Mikis Theodorakis receives standing ovation for fund-raising performance at the Megaron
Mikis Theodorakis, the giant of Greek music, received tumultuous applause at the Athens Concert Hall after the first of two concerts held in support of Epistrofi, an organization that helps rehabilitate drug users. The giant of Greek music, still a youthful figure at 80, his white hair as curly as that of his grandchildren who gathered around him, was accompanied by his wife Myrto. The concerts, to which the performers donated their services free of charge, were organized with the help of Anna Dalara. George Dalaras sang Yiannis Ritsos’s «Romiosyni» song cycle for the first time, with Giorgos Kimoulis reading excerpts. In the second part, baritone Tassis Christoyiannopoulos, three choirs, the ERT Symphony Orchestra and the Mikis Theodorakis Orchestra performed Odysseus Elytis’s «Axion Esti.» The audience gave Theodorakis and his colleagues a standing ovation. The sponsors were Constantinos Angelopoulos and his wife Geli, president of Epistrofi, which helps rehabilitate young drug users in a safe family environment. «It was our first time attending a concert,» said some of them who had come out for the evening. «Now we know – a concert is music and love.»
