60TH DIMITRIA TRIBUTE TO MANOLIS ANAGNOSTAKIS

“Words should be nailed down like nails, so that the wind does not blow them away”
“I think today we must distrust. And above all, not illusions”
The singers take to the stage and all together sing “Old Roads”.
 
The main event of the 60^th Dimitria is dedicated to the poet Manolis Anagnostakis and the hundred years since his birth. It begins with the poet as if he were present, through archival videos, speaking to us as if he were right next to us, while actor Leonidas Kakouris simply narrates his biography. What he lived, what he wrote, what he taught us, everything we read, sang and loved about him: “We will find a place someday / A deserted island like in the books / There we will build our homes.” Director Katerina Evangelakou curates the highlight of the 60^th Dimitria, composing a performance where poetry and music, testimonies such as those of Titos Patrikios and Mikis Theodorakis, as well as snapshots with Anagnostakis himself talking about his life, will unfold his life and state. The sensitivity, the melancholy and the joy, the struggle, the bitter humour and the subtle irony, the Thessaloniki streets Aigyptou and Misrahi, the stadium and the cafe, are recreated in a multimedia performance. Well-known performers, the Thessaloniki Municipality Symphony Orchestra and songs composed especially for the 60^th anniversary of Dimitria accompany the poet's journey, illuminating his memory and legacy.
 
Songs by:
Miki Theodorakis, Giannis Markopoulos, Thanos Mikroutsikos, Dimitris Papadimitriou, Giorgos Andreou (specially commissioned for Dimitria), Giorgos Kazantzis (specially commissioned for Dimitria)
Orchestration: Lazaros Tsavdaridis, Panos Kosmidis

Participating artists:
Giota Negka
Tassis Christogiannopoulos
Irini Karagianni
Corina Legaki
Panagiotis Karadimitris
Giorgos Nerantzas
 
Thessaloniki Municipality Symphony Orchestra
Orchestra Conductor: Anastasios Symeonidis
Recitation: Grigoris Valtinos
Director: Katerina Evangelakou