível sem música. As duas artes acabaram… por divorciar-se mais tarde, no séc. 4 AC. Contudo, quer antes, quer depois, foi necessário (e ainda é) um “periplus” para combinar sons e palavras, e para expressar o significado das palavras através dos sons. Algo parecido acontece na tradução: neste caso, o “periplus” diz respeito a duas linguagens. É a viagem do texto, o seu sentido e estilo, conteúdo e forma, ao ser adaptado para que comece a respirar num outro ambiente linguístico…

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A Odisseia é uma espécie de “periplus” poético. De acordo com os Lusitanos, as deambulações de Odisseu( Ulisses) foram também luso-gregas: ele fundou Lisboa e teve um filho de uma princesa Ibérica: Calipso. Homero descreveu a descida de Odisseu ao Hades, o mundo dos mortos, que estava para lá dos Pilares de Hércules, quer dizer, o Estreito de Gilbraltar. Os gregos localizaram na mesma área o Jardim das Hespérides e as Ilhas Afortunadas (Makaron Nesoi), as Ilhas Bem Aventuradas ou o Elísio, onde hoje se pensa ser a Macaronésia (Açores, Madeira, as Canárias e Cabo Verde).

Dante, no seu Inferno, cita outra versão da descida sem retorno de Odisseu ao mundo dos mortos. Segundo ele, o rei de Ítaca passou os Pilares de Hércules e velejando para sul, atravessou o Equador e continuou a viajar durante meses, até chegar a uma baía com uma grande montanha. Nessa altura, um tornado afundou o seu barco…

Não sei porquê, mas acho que essa baía com uma grande montanha é… o Rio de Janeiro! Eu gostaria de poder confirmá-lo…

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…

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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