Teleporio™ — Greek Island Travel Intelligence

Maria Farantouri

Maria Farantouri became the voice of Mikis Theodorakis and the Greek resistance. Her recordings of Theodorakis settings remain among the most significant in Greek music.

Maria Farantouri

Maria Farantouri (born 1947, Athens) is the voice most associated with the music of Mikis Theodorakis, whose recordings of his settings of Seferis, Ritsos, and Elytis became among the most significant in twentieth-century Greek culture, and whose work brought the poetry of Nobel laureates to international attention through music. Their work is among the most important in the tradition of Greek popular and folk music, and understanding their contribution is central to understanding the culture of Athens and the wider Greek musical world.

The Music and Its Context

Greek popular music — laika and rembetika — has a history inseparable from the social history of Greece in the twentieth century. The music that developed in the tavernas and music clubs of Athens and Piraeus in the first half of the century carried the experience of Asia Minor refugees, Ottoman musical forms, and working-class urban life into a distinctly Greek idiom. The artists who inherited and transformed this tradition in the second half of the century gave it new audiences, new forms, and international reach.

Where to Hear Greek Music in Athens

The live music circuit in Athens operates on a winter calendar. The best rembetika and laika performances happen from October to March in the clubs of Psyrri, Monastiraki, and Keramikos. Summer brings outdoor performances at Herodes Atticus, Lycabettus Theatre, and Technopolis. Check the Athens Epidaurus Festival programme for summer appearances by major Greek artists, and the individual venue programmes for winter season events.