Dimitris Mitropanos, of the most characteristic folk voices of Greek song, he fell silent on Tuesday morning after suffering a heart attack. Recently, the performer had fought hard to overcome the serious health problems he was facing.
He was lucky during his career to interpret not only great composers and poets and lyricists but above all to make their songs his own. Simple, Doric, substantive, without tricks and tricks he donated his voice to songs and especially to the history of folk songs.
In the mid-60s and at the urging of Grigoris Bithikotsis, whom he met at a gathering of his uncle's company, in which he sang, visited Columbia. There Takis Lampropoulos met Giorgos Zambetas, next to whom he will work in "Dawns".
He remembers Zambeta as his great teacher and second father. As he has stated, "Zampetas is the only person in the song who helped me without expecting anything. With all my other partners I got something and gave something". The 1966 Mitropanos meets for the first time with Mikis Theodorakis and performs parts of "Romiosyn" and "Axion Esti" in a series of concerts in Greece and Cyprus.
The 1967, Mitropanos records his first 45-track record, with the song "Thessaloniki". It was preceded by the recording of the song "Lost Lilac", but which was censored by the Junta and never released.
In the path he carved on the path of the popular artist, the 1972 it is an important station: the composer Dimos Moutsis and the poet-lyricist Manos Eleftheriou release "Agios Fevrourios", with performers Mitropanos and Petri Salpeas, marking a milestone in Greek music.
In July of 1999, Mitropanos and Moutsis will meet again on stage at Irodeion with Dimitra Galani and soprano Julia Souglakou for two musical evenings as part of the Athens Festival. These concerts are recorded live and released on a double CD two months later.
Followed by "The Road to Kythira" by Giorgos Katsaros and "The Synaxaria" by Giorgos Hatzinassios, projects of high quality but also of great impact in Greek society.
In his long career in Greek singing, Dimitris Mitropanos collaborated with the greatest creators of folk and art song. George Zampetas, Mikis Theodorakis, Municipality of Moutsis, Apostolos Kaldaras, Takis Mousafiris ("The two of us" etc.), Christos Nikolopoulos ("Make Decisions" in lyrics by Lefteris Papadopoulos), Yannis Spanos ("Mitropanos sings Spano") were the composers with whom he was professionally associated, building a career intertwined with the Greek folk music tradition, until the end of the 80s.
His participation in records by Lakis Papadopoulos (with the song "Ya na s’ take revenge") and Nikos Portokaloglou ("I close and come") they highlight at the time the wide range of his interpretation and herald a shift in his interpretation, which would lead to a series of records that greatly changed the concept of good modern folk song.
The collaborations with Marios Tokas and Filippos Grapsa ("Our national loneliness" and "Company with a sun") combine folk texture and feeling with the deeper meaning of lyrics and the use of more sophisticated words. Alongside, the resonance of the songs in society and the commercial success highlight these creations as tools but also symptoms of the evolution of Greek society.
The very important collaboration with Thanos Mikroutsikos with the album "Stou Aiona tin Paraga", in verses by Alki Alkaiou, Costa Laha, Linas Nikolakopoulou and Giorgos Kakoulidis, is a shift of the performer to even more "artistic" routes, again maintaining the identity of the layman.
Mitropanos continues on the same paths, with songs by Mikroutsikos, Korakaki, Moukidis, Papadimitriou et al. in the second half of his decade 1990 and at its beginnings 2000.
From the last works of the Thessalian aoidos, "Tell me t’ truly yours" with music by Stefanos Korkolis and lyrics by Eleana Vrachalis and Nikos Moraitis, but also the live recording "There's also the zeibeki", from the program – ode to the national dance of Greece together with Themis Adamantidis and Dimitris Bassis, as well as the album "In Diapason", which contains 12 folk songs and a blues ballad. Among the songs on the album, the song "I ekdromi" by Yiannis Miliokas stands out, which was written for the performer's return to discography after a serious health problem.
In June 2011, with the album "Here we are" Stamatis Kraunakis and Dimitris Mitropanos, met for the first time in the discography. This first joint album was an offer of "Vima" to its readers...
The medical bulletin
Dimitris Mitropanos died of acute pulmonary edema. In an announcement, issued by the HYGEIA hospital, is mentioned:
"Patient Dimitrios Mitropanos was transferred to HYGEIA hospital this morning due to acute diarrheal syndrome and vomiting. Then he suddenly developed shortness of breath.
He was transferred to the Intensive Care Unit, where he was treated for acute pulmonary edema from which he died at 11 am".
Source : tovima.gr
