Nana Mouskouri- The Rose、ＹｏｕＴｕｂｅから♪
映像は美しいバラのイメージです♪
From: luisarmandodiazfelix
Una de las mas hermosas melodias
de la... Una de las mas hermosas melodias
de la Sra Nana Mouskouri.
The rose....
Con todo el amor y el cariño del mundo
a la sonrisa robacorazones mas veloz del
unvierso... for you .....
THE ROSE
Some say love, it is a river that drowns the tender reed
Some say love, it is razor that leaves your soul to bleed
Some say love, it is a hunger, an endless aching need
I say love, it is a flower & you its only seed
It's the heart afraid of breaking that never learns to dance
Its the dream afraid of waking that never takes the chance
It's the one who won't be taken, who cannot seem to give
And the soul afraid of dying that never learns to live
When the night has been too lonely & the road has been too long
And you think that love is only for the lucky & the strong
Just remember in the winter far beneath the bitter snows
Lies the seed that with the sun's love in the spring becomes the rose (more) (less)
Category Travel & Places
Tags: nana mouskouri the rose
6/12/2007
Nana Mouskouri- Nuestra playa-spanish song,YouTubeから♪
Nana Mouskouri- Nuestra playa-spanish song,YouTubeから♪
映像はイメージです♪♪♪
From: luisarmandodiazfelix
una hermosa melodia adornando las
pla... una hermosa melodia adornando las
playas de mi Mexico.
Con la voz ed un angel de nombre
Nana Mouskouri.
esto es Mexico.
Wellcome to Mexico
Nuestra playa
La playa se ha dormido en tu silencio,
las olas ya no vienen a suspirar,
triste se queda el tiempo sin tu presente,
tristes suenan la notas de mi canción.
Clavadas se quedaron sobre la arena
todas las ilusiones que yo tejí,
pero el viento y el agua borró sus huellas,
nadie sabrá en la vida lo que escribí.
Donde voy a encontrar
un amor como tú
que no sabe escuchar
el ruido del mar
bajo el cielo azul.
Nunca más hallaré
quien comprenda mi amor
pues no habrá otro querer
que sepa escuchar mi triste canción.
Las velas de los barcos
lloran tu ausencia,
las rocas que recogen tu dulce voz
tristes y acongojados sin tu presencia,
tristes suenan las notas de mi canción.
Puede que otro verano no vuelva a verte,
puede que incluso pienses que te olvide,
pero aunque ahora finjas no conocerme,
siempre con toda el alma yo te querré.
Donde voy a encontrar
un amor como tú
que no sabe escuchar
el ruido del mar
bajo el cielo azul.
Nunca más hallaré
quien comprenda mi amor
pues no habrá otro querer
que sepa escuchar mi triste canción. (more) (less)
Category Travel & Places
Tags: nana mouskouri nuestra playa
映像はイメージです♪♪♪
From: luisarmandodiazfelix
una hermosa melodia adornando las
pla... una hermosa melodia adornando las
playas de mi Mexico.
Con la voz ed un angel de nombre
Nana Mouskouri.
esto es Mexico.
Wellcome to Mexico
Nuestra playa
La playa se ha dormido en tu silencio,
las olas ya no vienen a suspirar,
triste se queda el tiempo sin tu presente,
tristes suenan la notas de mi canción.
Clavadas se quedaron sobre la arena
todas las ilusiones que yo tejí,
pero el viento y el agua borró sus huellas,
nadie sabrá en la vida lo que escribí.
Donde voy a encontrar
un amor como tú
que no sabe escuchar
el ruido del mar
bajo el cielo azul.
Nunca más hallaré
quien comprenda mi amor
pues no habrá otro querer
que sepa escuchar mi triste canción.
Las velas de los barcos
lloran tu ausencia,
las rocas que recogen tu dulce voz
tristes y acongojados sin tu presencia,
tristes suenan las notas de mi canción.
Puede que otro verano no vuelva a verte,
puede que incluso pienses que te olvide,
pero aunque ahora finjas no conocerme,
siempre con toda el alma yo te querré.
Donde voy a encontrar
un amor como tú
que no sabe escuchar
el ruido del mar
bajo el cielo azul.
Nunca más hallaré
quien comprenda mi amor
pues no habrá otro querer
que sepa escuchar mi triste canción. (more) (less)
Category Travel & Places
Tags: nana mouskouri nuestra playa
6/11/2007
Ｓｐａｎｉｓｈ Eyes,
韓国の動画サイトから三曲どうぞ♪
一度ダウンロードして最初から再生するといいようです♪
Nana MOUSKOURI - SPANISH EYES 79♪
Nana MOUSKOURI -Schlafe Mein Prinzchen(Mozart) ♪
Nana MOUSKOURI - Serenade(Schubert) ♪
Nana Mouskouri – Encore for UNICEF、www.toronto.comから、Ｎｅｗｓ
Nana Mouskouri – Encore for UNICEFEditor's Profile
This concert was rescheduled from October 6, 2006. All tickets purchased for the October 6, 2006 performance at Roy Thomson Hall will be honoured at the rescheduled date on Sunday, June 10, 2007.
Nana Mouskouri’s Farewell Tour has drawn sold-out audiences around the world. Toronto is one of only two cities across the globe where the legendary singer and UNICEF ambassador has agreed to a return performance, this one benefiting children around the world.
In her many years as an international entertainer, Nana Mouskouri has recorded songs in many different languages and her music has combined the sounds of jazz, rock, folk, pop and classical. Nana Mouskouri – Encore for UNICEF is at Roy Thomson Hall Sunday, June 10.
6/10/2007
Bowing Out 、www.thetelegram.comから♪
Bowing Out
Nana Mouskouri bids the stage adieu
DANETTE DOOLEY
Special to The Telegram
After almost half a century of sharing her music with fans throughout the world, Nana Mouskouri is saying goodbye.
Four months shy of her 73rd birthday, Mouskouri says she always knew the time would come when she’d step aside. That time is now, she says.
“Many singers go on and sing very late (in life), but I don’t want to go on and then for people to say my voice is not like it was,” Mouskouri says during a telephone interview from Paris, France, Wednesday.
It’s been her intention, she says, to stop while she’s still in good health and able to sing with pride.
“When people can have a nice time and not to feel pity about me.”
Slowing down
While Mouskouri admits she’s slowing down and that performing in various parts of the world is becoming tiresome, she would not feel right, she says, bowing out without saying a final goodbye and thank-you to her fans.
Her upcoming Farewell World Tours gives her an opportunity to do that.
“I want to thank all the generations for helping me come up to here,” she says.
Mouskouri began her career in her native Greece.
After studying classical music at the Hellenic Conservatory in Athens, she went on to make her first recording in 1959.
Since that time she’s recorded over 1,500 songs in several different languages and has sold over 300 million records worldwide.
The 50 diamond, platinum and gold recordings she has to her credit has earned her a reputation as one of the world’s most gifted singers.
Mouskouri had no idea when she began her singing career that it would take her to some of the world’s most prestigious concert halls, including London’s Royal Albert Hall, the Olympia in Paris and New York’s Carnegie Hall.
“I became a singer because I wanted to sing. I sang for love, for peace, for hope and for dreams,” she says.
Such messages have been passed to her fans, through her music.
Feeling the love
While Mouskouri has captured audiences throughout the world, she’s also received much love from her fans, she says.
As she steps aside, she says, she does so knowing there are many other talented singers to take her place.
“It’s not a surprise to the people that I cannot offer what the young people can offer.”
Silencing her voice on stage won’t mean that Mouskouri will be sitting back with her feet up.
She has much to offer the world and will continue to give of herself in other ways.
Her plans include spending time mentoring talented young singers in Greece.
“I was 24 when I first left and I stayed outside of Greece but know I want to concentrate on being in one place.”
An international UNICEF ambassador for the past 15 years, Mouskouri will also continue in her role as advocate, fundraiser and field worker.
“It’s very rewarding because you’re using your voice for people who have no voice,” she says of her volunteer activities with UNICEF.
Mouskouri will take to the stage one last time in St. John’s Wednesday at Mile One Centre where she’ll treat her fans to a journey through her life. It will be nostalgic but not sad, she insists.
“It’s to remember the old times, not with regret, but to be happy that they happened.”
danette@nl.rogers.com
Nana Mouskouri bids the stage adieu
DANETTE DOOLEY
Special to The Telegram
After almost half a century of sharing her music with fans throughout the world, Nana Mouskouri is saying goodbye.
Four months shy of her 73rd birthday, Mouskouri says she always knew the time would come when she’d step aside. That time is now, she says.
“Many singers go on and sing very late (in life), but I don’t want to go on and then for people to say my voice is not like it was,” Mouskouri says during a telephone interview from Paris, France, Wednesday.
It’s been her intention, she says, to stop while she’s still in good health and able to sing with pride.
“When people can have a nice time and not to feel pity about me.”
Slowing down
While Mouskouri admits she’s slowing down and that performing in various parts of the world is becoming tiresome, she would not feel right, she says, bowing out without saying a final goodbye and thank-you to her fans.
Her upcoming Farewell World Tours gives her an opportunity to do that.
“I want to thank all the generations for helping me come up to here,” she says.
Mouskouri began her career in her native Greece.
After studying classical music at the Hellenic Conservatory in Athens, she went on to make her first recording in 1959.
Since that time she’s recorded over 1,500 songs in several different languages and has sold over 300 million records worldwide.
The 50 diamond, platinum and gold recordings she has to her credit has earned her a reputation as one of the world’s most gifted singers.
Mouskouri had no idea when she began her singing career that it would take her to some of the world’s most prestigious concert halls, including London’s Royal Albert Hall, the Olympia in Paris and New York’s Carnegie Hall.
“I became a singer because I wanted to sing. I sang for love, for peace, for hope and for dreams,” she says.
Such messages have been passed to her fans, through her music.
Feeling the love
While Mouskouri has captured audiences throughout the world, she’s also received much love from her fans, she says.
As she steps aside, she says, she does so knowing there are many other talented singers to take her place.
“It’s not a surprise to the people that I cannot offer what the young people can offer.”
Silencing her voice on stage won’t mean that Mouskouri will be sitting back with her feet up.
She has much to offer the world and will continue to give of herself in other ways.
Her plans include spending time mentoring talented young singers in Greece.
“I was 24 when I first left and I stayed outside of Greece but know I want to concentrate on being in one place.”
An international UNICEF ambassador for the past 15 years, Mouskouri will also continue in her role as advocate, fundraiser and field worker.
“It’s very rewarding because you’re using your voice for people who have no voice,” she says of her volunteer activities with UNICEF.
Mouskouri will take to the stage one last time in St. John’s Wednesday at Mile One Centre where she’ll treat her fans to a journey through her life. It will be nostalgic but not sad, she insists.
“It’s to remember the old times, not with regret, but to be happy that they happened.”
danette@nl.rogers.com
A conversation with Nana Mouskouri,www.canadaeast.comから♪
A conversation with Nana Mouskouri
Print this ArticleEmail this ArticleMagnify TextBookmark this ArticleShare on FacebookDigg this ArticleBookmark with del.icio.usLive BookmarkAdd to TechnoratiTOOL HELPBy JEREMY DICKSON
dickson.jeremy@dailygleaner.com
Published Friday June 1st, 2007
Appeared on page C1
When I was told I would be interviewing Nana Mouskouri, I immediately thought of her trademark black-rimmed glasses and my parents' old vinyl collection that contains a number of her records.
I also asked myself, 'is Nana Mouskouri still singing?'
The truth is, I've never really known much about the famous Greek singer and I haven't heard her distinctive voice since my parents played those old records when I was a kid.
So what happened to Nana Mouskouri? Well, she has been singing and performing around the world to millions of adoring fans for over 40 years now, but at 72 years old, Mouskouri says her latest tour will be her last.
Ioanna Mouskouri, or 'Nana' as she is best known, recently took time out of her busy schedule to speak with The Daily Gleaner from her home in Switzerland.
Mouskouri, who always wanted to be a singer despite having one abnormal vocal chord, says she is happy to be going out on top.
"I wanted to go before my voice lets me down," she says. "It was a hard decision, but I'm very proud I made it."
For those who aren't aware, Mouskouri is the biggest-selling female artist of all time, globally, with more than 300 million records sold.
She has recorded more than 400 albums and sung in more than 15 languages with everyone from Harry Belafonte to Bob Dylan. She has won a plethora of awards and gained recognition as a UNICEF spokesperson and as a member of the European Parliament from 1994 to 1999.
After a distinguished career, Mouskouri decided to embark on a lengthy farewell tour in 2005. It has taken her to all corners of the globe and will end in 2008 with a final performance in Greece.
She is currently swinging through Canada and on Tuesday, June 5 she will say goodbye to her Maritime fans at the Aitken University Centre.
"The world is very big and I thought it was right to say goodbye to everybody," she says, "and why should you go to just big places and not small places? People are the same everywhere."
Mouskouri first toured Canada in 1965 with Harry Belafonte and came here partly because she had a Canadian manager at the time, but she instantly connected with her Canadian audience.
"I have a great relationship with Canada," Mouskouri says. "I toured Canada much like a Canadian singer and I created a very happy and loyal audience there, but I will miss them," she says.
Mouskouri was born on the island of Crete, in 1934, but moved with her family to Athens when she was three.
She displayed a gift for music at a very young age, despite a flawed vocal chord that gave her a raspy speaking voice. Mouskouri eventually began singing lessons at age 12 and never looked back.
In 1950, she was accepted to the Athens Conservatoire where she studied classical music and opera, but was expelled eight years later when a professor found out she sang in a jazz group on the side.
Despite the setback, Mouskouri created a buzz when she won first prize at the 1959 Greek Song Festival for her performance of a song written by the famous Greek composer Manos Hadjidakis. Singing and recording opportunities soon flooded in and the rest, as they say, is history.
Mouskouri eventually went on to sing in many different musical genres including jazz, classical, opera, pop, French cabaret, religious and folk music.
She sang songs of peace, love, freedom and happiness - all things she struggled to find as a child growing up during the Nazi occupation of Greece in the Second World War.
"I always tried in my songs to give a message of what I missed in my childhood. I missed the love that a child needs and all my life I have searched for it," she says.
When Mouskouri speaks of war, love, childhood and freedom, her voice cracks with passion and emotion. Mouskouri knows she's accomplished much in life, but still remains truly humble.
"The years have gone by fast, but a lot has happened. I was successful, but I always stayed grounded," she says.
"Success makes you think you can rule the world, but I stayed very real in my life. I always felt I had to do better work. I had to look after my children and my business with reason and logic."
It was reason that attracted her to UNICEF in the 1960s and her work for them became official in 1993 when she was appointed a UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador.
"When I was involved with UNICEF it made a big difference because you never forget what happens to you when you grow up in the war. We see so many tragedies every day working with UNICEF, but I'm a very optimistic person."
Mouskouri says she will continue to work on behalf of children's organizations in the future and says more needs to be done today to restore injustice.
"It is a responsibility that the world today has much more than before," she says. "We had to rebuild all that was lost from the war and now people are attempting to destroy all that we built."
Her voice wavers again with feeling.
Mouskouri and her songs have resonated with many different people over the years, but women, in particular, have been drawn to her the most.
"Female singers usually have male admirers, but in my life I was very proud I had more women admirers than men."
Mouskouri says it was also a different time for mothers in the late 1960s.
"I was a young mother in those days, but mothers were looked at differently then. We were not supposed to be sexy and strong," she says.
"I was a simple girl at the time, being a mother, having children and singing about peace and love.
"But those songs became symbolic to many families and people, so maybe this is the reason I have been around for so long."
According to Mouskouri, longevity is directly related to respect - respect she received from her crews in the beginning and still warrants from a younger generation that works with her today.
"I've always had people that believed in me and I'm grateful for that.
"I did the best that I could, I paid my dues, but for music now to go further, it is up to the young ones."
One young one looking to leave a mark is Mouskouri's own daughter, Hélène, who has launched her own singing career and gained respect despite comparisons to her mother.
"It's hard for a daughter with a well-known parent," Mouskouri says, "but now she's at the point where she's very proud because she started by herself."
Mouskouri says she plans to step into a managerial role for her daughter and she hopes to give guidance and train other young singers starting their careers.
"I don't want them to be victims of certain people who just want to make money and if they get success, I don't want them to throw it all away."
Helping others could be a theme in a book about Mouskouri's life and it just might be.
The singer recently wrote an autobiography that will come out at the end of the year.
"I have written it because of my last tour and I want to show other children of war that if I can make it, so can they if they believe and have courage."
Mouskouri says a good day for her now is when she doesn't hear about too many catastrophes.
"I'm very influenced by what's happening around the world, but it's sad to see the world destroyed."
Despite her worries and her own bad days, Mouskouri says she remains upbeat.
"When I wake up in the morning, I say I will try to do something useful and positive. I am a human being, and sometimes it's hard, but I always try to make a good day out of a gloomy one."
Mouskouri may be saying goodbye to her own performing career, but people shouldn't be surprised if they hear her again. It all depends on her daughter.
"I want to do a record with my daughter and we are about to work on something, but I have to wait until she agrees with it fully. If I ever sing again after the tour it will be because of Hélène."
Nana Mouskouri's final Maritime performance begins at 8 p.m. at the Aitken Centre. She will sing songs from her most recent CD, I'll Remember You along with many of her hits.
After speaking with Mouskouri, there is no denying her talent, grace and legacy.
Not to mention her vast collection of eyeglasses. Mouskouri laughs when asked about her trademark spectacles, but, as with her life, she offers something more.
"There was a time when managers didn't want me to wear them, but I needed them to see," she says. "Now I have hundreds of pairs of glasses, but I give many of them away to charities."
Print this ArticleEmail this ArticleMagnify TextBookmark this ArticleShare on FacebookDigg this ArticleBookmark with del.icio.usLive BookmarkAdd to TechnoratiTOOL HELPBy JEREMY DICKSON
dickson.jeremy@dailygleaner.com
Published Friday June 1st, 2007
Appeared on page C1
When I was told I would be interviewing Nana Mouskouri, I immediately thought of her trademark black-rimmed glasses and my parents' old vinyl collection that contains a number of her records.
I also asked myself, 'is Nana Mouskouri still singing?'
The truth is, I've never really known much about the famous Greek singer and I haven't heard her distinctive voice since my parents played those old records when I was a kid.
So what happened to Nana Mouskouri? Well, she has been singing and performing around the world to millions of adoring fans for over 40 years now, but at 72 years old, Mouskouri says her latest tour will be her last.
Ioanna Mouskouri, or 'Nana' as she is best known, recently took time out of her busy schedule to speak with The Daily Gleaner from her home in Switzerland.
Mouskouri, who always wanted to be a singer despite having one abnormal vocal chord, says she is happy to be going out on top.
"I wanted to go before my voice lets me down," she says. "It was a hard decision, but I'm very proud I made it."
For those who aren't aware, Mouskouri is the biggest-selling female artist of all time, globally, with more than 300 million records sold.
She has recorded more than 400 albums and sung in more than 15 languages with everyone from Harry Belafonte to Bob Dylan. She has won a plethora of awards and gained recognition as a UNICEF spokesperson and as a member of the European Parliament from 1994 to 1999.
After a distinguished career, Mouskouri decided to embark on a lengthy farewell tour in 2005. It has taken her to all corners of the globe and will end in 2008 with a final performance in Greece.
She is currently swinging through Canada and on Tuesday, June 5 she will say goodbye to her Maritime fans at the Aitken University Centre.
"The world is very big and I thought it was right to say goodbye to everybody," she says, "and why should you go to just big places and not small places? People are the same everywhere."
Mouskouri first toured Canada in 1965 with Harry Belafonte and came here partly because she had a Canadian manager at the time, but she instantly connected with her Canadian audience.
"I have a great relationship with Canada," Mouskouri says. "I toured Canada much like a Canadian singer and I created a very happy and loyal audience there, but I will miss them," she says.
Mouskouri was born on the island of Crete, in 1934, but moved with her family to Athens when she was three.
She displayed a gift for music at a very young age, despite a flawed vocal chord that gave her a raspy speaking voice. Mouskouri eventually began singing lessons at age 12 and never looked back.
In 1950, she was accepted to the Athens Conservatoire where she studied classical music and opera, but was expelled eight years later when a professor found out she sang in a jazz group on the side.
Despite the setback, Mouskouri created a buzz when she won first prize at the 1959 Greek Song Festival for her performance of a song written by the famous Greek composer Manos Hadjidakis. Singing and recording opportunities soon flooded in and the rest, as they say, is history.
Mouskouri eventually went on to sing in many different musical genres including jazz, classical, opera, pop, French cabaret, religious and folk music.
She sang songs of peace, love, freedom and happiness - all things she struggled to find as a child growing up during the Nazi occupation of Greece in the Second World War.
"I always tried in my songs to give a message of what I missed in my childhood. I missed the love that a child needs and all my life I have searched for it," she says.
When Mouskouri speaks of war, love, childhood and freedom, her voice cracks with passion and emotion. Mouskouri knows she's accomplished much in life, but still remains truly humble.
"The years have gone by fast, but a lot has happened. I was successful, but I always stayed grounded," she says.
"Success makes you think you can rule the world, but I stayed very real in my life. I always felt I had to do better work. I had to look after my children and my business with reason and logic."
It was reason that attracted her to UNICEF in the 1960s and her work for them became official in 1993 when she was appointed a UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador.
"When I was involved with UNICEF it made a big difference because you never forget what happens to you when you grow up in the war. We see so many tragedies every day working with UNICEF, but I'm a very optimistic person."
Mouskouri says she will continue to work on behalf of children's organizations in the future and says more needs to be done today to restore injustice.
"It is a responsibility that the world today has much more than before," she says. "We had to rebuild all that was lost from the war and now people are attempting to destroy all that we built."
Her voice wavers again with feeling.
Mouskouri and her songs have resonated with many different people over the years, but women, in particular, have been drawn to her the most.
"Female singers usually have male admirers, but in my life I was very proud I had more women admirers than men."
Mouskouri says it was also a different time for mothers in the late 1960s.
"I was a young mother in those days, but mothers were looked at differently then. We were not supposed to be sexy and strong," she says.
"I was a simple girl at the time, being a mother, having children and singing about peace and love.
"But those songs became symbolic to many families and people, so maybe this is the reason I have been around for so long."
According to Mouskouri, longevity is directly related to respect - respect she received from her crews in the beginning and still warrants from a younger generation that works with her today.
"I've always had people that believed in me and I'm grateful for that.
"I did the best that I could, I paid my dues, but for music now to go further, it is up to the young ones."
One young one looking to leave a mark is Mouskouri's own daughter, Hélène, who has launched her own singing career and gained respect despite comparisons to her mother.
"It's hard for a daughter with a well-known parent," Mouskouri says, "but now she's at the point where she's very proud because she started by herself."
Mouskouri says she plans to step into a managerial role for her daughter and she hopes to give guidance and train other young singers starting their careers.
"I don't want them to be victims of certain people who just want to make money and if they get success, I don't want them to throw it all away."
Helping others could be a theme in a book about Mouskouri's life and it just might be.
The singer recently wrote an autobiography that will come out at the end of the year.
"I have written it because of my last tour and I want to show other children of war that if I can make it, so can they if they believe and have courage."
Mouskouri says a good day for her now is when she doesn't hear about too many catastrophes.
"I'm very influenced by what's happening around the world, but it's sad to see the world destroyed."
Despite her worries and her own bad days, Mouskouri says she remains upbeat.
"When I wake up in the morning, I say I will try to do something useful and positive. I am a human being, and sometimes it's hard, but I always try to make a good day out of a gloomy one."
Mouskouri may be saying goodbye to her own performing career, but people shouldn't be surprised if they hear her again. It all depends on her daughter.
"I want to do a record with my daughter and we are about to work on something, but I have to wait until she agrees with it fully. If I ever sing again after the tour it will be because of Hélène."
Nana Mouskouri's final Maritime performance begins at 8 p.m. at the Aitken Centre. She will sing songs from her most recent CD, I'll Remember You along with many of her hits.
After speaking with Mouskouri, there is no denying her talent, grace and legacy.
Not to mention her vast collection of eyeglasses. Mouskouri laughs when asked about her trademark spectacles, but, as with her life, she offers something more.
"There was a time when managers didn't want me to wear them, but I needed them to see," she says. "Now I have hundreds of pairs of glasses, but I give many of them away to charities."
Nana Mouskouri News 6,Nove Scotia News
Nana sings so long to Halifax
Mouskouri wants to leave stage while voice still in good shape
By ELISSA BARNARD Arts Reporter
Nana Mouskouri jokes that she probably knows Canada better than many Canadians.
The Greek singing legend, on her final tour of Canada at the age of 72, can rattle off the name of many a small Canuck town where she’s performed: "I have been in Moosejaw and Sept Iles, Rimouski and Lethbridge."
No matter the size of the town, she says, "it was the stage that was important."
While Mouskouri is saying good-bye to her fans on The Farewell Tour she won’t be saying goodbye to Canada. Her first grandchild is going to be Canadian. Mouskouri’s son, Nicolas, and his wife are expecting their first child at the end of the year, and Mouskouri is keen to be a grannie.
"Absolutely," she says from Athens, where her house is close by the sea. Her 35-year-old daughter Helene (Lenou) Mouskouri has recorded two albums and lives in France and Germany.
Last in Halifax in 2003, Mouskouri’s concert on Friday at the Halifax Metro Centre will definitely be her last here as the singer wraps up 47 years of being on the road.
She wants to leave while her voice is still in good shape. "I don’t want to leave an impression that I am not as good as always."
She is also eager to get off the road. "I decided to do this last tour to have a chance to be in places I’ve been in for so many years and to say thank you very much. The audience has been so important.
"I was in Halifax the first time 30 years ago and I came back four or five times. There are places that have meant a lot to me and it is important to me to go there.
"I remember when I first came to the Maritimes to sing at a stadium they were so excited, the people. It leaves you with memories of the audience. I always had a special relationship with the audience."
Instead of having huge production numbers with dancers and special effects, "it’s much more intimate and friendly and my music has a sense of a message of connection, of understanding, of love, sharing, of feeling peace, of dignity, for justice. They are symbols that mean a lot to people — and me as well— that we shared."
Her songs are positive and Mouskouri is a positive person even though her job since 1993 as a UNICEF ambassador has given her a clear picture of human suffering. "What you see most of the time, of course, is desperation but there is also hope. There is always hope things will get better.
"You must have hope, you can’t sit back. There is hope as long as you work."
Today Mouskouri has homes in Athens, Paris, London and Germany. She has recorded over 1,500 songs in a dozen languages with over 300 million records sold. Apart from intense international travel throughout Asia, Europe, North America and South America, she also hosted her own TV series from 1968 to 1981 and was Greek deputy to the European parliament from 1994 to 1999.
She was born Ioanna (Nana is her nickname) in Crete and moved at the age of three to Athens, where her father, a movie projectionist, was a resistance fighter during the Second World War.
She started taking classical voice lessons when she was 12 but was later kicked out of the Athens Conservatory when it was discovered she’d been singing with a jazz group at night. She began singing jazz in nightclubs, and won several song contests that launched her international career.
Mouskouri likes to read books in their original language and sings fluently in six languages, which she calls her babies — German, Italian, Greek, English, French and Spanish. "I know them very well so I can sing with my heart.
"A French song is more intellectual. A Greek song is more earthy. I love to sing in Spanish, you have so much emotion.
"I remember Quincy Jones when I did my first recording in 1962 he said ‘you are such a good singer in your own language you can really be great in any language.’ If you really have an identity in one language you’re interested to learn the others and be as good with them."
One of Mouskouri’s vocal cords is thicker than the other and that has meant she needed to train harder to get the cords to work together. "They need now still a lot of work.
"It was also wonderful because I got to know how to work the mouth and to protect them and this gives a certain colour to my voice which is not usual.
"The low notes are more husky and when I go up with it it’s clear. It’s wonderful for me at the age I am my voice has changed in colour but I haven’t lost any of the height of the range and I still sing on the same keys as when I was 25 or 30 years old."
Mouskouri, who initially wore her distinctive black-rimmed glasses as "protection" but now can’t imagine life without them, doesn’t have much time to relax but whenever she does, "I do some reading, I draw a little bit, I listen to music, I like to watch movies as well, but I don’t have very much time to relax. What I like most is to swim."
She always stays if possible at hotels with swimming pools. "It’s important for my respiration to do a little bit of exercise. It relaxes me being in the water. It’s the best relaxation you can have being in the water and to watch the water. If you watch the sea it’s very relaxing."
Mouskouri’s The Farewell Tour: One last song from Nana with love . . . is at the Halifax Metro Centre on Friday, 8 p.m. Tickets are $45.50 and $55.50 (tax included; service charge extra). Call the Ticket Atlantic box office at 451-1221, visit participating Atlantic Superstores or go online at www.ticketatlantic.com.
( ebarnard@herald.ca)
’I do some reading, I draw a little bit, I listen to music, I like to watch movies as well, but I don’t have very much time to relax. What I like most is to swim.’
Mouskouri wants to leave stage while voice still in good shape
By ELISSA BARNARD Arts Reporter
Nana Mouskouri jokes that she probably knows Canada better than many Canadians.
The Greek singing legend, on her final tour of Canada at the age of 72, can rattle off the name of many a small Canuck town where she’s performed: "I have been in Moosejaw and Sept Iles, Rimouski and Lethbridge."
No matter the size of the town, she says, "it was the stage that was important."
While Mouskouri is saying good-bye to her fans on The Farewell Tour she won’t be saying goodbye to Canada. Her first grandchild is going to be Canadian. Mouskouri’s son, Nicolas, and his wife are expecting their first child at the end of the year, and Mouskouri is keen to be a grannie.
"Absolutely," she says from Athens, where her house is close by the sea. Her 35-year-old daughter Helene (Lenou) Mouskouri has recorded two albums and lives in France and Germany.
Last in Halifax in 2003, Mouskouri’s concert on Friday at the Halifax Metro Centre will definitely be her last here as the singer wraps up 47 years of being on the road.
She wants to leave while her voice is still in good shape. "I don’t want to leave an impression that I am not as good as always."
She is also eager to get off the road. "I decided to do this last tour to have a chance to be in places I’ve been in for so many years and to say thank you very much. The audience has been so important.
"I was in Halifax the first time 30 years ago and I came back four or five times. There are places that have meant a lot to me and it is important to me to go there.
"I remember when I first came to the Maritimes to sing at a stadium they were so excited, the people. It leaves you with memories of the audience. I always had a special relationship with the audience."
Instead of having huge production numbers with dancers and special effects, "it’s much more intimate and friendly and my music has a sense of a message of connection, of understanding, of love, sharing, of feeling peace, of dignity, for justice. They are symbols that mean a lot to people — and me as well— that we shared."
Her songs are positive and Mouskouri is a positive person even though her job since 1993 as a UNICEF ambassador has given her a clear picture of human suffering. "What you see most of the time, of course, is desperation but there is also hope. There is always hope things will get better.
"You must have hope, you can’t sit back. There is hope as long as you work."
Today Mouskouri has homes in Athens, Paris, London and Germany. She has recorded over 1,500 songs in a dozen languages with over 300 million records sold. Apart from intense international travel throughout Asia, Europe, North America and South America, she also hosted her own TV series from 1968 to 1981 and was Greek deputy to the European parliament from 1994 to 1999.
She was born Ioanna (Nana is her nickname) in Crete and moved at the age of three to Athens, where her father, a movie projectionist, was a resistance fighter during the Second World War.
She started taking classical voice lessons when she was 12 but was later kicked out of the Athens Conservatory when it was discovered she’d been singing with a jazz group at night. She began singing jazz in nightclubs, and won several song contests that launched her international career.
Mouskouri likes to read books in their original language and sings fluently in six languages, which she calls her babies — German, Italian, Greek, English, French and Spanish. "I know them very well so I can sing with my heart.
"A French song is more intellectual. A Greek song is more earthy. I love to sing in Spanish, you have so much emotion.
"I remember Quincy Jones when I did my first recording in 1962 he said ‘you are such a good singer in your own language you can really be great in any language.’ If you really have an identity in one language you’re interested to learn the others and be as good with them."
One of Mouskouri’s vocal cords is thicker than the other and that has meant she needed to train harder to get the cords to work together. "They need now still a lot of work.
"It was also wonderful because I got to know how to work the mouth and to protect them and this gives a certain colour to my voice which is not usual.
"The low notes are more husky and when I go up with it it’s clear. It’s wonderful for me at the age I am my voice has changed in colour but I haven’t lost any of the height of the range and I still sing on the same keys as when I was 25 or 30 years old."
Mouskouri, who initially wore her distinctive black-rimmed glasses as "protection" but now can’t imagine life without them, doesn’t have much time to relax but whenever she does, "I do some reading, I draw a little bit, I listen to music, I like to watch movies as well, but I don’t have very much time to relax. What I like most is to swim."
She always stays if possible at hotels with swimming pools. "It’s important for my respiration to do a little bit of exercise. It relaxes me being in the water. It’s the best relaxation you can have being in the water and to watch the water. If you watch the sea it’s very relaxing."
Mouskouri’s The Farewell Tour: One last song from Nana with love . . . is at the Halifax Metro Centre on Friday, 8 p.m. Tickets are $45.50 and $55.50 (tax included; service charge extra). Call the Ticket Atlantic box office at 451-1221, visit participating Atlantic Superstores or go online at www.ticketatlantic.com.
( ebarnard@herald.ca)
’I do some reading, I draw a little bit, I listen to music, I like to watch movies as well, but I don’t have very much time to relax. What I like most is to swim.’
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