We met and talked with the performers of the show “Songs of Salvation” at PLYFA
“Songs of Salvation”, one of the most beloved performances of recent years, are returning once more to the artistic life of Athens! Christina Maksouri and four exceptional folk musicians set up their stage again and invite us on a journey through the life and songs of Sotiria Bellou from Thursday 7 March and every Thursday at 21:00, in a great celebration dedicated to the “Mistress of rebetiko” in PLYFA. Favorite songs performed by Bellou and etched in the history of Greek music, such as “Periplanomeni žoi”, “De les kuveda”, “I turn like an outcast”, “Don’t cry”, “I said to erase the old ones”, “The mountains are singing” ”, “Don’t leave me again”, “With planes and steamships” and many more, come alive again in the show in a simple but meaningful way. The show with countless sold outs, which was loved by audiences and critics, returns in the same mysterious way that it left us and we had the opportunity to meet the actors of the show and share with us their experience from this musical theater journey and this their encounter with the songs and life of Sotiria Bellou.
Christina Maksouri (singer, artistic director)
A defense condition of a strong personality
“Songs of Salvation” is for me a state of union between us, on the one hand with some of the songs sung (in the first performance) by Sotiria Bellou, on the other with the world that comes to become part of the condition that is created during each performance. A condition – I want to believe – of love and defense of an intense, dynamic and vulnerable personality and a strong and unwavering voice that seems to carry the truth of the whole world.
Dimitris Haliotis (artistic editing)
Explosive and multidimensional personality
“The songs of Sotiria” were born from our love for Sotiria Bellou herself. Bellou was not just a great singer. He was an explosive and multidimensional personality. A dark and abysmal man, immersed in his contradictions and passions, with deep faith in his ideas and a fictional life that had it all: hardships, wood, glory, money, addictions, psychiatry, loves, decline, acclaim. A varied life, with sudden flashes of light, but also deep darkness. And all this was written about her. In her look, in her manner, but also -mainly- in her voice. How to explain such a woman? We decided to let her great songs speak for her. “The mountains are singing”, “Like an outcast”, “You don’t talk”, “With planes and steamships”, “Don’t cry”… Christina Maksouri, with her wonderful voice and her Doric interpretation, takes the stage with four skilled musicians and lead us on a musical journey to the songs of Salvation. And between the songs, short, characteristic stories from her turbulent life, which Christina shares with the audience. It is our way of honoring and celebrating Salvation.
Dimitris Koufogiorgos (bouzouki)
We see people who care about each other’s plight
Every time I hear a song of this era, of the good folk song, without wanting to, other things I’ve heard also come to mind. Not necessarily their melodies or lyrics, but the landscape in which they commonly place me, the perception they express of life, of human pride, but also of the way they integrate man into society. “Songs of Salvation” is a show full of all these. But one song that I love very much is “Otan pineis in the taverna” by Vassilis Tsitsanis and the first song recorded by Sotiria Bellou. In a tavern a customer observes and addresses another customer respectfully and almost tenderly and tells him “when you drink in the tavern you sit and don’t speak, sometimes you sigh from the leaves of your heart”. Then he says to him “I would like to ask you and find out what passion has made you so melancholic. Perhaps you have loved and been betrayed too, come and sit near us to feast together.” We don’t learn why this man is so brooding, we don’t learn anything about him, but that probably doesn’t matter. We see people who care about each other’s plight and find common ground in their misadventures but also in their willingness to party together.
Zacharias Gerasklis (bouzouki – singing)
Complete encounter with the life of Bellou
Sotiria Bellou bonded with the people, both through her songs, where she expressed their woes, desires and hopes, as well as through the common pace she acquired with them through a competitive contribution during the years of the EAM National Resistance. “Songs of Salvation” is a comprehensive encounter with the life and multifaceted personality of Bellou, linked to the social reality of her time. This is how they manage to reflect on today’s contradictions and impasses.
Dimitris Koustas (accordion)
Bridge connecting three and four lands
Conservatory, classical studies, acquaintance with Bach, Mozart, Beethoven. At home, on the one hand Hatzidakis, Theodorakis, Loizos, on the other Tsitsanis, Kazantzidis. At school, Beatles, Led Zeppelin, Black Sabbath, Michael Jackson… Big confusion, doubts and some guilt. Somewhere there comes “M’ airplanes and steamships” and Bellou’s voice… A bridge that joins not two but three and four lands. A solid pace that provides solid ground to jump high on. Verse that teaches modern History. A song that gave “current” to my soul, reconciled the musical parts of myself, absolved me and cleared my doubts, redefining my aesthetics and my musical and artistic concerns and searches. Of course it is one of the songs we play in “Songs of Salvation” along with other “treasures” of Bellou.
Vassilis Prodromou (guitar – vocals)
Musical performance filled with favorite songs
It is a musical performance full of favorite songs performed uniquely by Sotiria Bellou in her long career. One of them is “You’re my man”. It is a song by Peristeris and Matsa, one of the first recorded by Bellou in the late 40s. This song touches me every time we play it, because, despite the “exaggeration” in the lyrics, together with the major of the composition I feel that it completely describes true – eternal love. Finding your man, your other half, is difficult. But so great and enjoyable when it happens.
