October 28, 2007, 7:30pm
The Greek Institute presents Mario Frangoulis, internationally acclaimed classical cross-over tenor and Sony Classical recording artist in the first U.S. presentation of his new CD Amor Oscuro, with music by Dimitris Maramis and lyrics adapted by Sotiris Trivizas with the poems of Federico Garcia Lorca. This unique cultural event brings together two great traditions of lyric poetry and music (Spanish and Greek).
It will also include well-known Spanish songs and songs by famous Greek composers. Amor Oscuro is the product of a young artists program that Frangoulis has established to promote new musical talent in Greece. This concert will take place at the historic Sanders Theatre, Harvard University, and is a follow-up to Frangoulis’ 2006 sell-out Boston debut.
Mario Frangoulis is a winner of the prestigious Maria Callas and Luciano Pavarotti Awards and attended New York’s Juilliard School of Music. His pursuits won him the support and counsel of such operatic legends as Alfredo Kraus and Marilyn Horne. He is the only private student the late Kraus ever accepted, and traveled with Kraus as his protégé, which gave him a solid vocal technique and soaring high notes, both hallmarks of Kraus’s style.
Frangoulis released his critically acclaimed first album on Sony Classical, Sometimes I Dream (2002) a CD/DVD. He has subsequently released four CDs: Follow Your Heart (2004); The Garden of Wishes (2005); Music of the Night (2005) a CD/DVD; and Amor Oscuro (2007). Upcoming projects include a compilation CD/DVD entitled Give Us Your Poor, with Bruce Springsteen, Pete Seeger, Natalie Merchant, Jewel, Bonnie Raitt and others in support of a national education and awareness campaign to end homelessness (September, 2007).
Mario Frangoulis sings in Greek, English, Spanish, Italian and French, reaching a broad audience. He has performed throughout the United States with major orchestras such as: The Chicago Symphony, the Richmond Symphony, the Baltimore Symphony, members of the Boston Esplanade Pops Orchestra, and others. He opened the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens and in 2007 performed with Jose Carreras at a benefit gala for the Leukemia Foundation. The CNN music critic, Porter Anderson, says of Frangoulis, “his world is distilled to pure sound, all voice.”
The Greek Institute is a non-profit, 501(c)3 educational and cultural center established in 1988. Located at 1038 Massachusetts Avenue at Harvard Square in Cambridge, its mission is to “create a greater awareness and understanding of the extraordinary achievements of Greek culture from antiquity to the present.”
Source: The Greek Institute
