Paper Moon: Songs by Hadjidakis Elena Papandreou

• Manos Hadjidakis (1925 - 1994): Paper Moon (Arr. O. Kalampalikis for Guitar):
• 1Hadjidakis: Paper Moon (Arr. O. Kalampalikis for Guitar)04:44
• The Urchins Down in the Meadow (Arr. O. Kalampalikis for Guitar):
• 2Hadjidakis: The Urchins Down in the Meadow (Arr. O. Kalampalikis for Guitar)06:32
• Hymettus (Arr. O. Kalampalikis for Guitar):
• 3Hadjidakis: Hymettus (Arr. O. Kalampalikis for Guitar)04:14
• The Postman Is Dead (Arr. R. Dyens for Guitar):
• 4Hadjidakis: The Postman Is Dead (Arr. R. Dyens for Guitar)04:45
• Noble Dame (Arr. O. Kalampalikis for Guitar):
• 5Hadjidakis: Noble Dame (Arr. O. Kalampalikis for Guitar)04:26
• In This Boat (Arr. O. Kalampalikis for Guitar):
• 6Hadjidakis: In This Boat (Arr. O. Kalampalikis for Guitar)04:07
• A Stroll to the Moon (Arr. O. Kalampalikis for Guitar):
• 7Hadjidakis: A Stroll to the Moon (Arr. O. Kalampalikis for Guitar)06:22
• The Coachman (Arr. O. Kalampalikis for Guitar):
• 8Hadjidakis: The Coachman (Arr. O. Kalampalikis for Guitar)09:39
• I Have a Secret (Arr. O. Kalampalikis for Guitar):
• 9Hadjidakis: I Have a Secret (Arr. O. Kalampalikis for Guitar)03:54
• Little Rallou (Arr. O. Kalampalikis for Guitar):
• 10Hadjidakis: Little Rallou (Arr. O. Kalampalikis for Guitar)07:09
• Wide Open Sea (Arr. R. Dyens for Guitar):
• 11Hadjidakis: Wide Open Sea (Arr. R. Dyens for Guitar)06:04
• Sweet Smell of Jasmine (Arr. O. Kalampalikis for Guitar):
• 12Hadjidakis: Sweet Smell of Jasmine (Arr. O. Kalampalikis for Guitar)04:53
• Leo Brouwer (b. 1939): Preludio de la nostalgia (Arr. O. Kalampalikis for Guitar):
• 13Brouwer: Preludio de la nostalgia (Arr. O. Kalampalikis for Guitar)05:58
• Total Runtime01:12:47

Info for Paper Moon: Songs by Hadjidakis

Regarded as one of the greatest Greek composers and a legend in his native land, Manos Hadjidakis is also one of the best-known internationally thanks to a body of works that touches many musical genres, from concert music to popular songs and scores for the stage and screen. Hadjidakis and his music has been present in the life of Elena Papandreou from an early age, but the idea for Paper Moon, her latest recital, began with her friendship with the French guitarist, composer and arranger Roland Dyens. Sharing Papandreou’s admiration for Hadjidakis, Dyens arranged a couple of his songs, and dedicated them to her. The two agreed to collaborate on a complete disc of Hadjidakis songs, a project that was suspended when Dyens passed away in 2016. But his former student, the guitarist, composer and arranger Orestis Kalampalikis agreed to continue in Dyens’ footsteps, and arranged a further ten songs, including the one that has given its title to the entire album.

Arranging a song for an instrument naturally means that the lyrics are lost, and in the disc’s liner notes Kalampalikis describes how he endeavoured to create versions inspired by the meaning of the lyrics - sometimes by Hadjidakis himself and often dealing with love, longing and loneliness. Closing the disc, Preludio de la Nostalgia was composed in 2020 by the legendary Cuban composer Leo Brouwer. Written for and dedicated to Elena Papandreou, it was inspired by another song by Hadjidakis, Nanourisma (Lullaby) and can be seen as a homage from a fellow composer.

Elena Papandreou, guitar

Elena Papandreou
was born in Athens on 7 March 1966. She studied the guitar with Evangelos Boudounis (with whom she received her diploma in 1985 from the National Conservatory with the highest mark) and with Oscar Ghiglia. She also studied with Gordon Crosskey at the Royal Northern College of Music, England, on a British Council scholarship, obtaining the Diploma in Advanced Studies in Musical Performance (1986). She played in master classes of Alirio Diaz, Julian Bream, Leo Brouwer and Ruggero Chiesa.

She has won the First Prize in three International Competitions, “Maria Callas” (Greece 1984), “Gargnano” (Italy 1985), “Alessandria” (Italy 1985) and the Second Prize in the “Guitar Foundation of America” Competition (1995). In the latter she was also awarded the “NAXOS” Prize, which gave her the opportunity to record two personal CDs with this company. In the past she had released five other records while now she collaborates with the Swedish BIS where she recorded three CDs (music by Roland Dyens and by Nikita Koshkin). In 1992 she was honoured by the Academy of Athens with the “Spyros Motsenigos” Prize - a most important prize that is awarded to one outstanding performer every two years.

Elena Papandreou has performed in most European countries, as well as in the U.S.A., Canada, Venezuela, Puerto Rico, Brazil, Mexico, Colombia, China, Taiwan, South Korea and Japan. Within the “Rising Stars” program of the “European Concert Hall Organisation”, she gave concerts in some of the most prestigious halls in Europe, the Vienna Musikverein, the Koelner Philharmonie, the Birmingham Symphony Hall and the Athens Concert Hall. She has also played in the Tchaikovsky Concert Hall in Moscow and the Queen Elisabeth Hall in London. In 1998 she gave her debut in Carnegie Hall in New York.

She has collaborated with outstanding musicians, among which, the guitarists Oscar Ghiglia, Alirio Diaz, Roland Dyens, Nikita Koshkin, Evangelos Boudounis, the violinist Leonidas Kavakos and the cellist Leonid Gorokhov. Elena Papandreou has played as a soloist with the State Orchestras of Athens and Thessaloniki, the Camerata Orchestra, the Orchestra of Colours, the Orchestra of Patras, the Orchestra of Alessandria, Italy, the Istanbul Chamber Orchestra, the Bucharest Philharmonic, the Singapore Symphony Orchestra, the ESMDM orchestra in Monterrey Mexico and with conductors such as Daniele Gatti, Lan Shui, Paul Chiang, Cristian Mandeal, Miltos Logiadis, Vassilis Christopoulos etc

Performances of hers were recorded by the Greek Television and Radio, Radio France, Deutsche Welle and the Turkish Television.

Elena Papandreou is a Professor in the University of Macedonia in Thessaloniki and teaches in the summer course of Incontri Chitarristici di Gargnano, Italy together with Oscar Ghiglia.

Several composers have dedicated works to her: Leo Brouwer, Roland Dyens, Nikita Koshkin (including a concerto for guitar and orchestra), Nikos Mamangakis (including a concerto for guitar and orchestra), Giorgos Koumendakis, Evangelos Boudounis and others.

For her interpretations she has received laudatory comments from significant people of the music world and enthusiastic reviews from the Press in Greece and abroad. Leo Brouwer said about her: “If you want to hear music of the highest level of interpretation with poetical perfection you must hear Elena Papandreou” and in 2020 he dedicated to her his work “Preludio de la Nostalgia”. The Washington Post called her “a poet of the guitar” and the Greek newspaper “Ta Nea” wrote: “Now we see Elena Papandreou as one of the greatest interpreters [...] the critic becomes silent … when the Music begins.”

Booklet for Paper Moon: Songs by Hadjidakis