“Sotiria’s Songs”, the musical show dedicated to the “Princess of Rebetiko” that stood out and was etched in the memory of those who watched it, is being staged again, in a special place! The show, a production of the Athens Festival, began its run in the summer of 2021 with four sold out nights at Stecki tou Ilia in Thissio and was repeated with similar success in November of the same year at the Hamam music stage in Petralona. This time, Christina Maxouri and four exceptional folk musicians set up their stage at PLYFA (Korytsas 39, Votanikos) and invite us on another journey through the life and songs of Sotiria Bellou, from February 6 and every Monday, for 10 performances.
“Sotiria’s Songs” go beyond the boundaries of the stage and stage and move between the theatrical performance and the musical evening. In an almost overwhelming atmosphere, Christina Maxouri, an actress and performer herself, introduces us to the world of Bellou with her characteristic, Doric voice. She performs favorite songs that Bellou stamped with her voice and between them she tells us short stories and short incidents from the life of the unsurpassed performer. The goals of Tsitsanis, Papaioannou, Mitsakis, Kaldaras, Savvopoulos, Moutsis, Andriopoulos and Lagios are intertwined with testimonies about Bellos’ life, through her own words and those of people who knew her. And yet the performance does not have the character or the purpose of biography, but the disposition to create an atmosphere of celebration. A shared experience where we all share stories and songs and come closer.
Christina Maxouri, one of the most characteristic and remarkable voices of the younger generation, breathes new life into the songs of Sotiria today. It has often been mentioned that Maxouri’s voice, her metal, but also the way she “presses” the words have something from Bellou. Nevertheless, she interprets the songs in her own way, since as she says, “in these songs my soul finds its center again”. Together with Dimitris Haliotis, they have done the research and signed the artistic supervision of the show.
Favorite songs performed by Bellou and etched in the history of Greek music, such as Wandering Life, You don’t talk, I turn like an outcast, Don’t cry, I said to erase the old ones, The mountains are chanting, Don’t run away from me anymore, With planes and steamships , and many more, come alive again in the show, in a simple yet meaningful way. A wooden stage, a female voice and four musicians: Thodoris Xintaris (bouzouki, voice), Dimitris Koufogiorgos (bouzouki), Vassilis Prodromou (guitar, voice) and Dimitris Koustas (accordion).
