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Eleftheria Arvanitaki
"There is no doubt about it, the hot name internationally on the Greek music
scene is Eleftheria Arvanitaki. Her voice has a clarity and emotional depth that
registers whether or not you understand the words, and the music she sings has
a lyricism and instrumental sophistication that sets it apart. Her performances
at WOMAD festivals in 1998 marked a transition from performing to Greek communities
round the world to a new audience of World Music fans. They weren't disappointed"
(Simon Broughton, Editor of World Music Rough Guide, 1999)
Eleftheria started her career in the early 80s as the singer of a popular group
of rembetika revivalists, named Opisthodromiki Kompania. Rembetika is a music
idiom that developed in Greece among the underclasses in the early part of the
20th century and was particularely indebted to the Greek refugees from Asia
Minor. In 1985, Eleftheria Arvanitaki began her solo career, which quickly established
her as one of the most promising female voices for the years to come..
Eleftheria's vocal qualities and her ability to combine the traditional and
contemporary music of Greece have inspired some of the most distinguished composers,
lyricists, and poets of the day to write songs for her. Songs that are now considered
'classics' in Greek music. All her albums have gone platinum.
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