EDITOR’S NOTE (Nick Stamatakis). This video from 2022 has become viral, and there is a very good reason for it. It shows one of the greatest composers and maestros of modern Greek music, Stavros Xarhakos, teaching a bunch of teenagers to play bouzouki in Syros. Xarhakos is usually listed along with Hadjidakis and Theodorakis as responsible for the inclusion of bouzouki and “rebetika” in the mainstream of Greek music, starting in the 1950s and 1960s. He is an expert on the history of “Rebetika” and wrote and directed for many years both the classics and many new classics created by the “trio” Hadjidakis, Theodorakis, Xarhakos.
In this particular video, he teaches a bunch of teenagers in Syros how to evoke in their playing of (mostly) bouzouki all the passion of “Frankosyriani,” considered the “Anthem” of Rebetika, by the grandfather of this music, Markos Vamvakaris. The song is about a “Frank” (in this case meaning a catholic) lady from Syros—an island along with Tinos that has a population of Catholic Greeks. Xarhakos is trying to teach the young orchestra how to evoke the main theme, “μια φούντωση, μια φλόγα έχω μεσα στην καρδιά” (“I feel a flare, a flame in my heart”), the eruption of love feelings that the song has as its main theme… Magical!!
IT IS FOLLOWED BY A COUPLE OF SHORT VIDEOS FOCUSING ON THE MAIN THEME, AND THE ACTUAL PERFORMANCE OF THE GROUP IN SYROS. FINALLY, A REMARKABLE XARHAKOS PERFORMANCE WHERE HE DIRECTS A BOUZOUKI ORCHESTRA AS HE DANCES ZEIBEIKIKO!!!
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BELOW: FROM PRACTICE TO ACTION – THE REAL PERFORMANCE!!
AND HERE XARHAKOS IS NOT SIMPLY A MAESTRO BUT ALSO A ZEIBEKIKO DANCER!!
So amazing…heartwarming…I remember Xarhakos at a concert at the Herodeion once years ago while in Greece. It was like a dream…Matia Vourkomena…Kokina Fanaria…such beautiful music ..glad to see he’s still spreading joy in the arts.