Mouskouri to take leave with a farewell tour
Nana Mouskouri has produced many records she can be proud of: She is the Greek voice that first made Greek songs popular abroad, and she did it in her own language (and still does), and she has a 45-year career and has sold more albums than any other Greek artist worldwide – even competing with Elvis Presley. She is now preparing to achieve another goal: an international two-year tour, which will start in the spring. Only this tour will be her last, a farewell trip before she switches off her microphone for the last time. So what happened? Is the woman who has frequented the most popular international theaters and operas for over four decades and whose albums have sold over 300,000,000 copies finally tired of it all? She announced a few months ago that she is planning to celebrate her 70th birthday with European concerts in the fall (she will also perform at the Athens Concert Hall). «I still have courage and strength, but I must stop at some point. Traveling still gives me a lot of pleasure, but as life moves on I am starting to be a little scared. I have other things to attend to.» Her farewell tour will start in Europe in the spring and continue in Australia, New Zealand, Japan, China, Korea, the USA, Canada and other countries. «I have been singing about my country abroad for 45 years… at some point people need to stop. Besides, I don’t like the way certain things work any more. On the other hand, I am busy with UNICEF. For instance, in November I will go to Cambodia and Rwanda.» She is also planning something different in Greece: concerts in the countryside next summer. Her performances so far have been restricted to Athens and Thessaloniki. «I want to go to Corfu (her mother, from whom she inherited her passion for music, was from Corfu), Rhodes, Dion, Olympia and elsewhere.» What kept her abroad for so long? «My need to sing,» she had said in an earlier interview with Kathimerini.
