Fw: interview with Savina Yannatou

[Sandra Layman <sandralayman...>]

----- Original Message -----
From: "Sandra Layman" <sandralayman (at) earthlink(dot)net>
To: "Jewish-Music posts" <jewish-music (at) shamash(dot)org>
Sent: Thursday, February 27, 2003 8:36 PM
Subject: Fw: interview with Savina Yannatou


> I'm not sure if I'd call the interview "great," but it might interest some
> of this list's members:
> http://www.rootsworld.com/interview/yannatou.html
>
> Probably the most relevant passage is:
>
> <<
> In 1994, Xenophon Kokolis, a professor in the Thessaloniki University,
> commissioned her to sing a collection of Sephardic songs (songs in Spanish
> by the Jewish community of Thessaloniki) that was the result of an
academic
> research project, to which she added four or five of her own. Kostas
> Vomvolos, a member of Primavera en Salonico, orchestrated the record and
the
> ensemble has been her musical collaborators ever since. She chose the
songs
> to appear on the record, based on their musicality, their relation to
> Thessaloniki and the need to offer a narrative of that community. This
first
> effort resulted in a recording that bore the name of the ensemble,
> Springtime in Salonika.
>
> Next, on Mediterranea, a recording of songs from all over the
Mediterannean
> Basin that followed, Savina Yannatou took a more prominent role, choosing
> the songs with the valuable help of friends and musicologists. It was the
> next logical step for her, taking the ideas she explored in Springtime in
> Salonika and using them on a much wider cultural canvas.
>
> Lambros Liavas, a well-known musicologist in Athens, researched the
material
> for what was to become the next recording, Virgin Maries of the World, a
> collection of plainsongs, liturgical texts and laments about Virgin Mary.
>
>  When prodded about any negative reviews regarding her choice of such
> culturally specific material, and in particular the Sephardic songs, in
> light of a time when Native people are trying to regain control over the
way
> they and their culture are portrayed, she said she felt reviews in general
> were very positive. This was the case for comments from universities and
(to
> her great pleasure) from people in Israel, where it was felt that Savina
was
> making a challenge, taking a much-needed look at a forgotten part of
> history. It was up to others to take it further. Her opinion is that they
> have been very faithful to the structure of the songs, although she
offered
> an interesting point of view when talking about the multiplicity of the
> versions circulating:
>
> "Either way, those songs have been sung in many different ways by the
> Sephardic Jews themselves. There was a different way of singing them in
> France, a different one in Turkey, another one in Spain, another one in
> Israel... I mean, there is no way to know what is right and what is wrong,
> with those songs in particular. From a classic interpretation, meaning
> listening to a soprano singing, all the way to totally traditional or
> popular ones, with regards to where people have moved to, where they had
> immigrated to. And it's totally different from country to country, so it's
> very specific."
> >>
>
> sl
>
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Laura Blumenthal" <kafetzou (at) shaw(dot)ca>
> To: "EEFC listserve" <eefc (at) eefc(dot)org>
> Sent: Wednesday, February 26, 2003 11:29 PM
> Subject: interview with Savina Yannatou
>
>
> > Hi everybody
> >
> > There's a great interview (transcript) with Greek singer Savina Yannatou
> > "about music, culture
> > and the potential of the human voice" at the following link:
> >
> > http://www.rootsworld.com/interview/yannatou.html
> >
> > Yannatou has been mentioned previously on this listserve because of her
> > adventures in Greek Sephardic music and other stuff.
> >
> > And personally, I really like her voice and most of the material she
> > selects.
> >
> > Laura B. in VBC  3:)
>

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