Maria Farantouri (Μαρία Φαραντούρη), also known as Maria Farantouri, was born November 28, 1947 in Athens, Greece. She grew up at the time when Greece was trying to recover from the 2nd World War and the German occupation.
Maria left Greece during the period of the Greek military junta of 1967–1974. She joined the struggle against the dictatorship by giving thousands of concerts all over the world and in some of the largest concert halls. She became the Greek people’s symbol of resistance and hope. Maria participated in many festivals for disarmament, peace and against any social oppression singing together with other famous singers as Myriam Makeba, Juliette Greco, Maria del Mar Bonet and the Chilean group Inti Illimani.
Maria kept Mikis Theodorakis’ music alive, when it was banned from Greece, playing an important role in the movement for the revival of the Greek music. She is well known as the ideal and most authentic performer of Mikis Theodorakis’ works. Her rich contralto voice with its broad range and melodic quality combined with a fine instinct are the main features of her art.
Her expressive voice as well as the high quality of her repertory valued her outstanding reviews everywhere. Some of her major interpretations of Mikis Theodorakis are: “ Maria also performed songs by the famous Greek composer Manos Hadzidakis.
Her albums “Poetica” (Peregrina, 1996) and “Asmata” (Peregrina 1998) featured works by Mikis Theodorakis and “Triti Porta” (Minos EMI 2000) contained songs by Lena Platonos.
Aside from her artistic activities, Maria Farandouri has been a member of the Greek Parliament during the years of 1989 – 1993.
Author: Angel Romero
Angel Romero y Ruiz has dedicated his life to musical exploration. His efforts included the creation of two online portals, worldmusiccentral.org and musicasdelmundo.com. In addition, Angel is the co-founder of the Transglobal World Music Chart, a panel of world music DJs and writers that celebrates global sounds. Furthermore, he delved into the record business, producing world music studio albums and compilations. His works have appeared on Alula Records, Ellipsis Arts, Indígena Records and Music of the World.