Mario Frangoulis
Encyclopedia
Mario Frangoulis (born 1966) is a Greek
tenor
and is best known for his song, "Vincerò, Perderò". He sings in Italian, Spanish, English, French, and Greek; he is fluent in all 5 languages.
(now Zimbabwe
) of Greek parents. At the age of four, he was sent to Athens
, Greece
to live with his maternal aunt Loula and her husband. The couple adored him and he came to consider them his real parents. Frangoulis began singing in choirs at the age of eight, and at the age of eleven he played the part of Issachar
in a school production of Andrew Lloyd Webber
's Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat
. Thereafter, he had roles in several other school theatrical performances, including the Master of Ceremonies in Cabaret
and —at the age of 16— Tony in West Side Story.
for twelve years, getting a first prize at the age of 14. He graduated from the Conservatoire in 1984, and although he did not further his studies, this particular musical training assisted the tenor later on, during his opera studies.
In 1985, Frangoulis moved to London
, where he attended a three-year professional acting course at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama
. In 1988, during his final year, he played Puck
in A Midsummer Night's Dream
, a production in collaboration with the Royal Shakespeare Company
for the Arundel Festival. Frangoulis then played the lead in the James McConnel/Kit Hesketh-Harvey
musical Orlando,, where he was spotted by Cameron Mackintosh
who, after an audition, offered him the part of Marius in the West End
production of Les Misérables
at the Palace Theatre
(1988–1989) under the direction of Trevor Nunn
. Also in 1989, Frangoulis —who had never studied classical singing— received the Maria Callas Scholarship for Opera. After finishing Les Misérables, he went to Italy
where he studied with tenor Carlo Bergonzi at the Verdi Academy in Busseto
, graduating six months later.
In 1990 Frangoulis moved to Rome
where, after a successful audition for the conductor Nicola Rescigno and the renowned tenor Alfredo Kraus
, he became Kraus' first private student and travelled with him around the world, studying vocal technique and repertory.
at Her Majesty's Theatre
. The same year, he appeared alongside Montserrat Caballé
, Samuel Ramey
and the British Youth Opera in the charity gala 'Serenade to a Princess' at the Whitehall Palace, celebrating the birthday of Diana, Princess of Wales
.
In 1992, Frangoulis moved to New York
to continue his operatic studies. At the suggestion of his mentor Marilyn Horne
, and with the help of the Onassis Scholarship,he completed a three-year course at the Juilliard School
of Music, as well as studying with soprano Dodi Protero
. In 1992, Frangoulis also travelled to Liverpool
, where he performed in an Opera Gala celebrating the 500th anniversary of the discovery of America, hosted by Sir Peter Ustinov
. Artists appearing were Montserrat Caballé, Dmitri Hvorostowki, Julia Migenes-Johnson, Dennis O' Neil, Rita Hunter and the late Alfredo Kraus, with the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra and chorus conducted by Robin Stapleton, in the presence of His Majesty Juan Carlos of Spain and HM Queen Sophia, and HRH Prince Andrew of England
In the summer of the same year, he sang at the Athens Concert Hall
in an opera gala dedicated to the memory of Maria Callas
alongside stars of the Greek National Opera. In 1994 he was the first Greek to become a finalist in the Luciano Pavarotti International Competition.
during the Covent Garden Festival. This performance received great critical acclaim from a number of newspapers including the Times
and The Guardian
. He also sang the title role in the musical Yusupov in Oxford as well as Johnny in «Sail away» (Savoy theatre in London). In 1995 he participated in a recording of Bernard J.Taylor's "Nosferatu", a double CD of the whole through-sung work, starring Peter Karrie as Nosferatu, Claire Moore
as Mina, Mario Frangoulis as Jonathan. A highlights cassette is also available. The recording was released in April 1995 with a "Vampire Night" at Stringfellow's nightclub in London, and was Dress Circle's best-selling recording for over three months after its release. He also sang as a Les Miserables
alumni in the Tenth Anniversary Concert of the show, at the Royal Albert Hall.
, in an evening dedicated to the memory of Leonard Bernstein
., with the "Orchestra of Colours" ( a symphony orchestra created by Oscar-winning popular Greek composer Manos Hatzidakis, usually misspelled Manos Hadjidakis
), singing excerpts from "West Side Story", "Candide
", " Our Town
" etc.
He returned to the Odeon the following September in the role of Orpheus
in the Orpheus Liturgy, an oratorio that was broadcast on Greek television. This marked the start of his collaboration with Greek composer Yannis Markopoulos – here misspelled as Giannis Markopoulos. He reprised the role of Lun-Tha in a concert version of the musical with the BBC Symphony Orchestra
conducted by Wally Harper
, with Barbara Cook
.
1996 also saw Frangoulis return to the London cast of Les Misérables.
's Happy End
with the Karolos Koun
Art Theatre, directed by George Lazanis, the Lead Bird in Aristophanes
' comedy The Birds
, directed once more by Lazanis and performed in almost every major ancient amphitheatre of Greece, such as Epidaurus
, Sparta, Filippoi and many more. In September 1997 he was offered the lead role of Danny Zouko in the musical Grease
, directed by David Gilmore
. Once more, it was a great success with public and critics alike and the start of his popularity with the Greek public. In the same season, he appeared in late night shows in the prestigious music hall "Iera Odos", alongside Greek star George Dalaras
, singing popular Greek, Italian and Spanish songs: the production toured Greece and Europe (London, Paris, Brussels, Helsinki, Munchen, Berlin, and Frankfurt) and was turned into a best-selling CD (by EMI Greece), which soon went platinum. Representatives of Sony Music heard him in this show and arranged for him to be introduced to Peter Gelb, the head of Sony Classical: the outcome was the signing of an exclusive contract for 2 CDs and 3 CDs optional, enabling M. Frangoulis to start an international recording career at the highest level.
His collaboration with prestigious Greek composers continued with his starring in the May 1998 Herod Atticus performance of Mikis Theodorakis' "Axion Esti", a musical rendition of the historic poem of the same name by Nobel prize winner Odysseas Elytis
.
.
, Milan, as Tony in West Side Story he there. In August, he sang the title role in Yannis Markopoulos' Erotokritos
at the Herodion Atticus theatre, and returned to the venue later that month for a solo recital there, celebrating his first ten years as a professional performer on stage. The repertoire included Greek and international songs, in a production that also toured Greece and was turned into a CD.
Frangoulis was invited by the composer Mikis Theodorakis
to perform in the Machi tis kritis concert at the Kallimarmaro amphitheatre in a tribute to those who lost their lives in the Battle of Crete
. Around 85,000 people attended.
in a touring production of Euripides
' The Bacchae
,also performed at the Herod Atticus Theatre in Athens. In October of the same year, Frangoulis was one of the lead performers in the international production Bravo China alongside Nana Mouskouri
and famous Chinese artists Liu Huan and Huang Ying, at the Herodes Atticus theatre where he performed in both Greek and Chinese.
in a concert with Justin Hayward
of The Moody Blues
, a performance that included 'Nights in White Satin
' This performance was recorded and released on DVD. In October, Frangoulis began a grand tour around Europe, the USA and Asia in order to promote 'Sometimes I Dream'. In November, the Thessaloniki concert was broadcast on PBS. At the end of the year, Frangoulis appeared with singer Maria Farantouri
representing Greece in the Millennium Festivities held on New Year's Eve under the Acropolis.
, accompanied by the Swedish Symphonic Orchestra. Orchestra. August 2003 found him in at the Helsinki
Festival.
With the Moscow New Opera soloists, chorus and orchestra, he made a hugely successful tour of different cities in Russia and Cyprus, singing arias and duets in a concert with sets and costumes, called «Tribute to Maria Callas» in which he interpreted, among others, Verdi's "Otello
".
, he attended the world premiere of the film De-Lovely
,based on the life of Cole Porter, and starring Kevin Klein. Mario played the part of Alfred Drake, a Broadway star of the '60s, and he sang the duet 'So in Love
' from Kiss Me, Kate
, with Lara Fabian. After the showing of the film, he took part to a concert, with some other of the singing cast of the film (Robbie Williams, Nathalie Cole, Elvis Costello, Alanis Morissette, Diana Krall).,. In July and August, his second foray into Greek tragedy: the lead role of Achilles
in the lost Aeschylus trilogy Achilleis, recently reconstructed from fragments of Aeschylus
verses, completed with verses from Homer's "Iliad
", in a translation of Ilias Malandris, directed by Nikos Haralambous, with the Cyprus Theatre Organization, with prestigious co-stars such as Despina Bebedelli, Dim. Kafkaridis and Jenny Gaitanopoulou. The performance, after touring in Cyprus, was presented in Epidaurus on August 6 and 7.
In August, Frangoulis also took part in the final concert of the Torch Relay
at the Athens Olympic Games
. It was here that he first performed the song 'Here's to the Heroes', which was shown as part of the UK's BBC Songs of Praise Olympics Special. In September he took part at the inauguration of the Paralympics, to an audience of 90,000 people. On October 1, he deepened his relationship with jazz with an appearance at the Herod Atticus Stadium, shared with soprano Barbara Hendrics, singing songs such as "Mack the Knife
", "Unforgettable", "When I fall in love", "My baby just don't care for me" and "Feuilles mortes", "I Get a Kick out of You
", Cole Porter
's "You're the top" and "So in love", finishing with "Ev'ry Time We Say Goodbye
". He then flew to Japan where, on 11 October, he gave a concert at the Bunkamura
Orchard Hall with the Tokyo City Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Shuya Okatu and soprano Maki Mori. He sang songs from "Sometimes I Dream", as well as "O Sole Mio", "Granada", excerpts from Theodorakis' Canto General and the "Brindisi" from La traviata
. In November, he was in the U.K. for eight concerts with soprano Hayley Westenra
. November 2004 also saw the release of Frangoulis' second international album Follow your Heart.
In June he performed at a black-tie
event at the Sharon Lynne Wilson Arts Center in Wisconsin
. In July, Frangoulis performed his first concert in Istanbul
, a sold-out open-air concert under the auspices of the Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew.
The rest of the summer he spent in Greece for his usual concert tour around the country, culminating with the "Music of the Night" concert held in October at the Herodes Atticus accompanied by the New Opera of Moscow Symphony Orchestra and Chorus
Later that month, he took part to Plácido Domingo's concert in Cyprus, featuring Kallen Esperian, accompanied by the Cyprus State Symphony and the Moscow New Opera Symphony Orchestra.
And then, for the rest of the summer, in the Mediterranean:
. In April he performed with Elena Kelessidi and the Baltimore Opera Company
orchestra at the Lyric Opera House
, Baltimore
and in October, he returned to the US for a concert in Boston
. In December, Frangoulis released another album: Passione, a collection of songs that Mario Lanza
used to sing
leg of Sarah Brightman's
"Symphony Tour".
Mario Frangoulis resides in Athens, Greece.
Live DVD:
Appearances in other Albums:
Greece
Greece , officially the Hellenic Republic , and historically Hellas or the Republic of Greece in English, is a country in southeastern Europe....
tenor
Tenor
The tenor is a type of male singing voice and is the highest male voice within the modal register. The typical tenor voice lies between C3, the C one octave below middle C, to the A above middle C in choral music, and up to high C in solo work. The low extreme for tenors is roughly B2...
and is best known for his song, "Vincerò, Perderò". He sings in Italian, Spanish, English, French, and Greek; he is fluent in all 5 languages.
Early life
Frangoulis was born on December 18, 1966 in RhodesiaRhodesia
Rhodesia , officially the Republic of Rhodesia from 1970, was an unrecognised state located in southern Africa that existed between 1965 and 1979 following its Unilateral Declaration of Independence from the United Kingdom on 11 November 1965...
(now Zimbabwe
Zimbabwe
Zimbabwe is a landlocked country located in the southern part of the African continent, between the Zambezi and Limpopo rivers. It is bordered by South Africa to the south, Botswana to the southwest, Zambia and a tip of Namibia to the northwest and Mozambique to the east. Zimbabwe has three...
) of Greek parents. At the age of four, he was sent to Athens
Athens
Athens , is the capital and largest city of Greece. Athens dominates the Attica region and is one of the world's oldest cities, as its recorded history spans around 3,400 years. Classical Athens was a powerful city-state...
, Greece
Greece
Greece , officially the Hellenic Republic , and historically Hellas or the Republic of Greece in English, is a country in southeastern Europe....
to live with his maternal aunt Loula and her husband. The couple adored him and he came to consider them his real parents. Frangoulis began singing in choirs at the age of eight, and at the age of eleven he played the part of Issachar
Issachar
Issachar/Yissachar was, according to the Book of Genesis, a son of Jacob and Leah , and the founder of the Israelite Tribe of Issachar; however some Biblical scholars view this as postdiction, an eponymous metaphor providing an aetiology of the connectedness of the tribe to others in the Israelite...
in a school production of Andrew Lloyd Webber
Andrew Lloyd Webber
Andrew Lloyd Webber, Baron Lloyd-Webber is an English composer of musical theatre.Lloyd Webber has achieved great popular success in musical theatre. Several of his musicals have run for more than a decade both in the West End and on Broadway. He has composed 13 musicals, a song cycle, a set of...
's Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat
Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat
Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat is an Andrew Lloyd Webber musical with lyrics by Tim Rice. The story is based on the "coat of many colors" story of Joseph from the Hebrew Bible's Book of Genesis. This was the first Lloyd Webber and Rice musical to be performed publicly...
. Thereafter, he had roles in several other school theatrical performances, including the Master of Ceremonies in Cabaret
Cabaret (musical)
Cabaret is a musical based on a book written by Christopher Isherwood, music by John Kander and lyrics by Fred Ebb. The 1966 Broadway production became a hit and spawned a 1972 film as well as numerous subsequent productions....
and —at the age of 16— Tony in West Side Story.
Musical and theatre studies
Frangoulis studied the violinViolin
The violin is a string instrument, usually with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is the smallest, highest-pitched member of the violin family of string instruments, which includes the viola and cello....
for twelve years, getting a first prize at the age of 14. He graduated from the Conservatoire in 1984, and although he did not further his studies, this particular musical training assisted the tenor later on, during his opera studies.
In 1985, Frangoulis moved to London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
, where he attended a three-year professional acting course at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama
Guildhall School of Music and Drama
Guildhall School of Music and Drama is an independent music and dramatic arts school which was founded in 1880 in London, England. Students can pursue courses in Music, Opera, Drama and Technical Theatre Arts.-History:...
. In 1988, during his final year, he played Puck
Puck (Shakespeare)
Puck, also known as Robin Goodfellow, is a character in William Shakespeare's play A Midsummer Night's Dream that was based on the ancient figure in English mythology, also called Puck. Puck is a clever and mischievous elf and personifies the trickster or the wise knave...
in A Midsummer Night's Dream
A Midsummer Night's Dream
A Midsummer Night's Dream is a play that was written by William Shakespeare. It is believed to have been written between 1590 and 1596. It portrays the events surrounding the marriage of the Duke of Athens, Theseus, and the Queen of the Amazons, Hippolyta...
, a production in collaboration with the Royal Shakespeare Company
Royal Shakespeare Company
The Royal Shakespeare Company is a major British theatre company, based in Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire, England. The company employs 700 staff and produces around 20 productions a year from its home in Stratford-upon-Avon and plays regularly in London, Newcastle-upon-Tyne and on tour across...
for the Arundel Festival. Frangoulis then played the lead in the James McConnel/Kit Hesketh-Harvey
Kit Hesketh-Harvey
Christopher John "Kit" Hesketh Harvey is a British musical comic performer, translator, composer and scriptwriter.Born in Nyasaland , he was educated as senior chorister at Canterbury Cathedral and then Tonbridge School in Kent before moving on as a choral scholar under John Rutter to Clare...
musical Orlando,, where he was spotted by Cameron Mackintosh
Cameron Mackintosh
Sir Cameron Anthony Mackintosh is a British theatrical producer notable for his association with many commercially successful musicals. At the height of his success in 1990, he was described as being "the most successful, influential and powerful theatrical producer in the world" by the New York...
who, after an audition, offered him the part of Marius in the West End
West End theatre
West End theatre is a popular term for mainstream professional theatre staged in the large theatres of London's 'Theatreland', the West End. Along with New York's Broadway theatre, West End theatre is usually considered to represent the highest level of commercial theatre in the English speaking...
production of Les Misérables
Les Misérables (musical)
Les Misérables , colloquially known as Les Mis or Les Miz , is a musical by Claude-Michel Schönberg, based on the novel of the same name by Victor Hugo....
at the Palace Theatre
Palace Theatre, London
The Palace Theatre is a West End theatre in the City of Westminster in London. It is an imposing red-brick building that dominates the west side of Cambridge Circus and is located near the intersection of Shaftesbury Avenue and Charing Cross Road...
(1988–1989) under the direction of Trevor Nunn
Trevor Nunn
Sir Trevor Robert Nunn, CBE is an English theatre, film and television director. Nunn has been the Artistic Director for the Royal Shakespeare Company, the Royal National Theatre, and, currently, the Theatre Royal, Haymarket. He has directed musicals and dramas for the stage, as well as opera...
. Also in 1989, Frangoulis —who had never studied classical singing— received the Maria Callas Scholarship for Opera. After finishing Les Misérables, he went to Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
where he studied with tenor Carlo Bergonzi at the Verdi Academy in Busseto
Busseto
Busseto is a comune in the province of Parma, in Emilia-Romagna in Northern Italy. It was the capital of Stato Pallavicino. Opera composer Giuseppe Verdi was born in the nearby village of Le Roncole and he moved there in 1824...
, graduating six months later.
In 1990 Frangoulis moved to Rome
Rome
Rome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...
where, after a successful audition for the conductor Nicola Rescigno and the renowned tenor Alfredo Kraus
Alfredo Kraus
Alfredo Kraus Trujillo was a distinguished Spanish tenor of partly Austrian descent, particularly known for the artistry he brought to opera's bel canto roles...
, he became Kraus' first private student and travelled with him around the world, studying vocal technique and repertory.
1990 to 1995
In 1991 Frangoulis was invited by Andrew Lloyd Webber to star as Raoul in Phantom of the OperaThe Phantom of the Opera (1986 musical)
The Phantom of the Opera is a musical by Andrew Lloyd Webber, based on the French novel Le Fantôme de l'Opéra by Gaston Leroux.The music was composed by Lloyd Webber, and most lyrics were written by Charles Hart, with additional lyrics by Richard Stilgoe. Alan Jay Lerner was an early collaborator,...
at Her Majesty's Theatre
Her Majesty's Theatre
Her Majesty's Theatre is a West End theatre, in Haymarket, City of Westminster, London. The present building was designed by Charles J. Phipps and was constructed in 1897 for actor-manager Herbert Beerbohm Tree, who established the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art at the theatre...
. The same year, he appeared alongside Montserrat Caballé
Montserrat Caballé
Montserrat Caballé is a Spanish operatic soprano. Although she sang a wide variety of roles, she is best known as an exponent of the bel canto repertoire, notably the works of Rossini, Bellini, Donizetti and Verdi....
, Samuel Ramey
Samuel Ramey
Samuel Edward Ramey is an American operatic bass with a long, distinguished career.During his best years, he was greatly admired for his range and versatility, having possessed a sufficiently accomplished bel canto technique to enable him to sing the music of Handel, Mozart, Rossini, yet power...
and the British Youth Opera in the charity gala 'Serenade to a Princess' at the Whitehall Palace, celebrating the birthday of Diana, Princess of Wales
Diana, Princess of Wales
Diana, Princess of Wales was the first wife of Charles, Prince of Wales, whom she married on 29 July 1981, and an international charity and fundraising figure, as well as a preeminent celebrity of the late 20th century...
.
In 1992, Frangoulis moved to New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
to continue his operatic studies. At the suggestion of his mentor Marilyn Horne
Marilyn Horne
Marilyn Horne is an American mezzo-soprano opera singer. She specialized in roles requiring a large sound, beauty of tone, excellent breath support, and the ability to execute difficult coloratura passages....
, and with the help of the Onassis Scholarship,he completed a three-year course at the Juilliard School
Juilliard School
The Juilliard School, located at the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts in New York City, United States, is a performing arts conservatory which was established in 1905...
of Music, as well as studying with soprano Dodi Protero
Dodi Protero
Dodi Protero was a Canadian operatic soprano who had a prolific international career from 1955 through 1980. A singer with a great deal of technical finess, she excelled in the coloratura soprano and soubrette repertoires...
. In 1992, Frangoulis also travelled to Liverpool
Liverpool
Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough of Merseyside, England, along the eastern side of the Mersey Estuary. It was founded as a borough in 1207 and was granted city status in 1880...
, where he performed in an Opera Gala celebrating the 500th anniversary of the discovery of America, hosted by Sir Peter Ustinov
Peter Ustinov
Peter Alexander Ustinov CBE was an English actor, writer and dramatist. He was also renowned as a filmmaker, theatre and opera director, stage designer, author, screenwriter, comedian, humourist, newspaper and magazine columnist, radio broadcaster and television presenter...
. Artists appearing were Montserrat Caballé, Dmitri Hvorostowki, Julia Migenes-Johnson, Dennis O' Neil, Rita Hunter and the late Alfredo Kraus, with the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra and chorus conducted by Robin Stapleton, in the presence of His Majesty Juan Carlos of Spain and HM Queen Sophia, and HRH Prince Andrew of England
In the summer of the same year, he sang at the Athens Concert Hall
Athens Concert Hall
The Athens Concert Hall is a concert hall located in Athens, on Vassilissis Sofias Avenue....
in an opera gala dedicated to the memory of Maria Callas
Maria Callas
Maria Callas was an American-born Greek soprano and one of the most renowned opera singers of the 20th century. She combined an impressive bel canto technique, a wide-ranging voice and great dramatic gifts...
alongside stars of the Greek National Opera. In 1994 he was the first Greek to become a finalist in the Luciano Pavarotti International Competition.
1995
In 1995, Frangoulis returned to London to play the role of Lun-Tha in the Rogers and Hammerstein musical The King and IThe King and I
The King and I is a stage musical, the fifth by the team of Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II. The work is based on the 1944 novel Anna and the King of Siam by Margaret Landon and derives from the memoirs of Anna Leonowens, who became governess to the children of King Mongkut of Siam in...
during the Covent Garden Festival. This performance received great critical acclaim from a number of newspapers including the Times
The Times
The Times is a British daily national newspaper, first published in London in 1785 under the title The Daily Universal Register . The Times and its sister paper The Sunday Times are published by Times Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary since 1981 of News International...
and The Guardian
The Guardian
The Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...
. He also sang the title role in the musical Yusupov in Oxford as well as Johnny in «Sail away» (Savoy theatre in London). In 1995 he participated in a recording of Bernard J.Taylor's "Nosferatu", a double CD of the whole through-sung work, starring Peter Karrie as Nosferatu, Claire Moore
Claire Moore
Claire Mary Moore is an Australian politician. Moore was elected to the Australian Senate from Queensland in July 2001, representing the Australian Labor Party. Her term began on 1 July 2002....
as Mina, Mario Frangoulis as Jonathan. A highlights cassette is also available. The recording was released in April 1995 with a "Vampire Night" at Stringfellow's nightclub in London, and was Dress Circle's best-selling recording for over three months after its release. He also sang as a Les Miserables
Les Misérables
Les Misérables , translated variously from the French as The Miserable Ones, The Wretched, The Poor Ones, The Wretched Poor, or The Victims), is an 1862 French novel by author Victor Hugo and is widely considered one of the greatest novels of the nineteenth century...
alumni in the Tenth Anniversary Concert of the show, at the Royal Albert Hall.
1996
In the summer of 1996 he made his debut at the Herod Atticus ancient amphitheater, under the Athens AcropolisAcropolis
Acropolis means "high city" in Greek, literally city on the extremity and is usually translated into English as Citadel . For purposes of defense, early people naturally chose elevated ground to build a new settlement, frequently a hill with precipitous sides...
, in an evening dedicated to the memory of Leonard Bernstein
Leonard Bernstein
Leonard Bernstein August 25, 1918 – October 14, 1990) was an American conductor, composer, author, music lecturer and pianist. He was among the first conductors born and educated in the United States of America to receive worldwide acclaim...
., with the "Orchestra of Colours" ( a symphony orchestra created by Oscar-winning popular Greek composer Manos Hatzidakis, usually misspelled Manos Hadjidakis
Manos Hadjidakis
Manos Hatzidakis was a Greek composer and theorist of the Greek music. He was also one of the main prime movers of the "Éntekhno" song ....
), singing excerpts from "West Side Story", "Candide
Candide
Candide, ou l'Optimisme is a French satire first published in 1759 by Voltaire, a philosopher of the Age of Enlightenment. The novella has been widely translated, with English versions titled Candide: or, All for the Best ; Candide: or, The Optimist ; and Candide: or, Optimism...
", " Our Town
Our Town
Our Town is a three-act play by American playwright Thornton Wilder. It is a character story about an average town's citizens in the early twentieth century as depicted through their everyday lives...
" etc.
He returned to the Odeon the following September in the role of Orpheus
Orpheus
Orpheus was a legendary musician, poet, and prophet in ancient Greek religion and myth. The major stories about him are centered on his ability to charm all living things and even stones with his music; his attempt to retrieve his wife from the underworld; and his death at the hands of those who...
in the Orpheus Liturgy, an oratorio that was broadcast on Greek television. This marked the start of his collaboration with Greek composer Yannis Markopoulos – here misspelled as Giannis Markopoulos. He reprised the role of Lun-Tha in a concert version of the musical with the BBC Symphony Orchestra
BBC Symphony Orchestra
The BBC Symphony Orchestra is the principal broadcast orchestra of the British Broadcasting Corporation and one of the leading orchestras in Britain.-History:...
conducted by Wally Harper
Wally Harper
Wally Harper , was an American musical director, composer, conductor, dance arranger, and musical supervisor for many Broadway and Off-Broadway productions. For three decades from the mid-1970s, he worked with Barbara Cook as pianist, music director and arranger.-Career:Harper was born in Akron,...
, with Barbara Cook
Barbara Cook
Barbara Cook is an American singer and actress who first came to prominence in the 1950s after starring in the original Broadway musicals Candide and The Music Man among others, winning a Tony Award for the latter...
.
1996 also saw Frangoulis return to the London cast of Les Misérables.
1997–1998
In February 1997, due to his mother's serious illness, Frangoulis returned to Greece. There he joined Athens' theatrical scene, notably through his playing Billy Kracker in Kurt WeillKurt Weill
Kurt Julian Weill was a German-Jewish composer, active from the 1920s, and in his later years in the United States. He was a leading composer for the stage who was best known for his fruitful collaborations with Bertolt Brecht...
's Happy End
Happy End (musical)
Happy End is a surrealistic three-act musical comedy by Kurt Weill, Elisabeth Hauptmann, and Bertolt Brecht which first opened in Berlin at the Theater am Schiffbauerdamm on September 2, 1929. It closed after seven performances...
with the Karolos Koun
Karolos Koun
Karolos Koun was a Greek theater director, widely known for his lively staging of ancient Greek plays. He had been praised all over Europe for his bawdy, colorful stagings of the 5th century BC political comedies of Aristophanes...
Art Theatre, directed by George Lazanis, the Lead Bird in Aristophanes
Aristophanes
Aristophanes , son of Philippus, of the deme Cydathenaus, was a comic playwright of ancient Athens. Eleven of his forty plays survive virtually complete...
' comedy The Birds
The Birds (play)
The Birds is a comedy by the Ancient Greek playwright Aristophanes. It was performed in 414 BCE at the City Dionysia where it won second prize. It has been acclaimed by modern critics as a perfectly realized fantasy remarkable for its mimicry of birds and for the gaiety of its songs...
, directed once more by Lazanis and performed in almost every major ancient amphitheatre of Greece, such as Epidaurus
Epidaurus
Epidaurus was a small city in ancient Greece, at the Saronic Gulf. Two modern towns bear the name Epidavros : Palaia Epidavros and Nea Epidavros. Since 2010 they belong to the new municipality of Epidavros, part of the peripheral unit of Argolis...
, Sparta, Filippoi and many more. In September 1997 he was offered the lead role of Danny Zouko in the musical Grease
Grease (musical)
Grease is a 1971 musical by Jim Jacobs and Warren Casey. The musical is named for the 1950s United States working-class youth subculture known as the greasers. The musical, set in 1959 at fictional Rydell High School , follows ten working-class teenagers as they navigate the complexities of love,...
, directed by David Gilmore
David Gilmore
David Gilmore is an American jazz guitarist.Gilmore studied at New York University with Joe Lovano and Jim McNeely. In 1987 he began working professionally with the M-Base Collective and Ronald Shannon Jackson...
. Once more, it was a great success with public and critics alike and the start of his popularity with the Greek public. In the same season, he appeared in late night shows in the prestigious music hall "Iera Odos", alongside Greek star George Dalaras
George Dalaras
George Dalaras , also possibly spelled as Yorgos or Giorgos Dalaras, is a Greek singer. He is of international fame and has recently been selected as a Goodwill Ambassador for the UN Refugee Agency. He was born in Nea Kokinia, Piraeus. His father was Loukas Daralas, a singer of rebetiko.-Early...
, singing popular Greek, Italian and Spanish songs: the production toured Greece and Europe (London, Paris, Brussels, Helsinki, Munchen, Berlin, and Frankfurt) and was turned into a best-selling CD (by EMI Greece), which soon went platinum. Representatives of Sony Music heard him in this show and arranged for him to be introduced to Peter Gelb, the head of Sony Classical: the outcome was the signing of an exclusive contract for 2 CDs and 3 CDs optional, enabling M. Frangoulis to start an international recording career at the highest level.
His collaboration with prestigious Greek composers continued with his starring in the May 1998 Herod Atticus performance of Mikis Theodorakis' "Axion Esti", a musical rendition of the historic poem of the same name by Nobel prize winner Odysseas Elytis
Odysseas Elytis
Odysseas Elytis was regarded as a major exponent of romantic modernism in Greece and the world. In 1979 he was bestowed with the Nobel Prize in Literature.-Biography:...
.
1999
In the spring of 1999 he made his first solo show at the Iera Odos music hall., with songs from all over the world, with the participation of Deborah Meyers. He was an overnight sensation, and these appearances were followed by a hugely successful concert tour in Greece and Cyprus the following summer, playing to audiences of 2.000 to 10.000 people. His first solo album, "Fengari erotevmeno" ("Love struck moon"), a live recording of the show, a double CD by Sony, Greece (with kind permission of Sony Classical), was an immediate best-seller, thus winning him his second platinum album (both in Greece and Cyprus) in two years..
2000
In July 2000, Frangoulis was the first Greek tenor to perform at La ScalaLa Scala
La Scala , is a world renowned opera house in Milan, Italy. The theatre was inaugurated on 3 August 1778 and was originally known as the New Royal-Ducal Theatre at La Scala...
, Milan, as Tony in West Side Story he there. In August, he sang the title role in Yannis Markopoulos' Erotokritos
Erotokritos
Erotokritos is a romance composed by Vikentios Kornaros in early 17th century Crete. It consists of 10,012 fifteen-syllable rhymed verses....
at the Herodion Atticus theatre, and returned to the venue later that month for a solo recital there, celebrating his first ten years as a professional performer on stage. The repertoire included Greek and international songs, in a production that also toured Greece and was turned into a CD.
Frangoulis was invited by the composer Mikis Theodorakis
Mikis Theodorakis
Mikis Theodorakis is one of the most renowned Greek songwriters and composers. Internationally, he is probably best known for his songs and for his scores for the films Zorba the Greek , Z , and Serpico .Politically, he identified with the left until the late 1980s; in 1989, he ran as an...
to perform in the Machi tis kritis concert at the Kallimarmaro amphitheatre in a tribute to those who lost their lives in the Battle of Crete
Battle of Crete
The Battle of Crete was a battle during World War II on the Greek island of Crete. It began on the morning of 20 May 1941, when Nazi Germany launched an airborne invasion of Crete under the code-name Unternehmen Merkur...
. Around 85,000 people attended.
2001
At the beginning of 2001, Frangoulis took part in a charity opera gala at the Athens Concert Hall, alongside stars of the Greek National Opera. That May, he was one of the leading artists in an evening called Viva Verdi, a tribute for the centenary of the composer's death, given at the Novaya Opera of Moscow. The concert was repeated in Cyprus the following month. In the summer of 2001 he made his debut in ancient Greek tragedy, played DionysusDionysus
Dionysus was the god of the grape harvest, winemaking and wine, of ritual madness and ecstasy in Greek mythology. His name in Linear B tablets shows he was worshipped from c. 1500—1100 BC by Mycenean Greeks: other traces of Dionysian-type cult have been found in ancient Minoan Crete...
in a touring production of Euripides
Euripides
Euripides was one of the three great tragedians of classical Athens, the other two being Aeschylus and Sophocles. Some ancient scholars attributed ninety-five plays to him but according to the Suda it was ninety-two at most...
' The Bacchae
The Bacchae
The Bacchae is an ancient Greek tragedy by the Athenian playwright Euripides, during his final years in Macedon, at the court of Archelaus I of Macedon. It premiered posthumously at the Theatre of Dionysus in 405 BC as part of a tetralogy that also included Iphigeneia at Aulis, and which...
,also performed at the Herod Atticus Theatre in Athens. In October of the same year, Frangoulis was one of the lead performers in the international production Bravo China alongside Nana Mouskouri
Nana Mouskouri
Nana Mouskouri , born Ioánna Moúschouri on October 13, 1934, in Chania, Crete, Greece, is a Greek singer who has sold about 300 million records worldwide in a career spanning over five decades, making her one of the best-selling music artists of all time. She was known as Nána to her friends and...
and famous Chinese artists Liu Huan and Huang Ying, at the Herodes Atticus theatre where he performed in both Greek and Chinese.
2002
In March at the Athens Concert Hall, Frangoulis gave a concert with Deborah Myers, made up of songs from well-known films. In July of the same year he appeared both at the Lycabettus Theatre in Athens, for the launching of his first international album 'Sometimes I Dream', and in ThessalonikiThessaloniki
Thessaloniki , historically also known as Thessalonica, Salonika or Salonica, is the second-largest city in Greece and the capital of the region of Central Macedonia as well as the capital of the Decentralized Administration of Macedonia and Thrace...
in a concert with Justin Hayward
Justin Hayward
Justin Hayward is an English musician, best known as singer, songwriter and guitarist in the rock band The Moody Blues.Hayward was born in Dean Street, Swindon, Wiltshire, England...
of The Moody Blues
The Moody Blues
The Moody Blues are an English rock band. Among their innovations was a fusion with classical music, most notably in their 1967 album Days of Future Passed....
, a performance that included 'Nights in White Satin
Nights in White Satin
"Nights in White Satin" is a 1967 single by The Moody Blues, written by Justin Hayward and first featured on the album Days of Future Passed.It is in the key of E minor Aeolian.-Single releases:...
' This performance was recorded and released on DVD. In October, Frangoulis began a grand tour around Europe, the USA and Asia in order to promote 'Sometimes I Dream'. In November, the Thessaloniki concert was broadcast on PBS. At the end of the year, Frangoulis appeared with singer Maria Farantouri
Maria Farantouri
Maria Farantouri was born in Athens on 28 November 1947. She is a Greek singer and also a political and cultural activist. She has collaborated with prominent Greek composers such as Mikis Theodorakis, who wrote the score for Pablo Neruda's Canto General, which Farantouri performed...
representing Greece in the Millennium Festivities held on New Year's Eve under the Acropolis.
2003
On January 30, Frangoulis was invited by the Athens 2004 Olympic Games committee to give a concert at the Athens Olympic Stadium. In March he made his first appearance at the Greek National Opera, where he sang opera arias and duets as well as songs and duets from musicals with soprano Elena Kelessidou. In June of that year he appeared at the Ulricksdal festival, StockholmStockholm
Stockholm is the capital and the largest city of Sweden and constitutes the most populated urban area in Scandinavia. Stockholm is the most populous city in Sweden, with a population of 851,155 in the municipality , 1.37 million in the urban area , and around 2.1 million in the metropolitan area...
, accompanied by the Swedish Symphonic Orchestra. Orchestra. August 2003 found him in at the Helsinki
Helsinki
Helsinki is the capital and largest city in Finland. It is in the region of Uusimaa, located in southern Finland, on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, an arm of the Baltic Sea. The population of the city of Helsinki is , making it by far the most populous municipality in Finland. Helsinki is...
Festival.
With the Moscow New Opera soloists, chorus and orchestra, he made a hugely successful tour of different cities in Russia and Cyprus, singing arias and duets in a concert with sets and costumes, called «Tribute to Maria Callas» in which he interpreted, among others, Verdi's "Otello
Otello
Otello is an opera in four acts by Giuseppe Verdi to an Italian libretto by Arrigo Boito, based on Shakespeare's play Othello. It was Verdi's penultimate opera, and was first performed at the Teatro alla Scala, Milan, on February 5, 1887....
".
2004
On New Year's Eve, he welcomed 2004 with the Mayor of Athens, in an open-air performance in Syntagma Square, which was broadcast live all over Greece and, by satellite, all over the world. Also taking part in that concert were Greek stars Alkistis Protopsalti, Konstantinos Markoulakis, Dimitris Papadimitriou as well as the Gypsy Kings. In April he appeared in an evening in honor of Danai, a Greek singer very famous in the '30s, where he sang —an unusual for him repertoire— songs by Attic, Hairopoulos etc. On May 11, he sang at the Herod Atticus Theatre in a concert for the 550 years of the Great School of the Greeks (a famous Greek institution in ex-Constantinople, now Istanbul). The songs were all by Mikis Theodorakis, with the Greek Radio Television Symphony Orchestra. The first part included symphonic songs in various languages (Greek, Italian, German, English, French and Chinese) and in the second part, "Axion esti", with Konstantinos Markoulakis as narrator and Mario in the role of the Popular Singer. On May 22, at the 57th Cannes Film Festival2004 Cannes Film Festival
The 2004 Cannes Film Festival started on May 12 and ran until May 23. The Palme d'Or went to the American film Fahrenheit 9/11 by Michael Moore.-Jury:* Quentin Tarantino, President * Emmanuelle Béart * Edwidge Danticat * Tilda Swinton...
, he attended the world premiere of the film De-Lovely
De-Lovely
De-Lovely is a 2004 musical biopic directed by Irwin Winkler. The screenplay by Jay Cocks is based on the life and career of Cole Porter, from his first meeting with Linda Lee Thomas until his death...
,based on the life of Cole Porter, and starring Kevin Klein. Mario played the part of Alfred Drake, a Broadway star of the '60s, and he sang the duet 'So in Love
So in Love
"So in Love" is a popular song, written by Cole Porter, from his musical Kiss Me, Kate, based on Shakespeare's Taming of the Shrew. It was sung in the show by Patricia Morison, reprised by Alfred Drake and further popularized by Patti Page in 1949.The Page recording was issued by Mercury Records...
' from Kiss Me, Kate
Kiss Me, Kate
Kiss Me, Kate is a musical with music and lyrics by Cole Porter. It is structured as a play within a play, where the interior play is a musical version of William Shakespeare's The Taming of the Shrew. The original production starred Alfred Drake, Patricia Morison, Lisa Kirk and Harold Lang.Kiss...
, with Lara Fabian. After the showing of the film, he took part to a concert, with some other of the singing cast of the film (Robbie Williams, Nathalie Cole, Elvis Costello, Alanis Morissette, Diana Krall).,. In July and August, his second foray into Greek tragedy: the lead role of Achilles
Achilles
In Greek mythology, Achilles was a Greek hero of the Trojan War, the central character and the greatest warrior of Homer's Iliad.Plato named Achilles the handsomest of the heroes assembled against Troy....
in the lost Aeschylus trilogy Achilleis, recently reconstructed from fragments of Aeschylus
Aeschylus
Aeschylus was the first of the three ancient Greek tragedians whose work has survived, the others being Sophocles and Euripides, and is often described as the father of tragedy. His name derives from the Greek word aiskhos , meaning "shame"...
verses, completed with verses from Homer's "Iliad
Iliad
The Iliad is an epic poem in dactylic hexameters, traditionally attributed to Homer. Set during the Trojan War, the ten-year siege of the city of Troy by a coalition of Greek states, it tells of the battles and events during the weeks of a quarrel between King Agamemnon and the warrior Achilles...
", in a translation of Ilias Malandris, directed by Nikos Haralambous, with the Cyprus Theatre Organization, with prestigious co-stars such as Despina Bebedelli, Dim. Kafkaridis and Jenny Gaitanopoulou. The performance, after touring in Cyprus, was presented in Epidaurus on August 6 and 7.
In August, Frangoulis also took part in the final concert of the Torch Relay
2004 Olympic Torch Relay
The 2004 Summer Olympics Torch Relay took the Olympic flame across every habitable continent, returning to Athens, Greece. Every city which had hosted the Summer Olympics was revisited by the torch, as well as several other cities chosen for their international importance.The relay was the first...
at the Athens Olympic Games
2004 Summer Olympics
The 2004 Summer Olympic Games, officially known as the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad, was a premier international multi-sport event held in Athens, Greece from August 13 to August 29, 2004 with the motto Welcome Home. 10,625 athletes competed, some 600 more than expected, accompanied by 5,501 team...
. It was here that he first performed the song 'Here's to the Heroes', which was shown as part of the UK's BBC Songs of Praise Olympics Special. In September he took part at the inauguration of the Paralympics, to an audience of 90,000 people. On October 1, he deepened his relationship with jazz with an appearance at the Herod Atticus Stadium, shared with soprano Barbara Hendrics, singing songs such as "Mack the Knife
Mack the Knife
"Mack the Knife" or "The Ballad of Mack the Knife", originally "Die Moritat von Mackie Messer", is a song composed by Kurt Weill with lyrics by Bertolt Brecht for their music drama Die Dreigroschenoper, or, as it is known in English, The Threepenny Opera. It premiered in Berlin in 1928 at the...
", "Unforgettable", "When I fall in love", "My baby just don't care for me" and "Feuilles mortes", "I Get a Kick out of You
I Get a Kick Out of You
"I Get a Kick Out of You" is a song by Cole Porter, originally featured in the Broadway musical Anything Goes and the movie of the same name....
", Cole Porter
Cole Porter
Cole Albert Porter was an American composer and songwriter. Born to a wealthy family in Indiana, he defied the wishes of his domineering grandfather and took up music as a profession. Classically trained, he was drawn towards musical theatre...
's "You're the top" and "So in love", finishing with "Ev'ry Time We Say Goodbye
Ev'ry Time We Say Goodbye
Published by Chappell & Company, "Ev'ry Time We Say Goodbye" is a song with lyrics and music by Cole Porter. It was introduced in 1944 in Billy Rose's musical revue, Seven Lively Arts....
". He then flew to Japan where, on 11 October, he gave a concert at the Bunkamura
Bunkamura
The Bunkamura is a concert hall, theater and museum located in Shibuya, Tokyo, Japan, operated by Tokyu Group.- Venues :The four main venues are:*Orchard Hall: 2,150 seats*Theatre Cocoon: 747 seats*The Museum - Changing art exhibits...
Orchard Hall with the Tokyo City Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Shuya Okatu and soprano Maki Mori. He sang songs from "Sometimes I Dream", as well as "O Sole Mio", "Granada", excerpts from Theodorakis' Canto General and the "Brindisi" from La traviata
La traviata
La traviata is an opera in three acts by Giuseppe Verdi set to an Italian libretto by Francesco Maria Piave. It is based on La dame aux Camélias , a play adapted from the novel by Alexandre Dumas, fils. The title La traviata means literally The Fallen Woman, or perhaps more figuratively, The Woman...
. In November, he was in the U.K. for eight concerts with soprano Hayley Westenra
Hayley Westenra
Hayley Dee Westenra is a New Zealand soprano, classical crossover artist, songwriter and UNICEF Ambassador. Her first internationally released album, Pure, reached No. 1 on the UK classical charts in 2003 and has sold more than two million copies worldwide...
. November 2004 also saw the release of Frangoulis' second international album Follow your Heart.
2005
During February and March he was in the U.S. for his first American tour of 28 cities with pianist Jim Brickman and Ann Cochran, to promote his album. In April he took a break to give concerts in South Africa (Sun City), with Vicky Sampson. Then he continued his tour visiting Canada, Los Angeles, San Francisco. On May 20, he gave his first solo concert in the U.S., at the New York City Center, with guest artist soprano Liza Vroman. This was followed by two others, one at the Meyerhoff Symphony Hall with the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra in Baltimore, Maryland and another one at the Sheldon Hall in St. Louis, MissouriIn June he performed at a black-tie
Black tie
Black tie is a dress code for evening events and social functions. For a man, the main component is a usually black jacket, known as a dinner jacket or tuxedo...
event at the Sharon Lynne Wilson Arts Center in Wisconsin
Wisconsin
Wisconsin is a U.S. state located in the north-central United States and is part of the Midwest. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake Michigan to the east, Michigan to the northeast, and Lake Superior to the north. Wisconsin's capital is...
. In July, Frangoulis performed his first concert in Istanbul
Istanbul
Istanbul , historically known as Byzantium and Constantinople , is the largest city of Turkey. Istanbul metropolitan province had 13.26 million people living in it as of December, 2010, which is 18% of Turkey's population and the 3rd largest metropolitan area in Europe after London and...
, a sold-out open-air concert under the auspices of the Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew.
The rest of the summer he spent in Greece for his usual concert tour around the country, culminating with the "Music of the Night" concert held in October at the Herodes Atticus accompanied by the New Opera of Moscow Symphony Orchestra and Chorus
Later that month, he took part to Plácido Domingo's concert in Cyprus, featuring Kallen Esperian, accompanied by the Cyprus State Symphony and the Moscow New Opera Symphony Orchestra.
2006
His second U.S. tour saw a number of solo concerts:- January 7 – Solo concert in honor of Ecumenical Patriarch BartholomewPatriarch Bartholomew I of ConstantinopleEcumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I is the Archbishop of Constantinople, New Rome and Ecumenical Patriarch, and thus "first among equals" in the Eastern Orthodox Communion, since 2 November 1991...
in TampaTâmpaTâmpa may refer to several villages in Romania:* Tâmpa, a village in Băcia Commune, Hunedoara County* Tâmpa, a village in Miercurea Nirajului, Mureş County* Tâmpa, a mountain in Braşov city...
, FloridaFloridaFlorida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it...
at the Sun Dome, with the Orlando Philharmonic Orchestra,., and the Archdiocesan Metropolitan Youth Choir. - April 6 & 7 – Horatio Alger Award Ceremony Washington, DC
- June 10 – Fundraising Gala Event – Sharon Wilson Center, Brookefield, Wisconsin
- April 9 – Cincinnati, Ohio – Yellow Ribbon Scholarship Fundraising Event
- May 6 – Solo concert at the Detroit Opera House in Detroit, Michigan
- June 16 – Solo Concert – Sanders Theater – sponsored by the Greek Institute at Harvard in Cambridge, MA.
And then, for the rest of the summer, in the Mediterranean:
- June 24–28 Greek Concert tour (Piraeus, Athens, Thessaloniki etc.)
- June 30 – Private Gala Event – Baalbek, Lebanon International Music Festival's 50 years anniversary
- July 2, his second concert in Turkey, at the Harbiye Open Air Theater in Istanbul
- October: at the Herod Atticus theatre, "Tribute to Mario Lanza" concert.
- October: debut Concert in Chicago with the Chicago Symphony at Orchestra Hall and at the Landmark Theatre in Richmond with the Richmond Symphony.
2007
Frangoulis completed his new album Amor Oscuro (Skotinos Erotas), dedicated to the Spanish poet and dramatist Federico Garcia LorcaFederico García Lorca
Federico del Sagrado Corazón de Jesús García Lorca was a Spanish poet, dramatist and theatre director. García Lorca achieved international recognition as an emblematic member of the Generation of '27. He is believed to be one of thousands who were summarily shot by anti-communist death squads...
. In April he performed with Elena Kelessidi and the Baltimore Opera Company
Baltimore Opera Company
The Baltimore Opera Company was an opera company in Baltimore, Maryland, U.S.A., based at the Baltimore Lyric Opera House. On March 12, 2009, the 58-year-old opera company announced plans to pursue Chapter 7 bankruptcy liquidation....
orchestra at the Lyric Opera House
Lyric Opera House
The Lyric Opera House is a music venue in Baltimore, Maryland, United States. The building was modeled after the Concertgebouw, Amsterdam, and it was inaugurated on October 31, 1894, with a performance by the Boston Symphony Orchestra and Australian opera singer Nellie Melba as the featured...
, Baltimore
Baltimore
Baltimore is the largest independent city in the United States and the largest city and cultural center of the US state of Maryland. The city is located in central Maryland along the tidal portion of the Patapsco River, an arm of the Chesapeake Bay. Baltimore is sometimes referred to as Baltimore...
and in October, he returned to the US for a concert in Boston
Boston
Boston is the capital of and largest city in Massachusetts, and is one of the oldest cities in the United States. The largest city in New England, Boston is regarded as the unofficial "Capital of New England" for its economic and cultural impact on the entire New England region. The city proper had...
. In December, Frangoulis released another album: Passione, a collection of songs that Mario Lanza
Mario Lanza
right|thumb|[[MGM]] still, circa 1949Mario Lanza was an American tenor and Hollywood movie star of the late 1940s and the 1950s. The son of Italian emigrants, he began studying to be a professional singer at the age of 16....
used to sing
2008
Frangoulis toured in the United StatesUnited States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
leg of Sarah Brightman's
Sarah Brightman
Sarah Brightman is an English classical crossover soprano, actress, songwriter and dancer. She is famous for possessing a vocal range of over 3 octaves and singing in the whistle register...
"Symphony Tour".
2009-2011
Various appearances in the Athens area.Mario Frangoulis resides in Athens, Greece.
Charity work
He has sung in about forty charity galas, such as the Red Cross Annual Ball, held at the Grosvenor House, several galas organized by the Greek foundation Elpida —a charity dedicated to the cure of children who suffer from cancer— and many others. As a producer, he has organized charity shows and concerts for children in need, such as the one for the Michael S.Polemis Foundation.- 2002: José CarrerasJosé CarrerasJosep Maria Carreras i Coll , better known as José Carreras , is a Spanish Catalan tenor particularly known for his performances in the operas of Verdi and Puccini...
International Leukaemia Foundation gala concert in Leipzig, Germany with Plácido Domingo, Harry Belafonte, Sarah Connors and others. - March 2003: charity concert for Action Aid with soprano Elena Kelessidou at the National Greek Opera
- September 2003: UNESCOUNESCOThe United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations...
concert during the International Conference for the Cultural Management of World Heritage Cities, RhodesRhodesRhodes is an island in Greece, located in the eastern Aegean Sea. It is the largest of the Dodecanese islands in terms of both land area and population, with a population of 117,007, and also the island group's historical capital. Administratively the island forms a separate municipality within... - December 2004: "Refugee Voices; a concert for Darfur" – concert in aid of the children of DarfurDarfurDarfur is a region in western Sudan. An independent sultanate for several hundred years, it was incorporated into Sudan by Anglo-Egyptian forces in 1916. The region is divided into three federal states: West Darfur, South Darfur, and North Darfur...
held at the Royal Albert HallRoyal Albert HallThe Royal Albert Hall is a concert hall situated on the northern edge of the South Kensington area, in the City of Westminster, London, England, best known for holding the annual summer Proms concerts since 1941....
, London - April 2005: Concert for the Horatio Alger AssociationHoratio Alger Association of Distinguished AmericansThe Horatio Alger Association of Distinguished Americans is a nonprofit organization based in Alexandria, Virginia, that was founded in 1947 to honor the achievements of outstanding Americans who have succeeded in spite of adversity and to emphasize the importance of higher education...
at the DAR Constitution HallDAR Constitution HallDAR Constitution Hall is a concert hall in Washington, D.C. It was built in 1929 by the Daughters of the American Revolution to house its annual convention when membership delegations outgrew Memorial Continental Hall. Later, the two buildings were connected by a third structure housing the DAR...
in Washington, D.C.Washington, D.C.Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
. - 26 January 2005, following the Tsunami devastation in Southern Asia, Mario Frangoulis participated in a fundraising concert, held by the National Television of Greece, in support of the children which lost their families in the disaster
- October 2006: concert in ChicagoChicagoChicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
with the Chicago Symphony OrchestraChicago Symphony OrchestraThe Chicago Symphony Orchestra is an American orchestra based in Chicago, Illinois. It is one of the five American orchestras commonly referred to as the "Big Five". Founded in 1891, the Symphony makes its home at Orchestra Hall in Chicago and plays a summer season at the Ravinia Festival...
for the benefit of Chicago's Hellenic Museum and Cultural Center - November 2007: 'Give Us Your Poor', a benefit concert for the homeless in Boston at The Strand theatre He also appears on a compilation album of the same nameGive Us Your PoorGive US Your Poor is a compilation album of 19 tracks by Bruce Springsteen & Pete Seeger, Jon Bon Jovi, Madeleine Peyroux, Bonnie Raitt, and other stars, many in collaboration with currently or formerly homeless musicians on benefit CD to fight homelessness....
.
Discography
Personal Discography:| Title | Release Date | Company | Imprint |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fengari Erotevmeno | Summer 1999 | Sony Music Greece | Sony Classical Sony Classical Records Sony Classical Records was started in 1927 as Columbia Masterworks Records, a subsidiary of the American Columbia Records. In 1948, it issued the first commercially successful long-playing 12" record... |
| Acropolis concert (Mikres istories) | December 2000 | Sony Music Greece | Sony Classical Sony Classical Records Sony Classical Records was started in 1927 as Columbia Masterworks Records, a subsidiary of the American Columbia Records. In 1948, it issued the first commercially successful long-playing 12" record... |
| Sometimes I Dream (International Release) | September 17, 2002 | Sony Classical Sony Classical Records Sony Classical Records was started in 1927 as Columbia Masterworks Records, a subsidiary of the American Columbia Records. In 1948, it issued the first commercially successful long-playing 12" record... |
Odyssey |
| Sometimes I Dream (Greek Release) | December 2002 | Sony Music Greece | Odyssey |
| Enas Hartinos Ilios (CD single) | 2003 | Sony Music Greece | Sony Classical Sony Classical Records Sony Classical Records was started in 1927 as Columbia Masterworks Records, a subsidiary of the American Columbia Records. In 1948, it issued the first commercially successful long-playing 12" record... |
| Follow Your Heart | August 16, 2004 (Europe) January 2005 (North America) |
Sony Classical Sony Classical Records Sony Classical Records was started in 1927 as Columbia Masterworks Records, a subsidiary of the American Columbia Records. In 1948, it issued the first commercially successful long-playing 12" record... |
|
| O Kipos Ton Efchon | May 2005 | Sony BMG Greece | Sony Classical Sony Classical Records Sony Classical Records was started in 1927 as Columbia Masterworks Records, a subsidiary of the American Columbia Records. In 1948, it issued the first commercially successful long-playing 12" record... |
| Music of the Night | December 2006 | Sony BMG Greece | Sony Classical Sony Classical Records Sony Classical Records was started in 1927 as Columbia Masterworks Records, a subsidiary of the American Columbia Records. In 1948, it issued the first commercially successful long-playing 12" record... |
| Amore Oscuro | June 2007 | Sony BMG Greece | Sony Classical Sony Classical Records Sony Classical Records was started in 1927 as Columbia Masterworks Records, a subsidiary of the American Columbia Records. In 1948, it issued the first commercially successful long-playing 12" record... |
| Passione- A Tribute to Mario Lanza | December 2007 | Sony BMG Greece | Sony Classical Sony Classical Records Sony Classical Records was started in 1927 as Columbia Masterworks Records, a subsidiary of the American Columbia Records. In 1948, it issued the first commercially successful long-playing 12" record... |
| Mario and Friends | December 8, 2008 | Sony BMG Greece | Sony Classical Sony Classical Records Sony Classical Records was started in 1927 as Columbia Masterworks Records, a subsidiary of the American Columbia Records. In 1948, it issued the first commercially successful long-playing 12" record... |
Live DVD:
- Sometimes I dream live in concert DVD
- Music of the night live CD/DVD in PAL format (12/2006)
Appearances in other Albums:
- Apple/Full WS Sub Apple (1980) A DVD of the movie. Two idealistic folk singers take up residence at a decadent artists' colony run by a sleazy svengali, only to revolt against his bourgeois values. Campy cult fare, with "futuristic" production values that wear the indelible stamp of the 1980s' New Wave.
- Bernard J. Taylor: Nosferatu the Vampire (in the role of JonathanJonathan HarkerJonathan Harker is one of the main protagonists in the 1897 horror novel Dracula by Bram Stoker. His journey to Transylvania and encounter with Count Dracula and the Brides of Dracula at Castle Dracula constitutes the dramatic opening scenes in the novel and most of the film adaptations.-In the...
) - Giannis Markopoulos: Ana-ghennisi: apo tin Venetia stin Poli (sings two songs)
- "Con te partiro" Single with George Dalaras
- George Dalaras: Dalaras in Iera Odos (duets with Dalaras)
- Cole Porter: De Lovely (18 October 2004) (Soundtrack of the film; sings the duet "So in love" with Lara Fabian)
- Jim Brickman: Grace (2005) ("Ave Maria" with Jim Brickman)
- Various Artists: Bravo Act II (2006); features artists such as Luciano PavarottiLuciano Pavarottiright|thumb|Luciano Pavarotti performing at the opening of the Constantine Palace in [[Strelna]], 31 May 2003. The concert was part of the celebrations for the 300th anniversary of [[St...
, Kiri Te KanawaKiri Te KanawaDame Kiri Jeanette Te Kanawa, ONZ, DBE, AC is a New Zealand / Māori soprano who has had a highly successful international opera career since 1968. Acclaimed as one of the most beloved sopranos in both the United States and Britain she possesses a warm full lyric soprano voice, singing a wide array...
, Hayley WestenraHayley WestenraHayley Dee Westenra is a New Zealand soprano, classical crossover artist, songwriter and UNICEF Ambassador. Her first internationally released album, Pure, reached No. 1 on the UK classical charts in 2003 and has sold more than two million copies worldwide...
, Sarah BrightmanSarah BrightmanSarah Brightman is an English classical crossover soprano, actress, songwriter and dancer. She is famous for possessing a vocal range of over 3 octaves and singing in the whistle register...
, Il DivoIl DivoIl Divo is a multinational operatic pop vocal group created by music manager, executive, and reality TV star Simon Cowell. Formed in the United Kingdom, they are also signed to Cowell's record label, Syco Music...
and Amici ForeverAmici ForeverAmici Forever is a band of four classically trained singers who mix opera with pop music . The band's first album, The Opera Band , reached number one on the Australian classical charts, number two on the United States classical charts and the top 5 in the United Kingdom classical...
(Frangoulis sings track 3, "Adagio") - Various Artists: Give Us Your Poor (2007) (sings "Feels Like Home")
- Carpe Diem duet with Sarah Brightman (2008); A Winter Symphony CD Album