Loading tracks...

El·las
Picap, 1993
_

In 1993 she issued the record El·las dedicated exclusively to adaptations of songs by the Greek musician Mikis Theodorakis. The adaptations of the lyrics were almost totally done by the Valencia poet Albert Garcia. The musicians who accompanied her were Javier Mas, Feliu Gassull, Dimitri Psonis, Carles Cases, Santiago “Santa” Salas, Horacio Fumero and Jaume Cortadellas. The arrangements were by P. Boissel, a regular collaborator of Mikis Theodorakis.

In summer 1992 she presented the show La Grècia de Theodorakis in the Plaça del Rei in Barcelona to commemorate the Olympics’ Greek origins in the year in which Barcelona hosted the modern Games. The show was the origin of the album El·las, dedicated exclusively to the songs of the Greek musician Mikis Theodorakiswith the adaptations by the Valencia poet Albert Garcia in collaboration with Maria del Mar Bonet. Maria del Mar Bonet explained on many occasions that from her professional beginnings she listened to Theodorakis and wanted to sing him. It was in 1992, then, that this dream came true. The Greek composer attended all the performances she did in the Plaça del Rei and explained to Maria del Mar Bonet what he thought of these adaptations of his songs by Albert Garcia: They have translated my work a lot around the world, they have translated me in Sweden, Germany, Italy, but it sounds like breaking glass when they sing my songs, because they just don’t fit, whereas it seems like you are singing in Greek, and it fits perfectly.

She combined this show with that of Adesiara, which commemorated two decades singing, and she did a tour around the Spanish State and Catalonia with one or other show. That year she also performed three remarkable concerts: in June she took part in the Festival de Bonneuil in France along with Quico Pi de la Serra; in July she returned to the Auditori of Tarragona; in August she formed part of the Festival Trobadors i Joglars concert in Granollers along with George Moustaki, Paco Ibáñez and Rafael Alberti, who played before more than 3,000 people; also in August in Peralada she sang at the concert composed by Feliu Gassull Cant de benvinguda, from poems by Joan Vinyoli; on the 5th of December she gave the concert, which would be repeated later in the Valencia region, Mallorca es presenta, in the the Plaça de la Catedral in Barcelona before more than 15,000 people along with the University Choir of the Balearic Isles and with Lluís Llach as a special guest. In October and November she toured Castilla la Mancha with the show about Theodorakis and taking it to cities such as León, being the first time she had sung in the Teatro Emperador, Albacete and Guadalajara. In June in Granada and in November in Tokio she sang live with Nacho Duato in the choreography Arenal.

On the 23rd of November 1992 she received the National Music Prize of the Generalitat de Catalunya.

In 1993 the album El·las was issued that she presented in the Espai in Barcelona between the 5th and 9th of May. In January she sang La Grècia de Theodorakis in Palma, after touring Belgium, Germany and the Low Countries accompanied by Feliu Gassull and Javier Mas. In March she was in Murcia; in May again in Palma. During that year she took part in two benefit concerts, in Lleida in favour of the people of Somalia and in the Palau Sant Jordi in Barcelona, along with Lluís Llach in the Concert of Solidarity with Bosnia. On the 30th of June she gave the concert Mallorca es presenta in Valencia before 5,000 people with Ovidi Montllor and Toti Soler as guests. In August she collaborated on the celebration of 15 years of the University of the Balearic Isles.

In July she presented the new show Viatgera de Nits in the Plaça del Rei in Barcelona which represents a musical journey around the Mediterranean and where some of the songs had already been sung the year before in the Plaça del Rei, specifically the Greek ones, this time broadening the range to Italy, Corsica, Sardinia, Mallorca, Tunisia, Valencia, Catalonia.

Photos with Mikis Theodorakis
(Toni Catany)
_

Graphic Documentation
_

Previous         Next