Savvopoulos’s take on Aristophanes
Veteran singer, satirist and showman Dionysis Savvopoulos will be closing the Sani Festival in Halkidiki tomorrow with a show centered on work he has done in the past for two Aristophanes comedies – «The Acharnians» and «Plutus.» He will be joined at the top of the hill in the Sani hotel complex by 24 musicians, dancers – choreographed by Sofia Spyratou – and a group of singers. Savvopoulos’s take on «The Acharnians» was first presented in December 1976 at a Plaka cabaret called Rigas. The show was based on music he had written for a production for Karolos Koun’s Theatro Technis. Savvopoulos, however, was not happy to just write the music; he wanted to take part in the Chorus too. «It wasn’t the arrogance of youth,» he said. «But that is how I work; I can’t separate music from lyrics.» One year later, in 1977, Savvopoulos’s «Acharnians» was released as an album. For «Plutus,» Savvopoulos wrote the music and translated the Chorus’s lyrics for a production by the Greek National Theater which was presented at the Ancient Theater of Epidaurus in 1985. In the second part of the concert at Sani, the composer/singer – who is conducting and directing the production – will perform some of his most popular tunes, such as «The Truck,» «Dirty Bread,» «Ten years in the Dumps» and «Madman’s Orchard.» Events at Sani, though, do not end there. From August 24-28, the resort will host the Sani Classic Festival, featuring the Flutenis Ensemble, a piano and cello recital with Myrto Manola and Jean-Christophe Charron, a piano and song recital with Yioula Michail and Ioanna Polyzoidou, a clarinet and piano recital with Varvara Venetikidou and Marilena Liakopoulo, and finally, a concert by Art Various. For information, tel 2310.317327.
