Haris Alexiou (Greek: Χάρις Αλεξίου, pronounced [ˌxaris aleˈksiu]; born 27 December 1950 in Thebes, Greece as Hariklia Roupaka, Greek: Χαρίκλεια Ρουπάκα, pronounced [xaˌriklia ruˈpaka]) is a Greek singer. She is considered one of the most popular singers in Greece and has been commercially successful since the 1970s. She has worked with important Greek songwriters and composers, has performed at top musical theatres all over the world, and has received several awards. She has recorded over thirty albums and has been featured on albums of other musicians. On 14 March 2010 Alpha TV ranked Alexiou as the first top-certified female artist in Greece in the phonographic era (since 1960), Chart Show: Your Countdown and the Number 3 overall ranking with regards to the sale of the personal albums certified Gold or Platinum in Greek discography since 1970, behind the male singers George Dalaras and Yiannis Parios. Eight of her personal albums released between 1977 and 2003 have surpassed 1.5 million sales, the only Greek female singer to do so. She also has an audience in Turkey and her various songs were sung in Turkish especially "Ola Se Thimizoun" (Everything reminds me of you) as "Olmasa Mektubun" (Without your letter) by Yeni Türkü, Erol Evgin, Müslüm Gürses, Sevda Karababa and Pilli Bebek; Teli Teli Teli as "Telli Telli" (Demoiselle, demoiselle), Pes Mou Pos Ginetai (Tell me, how is it possible?) as "Maskeli Balo" (Masquerade) by Yeni Türkü, Athena and Ata Demirer; Mia Pista Apo Fosforo (A floor of phosphorus) as "Her şeyi yak" by (Burn everything) Sezen Aksu and Duman and as "Nefes Almak İstiyorum" (I want to breathe) by Yonca Evcimik; Krata Gia To Telos (Keep it to the end) as "Sebahat Abla" (Elder sister Sebahat) by Müslüm Gürses; Fevgo (I'm leaving") as "Durma Yağmur" (Rain don't stop) by Gripin.
She has lived in Athens since 1958, when she and her family moved there from Thebes. Her grandmother's family migrated to Thebes in 1924 from Seydiköy, İzmir. Her name was given to a street in Gaziemir.
Biography
Haris Alexiou appeared in the Greek music scene in the early 1970s. Her charismatic voice, combined with a unique way of performing and a strong scenic presence, very soon led her to the top. Today she is still at the top, always working hard, always seeking new ways of expression and always giving prestige and value to the contemporary light and popular Greek music. She has worked with the most important Greek songwriters, has performed at the greatest musical theatres in all five continents and has received several important awards.
She has had over thirty of her own albums recorded, has participated in albums of other artists, either renowned or young and promising, being always open to new ways in music.
1970s
The first important step in her career was her participation with George Dalaras in the album Mikra Asia ("Asia Minor") written by Apostolos Kaldaras and Pythagoras (Pythagoras Papastamatiou) in 1972. A historic album, the biggest hit of the '70s and included in "Minos-EMI's 100 Greatest Hits of the Century."
In 1973, Alexiou participates in the albums Kalimera ilie (Good Morning, Sun) by Manos Loïzos and Lefteris Papadopoulos, Byzantinos Esperinos (Byzantine Vesper) by Apostolos Kaldaras and Lefteris Papadopoulos and Odos Aristotelous (Aristotelous Street) by Yannis Spanos and Lefteris Papadopoulos. Meeting Manos Loïzos was the beginning of a lifelong friendship and a prolific cooperation.
In 1975, her first personal album 12 'Laika' Songs was released. One of the songs, "Dimitroula", originally sung in the 1930s' by Roza Eskenazi, has become an all-time standard. In the same year, she appears in "boites" in Plaka, imposing a new way of presenting songs, completely different from the conventional big nightclubs. It is the first year after the fall of the military junta, a time for the political songs and the revival of "rebetika" songs, and Alexiou sings traditional songs, ballads, modern songs, folk songs and rebetika.
For many years she collaborated with George Dalaras, Dimitra Galani, Vasilis Papakonstantinou and Yiannis Parios. Her concerts in stadiums and theatres, with songs written by Manos Loïzos, Lefteris Papadopoulos, Nikolopoulos, Giannis Spanos, Theodorakis, Stavros Kouyioumtzis and others, were extremely successful. Her popularity reached its peak and since then, she is "Haroula of Greece".
In 1979, the album Ta tragoudia tis Haroulas (Haroula's Songs) was released. Manos Loïzos had written the music and the lyrics were written by Manolis Rasoulis and Pythagoras (Pythagoras Papastamatiou). From this album, "o Fantaros" ("The Soldier") immediately becomes a big hit, while "Ola se thymizoun" ("All Things Remind Me of You") is considered one of the most beautiful Greek ballads of all time.
1980s
The 1980s start with two enormous hits: "Fevgo" ("I'm Leaving") and "Ximeroni" ("The Day Breaks"). Songs of Yesterday, her album with Dimitra Galani includes ballads which fascinate the public. At the same time she records traditional and folk songs, rebetika and laika, and gives concerts both in Greece and abroad.
In 1983 she records is the album Tsilika, a collector's item, with old rebetika songs written between 1900 and 1935.
1986 is the year of her first collaboration with composer Thanos Mikroutsikos. The album is I Agapi ine zali (Dizzy with Love) with lyrics by Alkis Alkeos, Nikos Kavvadias, Andreas Mikroutsikos and Babis Tsikliropoulos The title song becomes an enormous hit. "Eleni" and "Erotikon" from the same album, are also extremely successful. The same year Haroula conquers the French public appearing in "Théâtre de la Ville", getting favorable reviews from the French press. After that, she gives concerts in Cyprus, Tunisia, Germany and many towns all over Greece.
In 1987, world-famous Greek composer Manos Hadjidakis invites her to appear in his club "Sirius" with the "Unpredictable Songs". He directs her and later he goes to the recording studio with her. In the summer of this year, she sings in Hadjidakis's concerts in many Greek towns.
In 1988 she works with "Fatme" a group of young and talented artists. She also works with Paolo Conte, a well-known Italian singer ang songwriter. They appear together at the Palace Theatre of Athens. She has two of his songs recorded with Greek lyrics by Lina Nikolakopoulou.
In 1989, "The Show in on". It is the musical show which she presents for two years, together with Dimitra Galani and Yiannis Parios, in Athens and Thessaloniki. An album with the same title resulted from this work.
1990s
1990 begins with her second collaboration with Thanos Mikroutsikos. The album is entitled This Cologne Lingers on for Years with lyrics by Lina Nikolakopoulou. In October of the same year, she participates in the most important concert of the decade in Peace and Friendship Stadium of Athens. In this festive concert, called "Our Own Night", all the big names of the Greek show business are present. Yiannis Parios, Thanos Mikroutsikos, Dimitra Galani, Chris Nikolopoulos, Alkistis Protopsalti, George Sarris, George Zambetas, Lakis Lazopoulos and the legendary Melina Mercouri.
In 1991 she appears in Attikon Theatre of Athens with a special show called In Three Acts. In the first act she sings songs by Hadjidakis, Loizos, Mikroutsikos and Bertolt Brecht and Kurt Weill. In the second act she hosts certain groups of modern Greek music and presents songs written by herself. The third act is a medley with her hits, old and new. She then presents this show in the State Theatre of Northern Greece, which for the first time accepted a Greek singer in its stage. With her concerts, sets new standards for musical shows, using state-of-the-art sound and light equipment and impressive decors. In autumn 1991, together with Costas Hadjis, presents a show directed by Mauro Bolognini at Rex Theatre in Athens and Radio City in Thessaloniki. Alexiou Sings Hadjis is the album that follows.
In 1992 she starts her cooperation with PolyGram, successfully presenting a new style in her songs. The album Di' efchon (L'orale)with music by Nikos Antypas and lyrics by Lina Nikolakopoulou comes as something quite fresh in the Greek discography, giving a new thrust to Haroula's already long career.
In 1993 the above album is released in Japan, Belgium, France and Israel by PolyGram International. The French TV channel "MCM International" films and shows her concert at Lycabetus Theatre. The same year she travels around the world with concerts in Cyprus, the U.S.A., Canada, Israel, several European countries, finishing in Paris at the Mogador Theatre.
In 1994 her album Hey! is released with music by Nikos Antypas and lyrics by Lefteris Papadopoulos and Aris Davarakis. The summer of the same year, she appears in Odeon of Herodes Atticus with a show directed by Mauro Bolognini. In October, it's her first and extremely successful appearance in Japan.
In 1995, the album 88 Nefelis Street is released. The songs of this album are all written by herself. For this album, in April 1995, at the Palais des congrès in Paris, she receives the "Prix Adami", an award given every year by Académie Charles Cros to distinguished artists. The same year, she opens Studio Nefeli where she presents her new songs, creating a new "Cafe Theatre" atmosphere. Dimitri Papajoannou is the director of the show.
In 1996, she writes then lyric for "Nefeli's Tango" on Loreena McKennitt's music. This song along with other live recordings from her concerts around the world, is included in the album Around the World '92-'96. "Nefeli's Tango", for several months is one of the ten top songs of World Music in Europe.
In summer 1997, responding to the invitation of Olympic Games Committee "Athens 2004", she gives a concert at Pnyka Hill very close to Acropolis. Such is the success of this concert, so she has to repeat it twice at the same location.
1998 is the year of The Game of Love, her second album with songs written only by herself. The recording took place at the Studio Guillaume Tell in Paris with Greek and foreign musicians. The same year, she tours North and South America with Nikos Papazoglou. In December she appears in Athens at Diogenis Studio which is reconstructed in order to meet the demands of the show she presented with Chris Nikolopoulos. The show is directed by Dimitri Papajoannoy again.
In October 1999, she sings along with Turkish famous female singer Sezen Aksu, both in Athens and Istanbul, for the victims of the earthquakes which afflicted the two countries that year, under the auspice of the Ministry of Culture. This cooperation is repeated in summer 2000 in Istanbul and İzmir.
2000-present
In September 2000, the album Whispers is released. It includes her favourite songs performed by her and a piano only. In October, she presents these songs in Music Palace of Athens and in the ancient Epidaurus Odeon accompanied by a small musical ensemble. The same year, she founds her own record company, "Estia", in order to produce all her future ventures in discography. In December, the first album is released entitled Strange Light. In this album she meets again songwriters with whom she has successfully worked in the past. Strange Light becomes Lumiere Etrange and is released all over Europe by Universal-France. At the same time, Haroula tours Europe giving concerts at the most prestigious theatres, conquering both audiences and critics. Her tour ends with a triumphal appearance at Theatre Olympia in Paris.
2002 is another creative year for Haroula. She appears on the Keramikos Music Hall, this time singing more "laika" songs. In this show, Lavrentis Macheritsas and other younger artists participate. The result is the album "Keramikos Live".
In 2003 the album To the end of your heaven went four times platinum and WORLD MUSIC AWARDS, one of the most significant institutions of the international music industry, presented Haris Alexiou with the award for The Best-Selling Greek Artist for the season 2003-2004 (2004 World Music Awards).
2004, the Olympic Games are held in Athens. Haris Alexiou, sings at the closing ceremony, along with D. Galani, Marinella, Y. Parios, G. Dalaras. In October 2004, the retrospective compilation album titled Anthology was released. This double CD is composed of 38 songs from her previous albums and of two new ones. Alexiou herself selected the included songs, not only choosing the most popular ones, but also bearing in mind the significance of each song for herself.
In April 2005, remastered and repackaged editions of her 16 albums under the banner of Minos EMI were released. The albums were reprinted, digitally remastered, and the new editions were meticulously designed (including the lyrics, many informative texts and original photos from the time of the first release).
In 2006, Haris Alexiou is back with Sour cherry and bitter orange, an album depicting the traditional aspects of contemporary music. Thodoris Papadopoulos, Smaro Papadopoulou and Makis Seviloglou wrote the music and the lyrics, suggesting a return to our roots. An album that, despite its unusual content, managed to go platinum, just a few months after it was released, receiving people's recognition and love. During the summer she made a series of special appearances. Along with Dimitra Galani, she gave two concerts dedicated to Sofia Vembo at Odeon of Herodes Atticus, an event organized by Athens Festival. She gave four sold-out concerts along with Sokratis Malamas and Alkinoos Ioannidis, celebrating "Melodia" radio station's 25 years of broadcasting, at Lycabettus theatre in Athens and at "Palais des sports" in Thessaloniki. These concerts were recorded and a double CD and DVD edition will be released in March 2007. At the end of 2006 Haris Alexiou undertook a major tour around Europe, giving a series of concerts and promoting the international release of her album, "Anthology".
In early 2007, she appeared at the Athens Concert Hallfor in five concerts directed by Panos Papadopoulos. The songs were orchestrated by Kostas Papadoukas and the orchestra conducted by Alexandros Myrat. Alexiou gave three concerts under the title "Everything reminds me of you", dedicated to Manos Loizos, at the Odeon of Herodes Atticus in June 2007, participating in the celebrations for the 70th anniversary of his birth. The concerts were directed by Panos Papadopoulos Nikos Portokaloglou, the songs were arranged by Kostas Papadoukas, and the lighting was designed by Andreas Sinanos. The group "Triphonon" appeared along with her on stage. Two more concerts were given at Thessaloniki, followed by a summer tour around Greece and Cyprus along with the "Triphonon", dedicated to the great composer. On 22 October the album Haris Alexiou - A tribute to Manos Loizos was released, containing the live recording and video-taping of the concerts given at the Odeon of Herodes Atticus the previous June during the Athens Festival. Nikos Portokaloglou and the group "Triphonon" also appear on the album. The album was released in both a double CD and a double CD-DVD packaging by Estia recordings.
From Greece to Australia, from Russia to Africa, from America to Japan, Haris Alexiou travels around and shows the world the feeling of the Greek song. She firmly believes that the Greek song, through its poets and composers, made her love and better understand the history and the culture of her country.
Haris Alexiou (Greek: Χάρις Αλεξίου, pronounced [ˌxaris aleˈksiu]; born 27 December 1950 in Thebes, Greece as Hariklia Roupaka, Greek: Χαρίκλεια Ρουπάκα, pronounced [xaˌriklia ruˈpaka]) is a Greek singer. She is considered one of the most popular singers in Greece and has been commercially successful since the 1970s. She has worked with important Greek songwriters and composers, has performed at top musical theatres all over the world, and has received several awards. She has recorded over thirty albums and has been featured on albums of other musicians. On 14 March 2010 Alpha TV ranked Alexiou as the first top-certified female artist in Greece in the phonographic era (since 1960), Chart Show: Your Countdown and the Number 3 overall ranking with regards to the sale of the personal albums certified Gold or Platinum in Greek discography since 1970, behind the male singers George Dalaras and Yiannis Parios. Eight of her personal albums released between 1977 and 2003 have surpassed 1.5 million sales, the only Greek female singer to do so. She also has an audience in Turkey and her various songs were sung in Turkish especially "Ola Se Thimizoun" (Everything reminds me of you) as "Olmasa Mektubun" (Without your letter) by Yeni Türkü, Erol Evgin, Müslüm Gürses, Sevda Karababa and Pilli Bebek; Teli Teli Teli as "Telli Telli" (Demoiselle, demoiselle), Pes Mou Pos Ginetai (Tell me, how is it possible?) as "Maskeli Balo" (Masquerade) by Yeni Türkü, Athena and Ata Demirer; Mia Pista Apo Fosforo (A floor of phosphorus) as "Her şeyi yak" by (Burn everything) Sezen Aksu and Duman and as "Nefes Almak İstiyorum" (I want to breathe) by Yonca Evcimik; Krata Gia To Telos (Keep it to the end) as "Sebahat Abla" (Elder sister Sebahat) by Müslüm Gürses; Fevgo (I'm leaving") as "Durma Yağmur" (Rain don't stop) by Gripin.
She has lived in Athens since 1958, when she and her family moved there from Thebes. Her grandmother's family migrated to Thebes in 1924 from Seydiköy, İzmir. Her name was given to a street in Gaziemir.
Biography
Haris Alexiou appeared in the Greek music scene in the early 1970s. Her charismatic voice, combined with a unique way of performing and a strong scenic presence, very soon led her to the top. Today she is still at the top, always working hard, always seeking new ways of expression and always giving prestige and value to the contemporary light and popular Greek music. She has worked with the most important Greek songwriters, has performed at the greatest musical theatres in all five continents and has received several important awards.
She has had over thirty of her own albums recorded, has participated in albums of other artists, either renowned or young and promising, being always open to new ways in music.
1970s
The first important step in her career was her participation with George Dalaras in the album Mikra Asia ("Asia Minor") written by Apostolos Kaldaras and Pythagoras (Pythagoras Papastamatiou) in 1972. A historic album, the biggest hit of the '70s and included in "Minos-EMI's 100 Greatest Hits of the Century."
In 1973, Alexiou participates in the albums Kalimera ilie (Good Morning, Sun) by Manos Loïzos and Lefteris Papadopoulos, Byzantinos Esperinos (Byzantine Vesper) by Apostolos Kaldaras and Lefteris Papadopoulos and Odos Aristotelous (Aristotelous Street) by Yannis Spanos and Lefteris Papadopoulos. Meeting Manos Loïzos was the beginning of a lifelong friendship and a prolific cooperation.
In 1975, her first personal album 12 'Laika' Songs was released. One of the songs, "Dimitroula", originally sung in the 1930s' by Roza Eskenazi, has become an all-time standard. In the same year, she appears in "boites" in Plaka, imposing a new way of presenting songs, completely different from the conventional big nightclubs. It is the first year after the fall of the military junta, a time for the political songs and the revival of "rebetika" songs, and Alexiou sings traditional songs, ballads, modern songs, folk songs and rebetika.
For many years she collaborated with George Dalaras, Dimitra Galani, Vasilis Papakonstantinou and Yiannis Parios. Her concerts in stadiums and theatres, with songs written by Manos Loïzos, Lefteris Papadopoulos, Nikolopoulos, Giannis Spanos, Theodorakis, Stavros Kouyioumtzis and others, were extremely successful. Her popularity reached its peak and since then, she is "Haroula of Greece".
In 1979, the album Ta tragoudia tis Haroulas (Haroula's Songs) was released. Manos Loïzos had written the music and the lyrics were written by Manolis Rasoulis and Pythagoras (Pythagoras Papastamatiou). From this album, "o Fantaros" ("The Soldier") immediately becomes a big hit, while "Ola se thymizoun" ("All Things Remind Me of You") is considered one of the most beautiful Greek ballads of all time.
1980s
The 1980s start with two enormous hits: "Fevgo" ("I'm Leaving") and "Ximeroni" ("The Day Breaks"). Songs of Yesterday, her album with Dimitra Galani includes ballads which fascinate the public. At the same time she records traditional and folk songs, rebetika and laika, and gives concerts both in Greece and abroad.
In 1983 she records is the album Tsilika, a collector's item, with old rebetika songs written between 1900 and 1935.
1986 is the year of her first collaboration with composer Thanos Mikroutsikos. The album is I Agapi ine zali (Dizzy with Love) with lyrics by Alkis Alkeos, Nikos Kavvadias, Andreas Mikroutsikos and Babis Tsikliropoulos The title song becomes an enormous hit. "Eleni" and "Erotikon" from the same album, are also extremely successful. The same year Haroula conquers the French public appearing in "Théâtre de la Ville", getting favorable reviews from the French press. After that, she gives concerts in Cyprus, Tunisia, Germany and many towns all over Greece.
In 1987, world-famous Greek composer Manos Hadjidakis invites her to appear in his club "Sirius" with the "Unpredictable Songs". He directs her and later he goes to the recording studio with her. In the summer of this year, she sings in Hadjidakis's concerts in many Greek towns.
In 1988 she works with "Fatme" a group of young and talented artists. She also works with Paolo Conte, a well-known Italian singer ang songwriter. They appear together at the Palace Theatre of Athens. She has two of his songs recorded with Greek lyrics by Lina Nikolakopoulou.
In 1989, "The Show in on". It is the musical show which she presents for two years, together with Dimitra Galani and Yiannis Parios, in Athens and Thessaloniki. An album with the same title resulted from this work.
1990s
1990 begins with her second collaboration with Thanos Mikroutsikos. The album is entitled This Cologne Lingers on for Years with lyrics by Lina Nikolakopoulou. In October of the same year, she participates in the most important concert of the decade in Peace and Friendship Stadium of Athens. In this festive concert, called "Our Own Night", all the big names of the Greek show business are present. Yiannis Parios, Thanos Mikroutsikos, Dimitra Galani, Chris Nikolopoulos, Alkistis Protopsalti, George Sarris, George Zambetas, Lakis Lazopoulos and the legendary Melina Mercouri.
In 1991 she appears in Attikon Theatre of Athens with a special show called In Three Acts. In the first act she sings songs by Hadjidakis, Loizos, Mikroutsikos and Bertolt Brecht and Kurt Weill. In the second act she hosts certain groups of modern Greek music and presents songs written by herself. The third act is a medley with her hits, old and new. She then presents this show in the State Theatre of Northern Greece, which for the first time accepted a Greek singer in its stage. With her concerts, sets new standards for musical shows, using state-of-the-art sound and light equipment and impressive decors. In autumn 1991, together with Costas Hadjis, presents a show directed by Mauro Bolognini at Rex Theatre in Athens and Radio City in Thessaloniki. Alexiou Sings Hadjis is the album that follows.
In 1992 she starts her cooperation with PolyGram, successfully presenting a new style in her songs. The album Di' efchon (L'orale)with music by Nikos Antypas and lyrics by Lina Nikolakopoulou comes as something quite fresh in the Greek discography, giving a new thrust to Haroula's already long career.
In 1993 the above album is released in Japan, Belgium, France and Israel by PolyGram International. The French TV channel "MCM International" films and shows her concert at Lycabetus Theatre. The same year she travels around the world with concerts in Cyprus, the U.S.A., Canada, Israel, several European countries, finishing in Paris at the Mogador Theatre.
In 1994 her album Hey! is released with music by Nikos Antypas and lyrics by Lefteris Papadopoulos and Aris Davarakis. The summer of the same year, she appears in Odeon of Herodes Atticus with a show directed by Mauro Bolognini. In October, it's her first and extremely successful appearance in Japan.
In 1995, the album 88 Nefelis Street is released. The songs of this album are all written by herself. For this album, in April 1995, at the Palais des congrès in Paris, she receives the "Prix Adami", an award given every year by Académie Charles Cros to distinguished artists. The same year, she opens Studio Nefeli where she presents her new songs, creating a new "Cafe Theatre" atmosphere. Dimitri Papajoannou is the director of the show.
In 1996, she writes then lyric for "Nefeli's Tango" on Loreena McKennitt's music. This song along with other live recordings from her concerts around the world, is included in the album Around the World '92-'96. "Nefeli's Tango", for several months is one of the ten top songs of World Music in Europe.
In summer 1997, responding to the invitation of Olympic Games Committee "Athens 2004", she gives a concert at Pnyka Hill very close to Acropolis. Such is the success of this concert, so she has to repeat it twice at the same location.
1998 is the year of The Game of Love, her second album with songs written only by herself. The recording took place at the Studio Guillaume Tell in Paris with Greek and foreign musicians. The same year, she tours North and South America with Nikos Papazoglou. In December she appears in Athens at Diogenis Studio which is reconstructed in order to meet the demands of the show she presented with Chris Nikolopoulos. The show is directed by Dimitri Papajoannoy again.
In October 1999, she sings along with Turkish famous female singer Sezen Aksu, both in Athens and Istanbul, for the victims of the earthquakes which afflicted the two countries that year, under the auspice of the Ministry of Culture. This cooperation is repeated in summer 2000 in Istanbul and İzmir.
2000-present
In September 2000, the album Whispers is released. It includes her favourite songs performed by her and a piano only. In October, she presents these songs in Music Palace of Athens and in the ancient Epidaurus Odeon accompanied by a small musical ensemble. The same year, she founds her own record company, "Estia", in order to produce all her future ventures in discography. In December, the first album is released entitled Strange Light. In this album she meets again songwriters with whom she has successfully worked in the past. Strange Light becomes Lumiere Etrange and is released all over Europe by Universal-France. At the same time, Haroula tours Europe giving concerts at the most prestigious theatres, conquering both audiences and critics. Her tour ends with a triumphal appearance at Theatre Olympia in Paris.
2002 is another creative year for Haroula. She appears on the Keramikos Music Hall, this time singing more "laika" songs. In this show, Lavrentis Macheritsas and other younger artists participate. The result is the album "Keramikos Live".
In 2003 the album To the end of your heaven went four times platinum and WORLD MUSIC AWARDS, one of the most significant institutions of the international music industry, presented Haris Alexiou with the award for The Best-Selling Greek Artist for the season 2003-2004 (2004 World Music Awards).
2004, the Olympic Games are held in Athens. Haris Alexiou, sings at the closing ceremony, along with D. Galani, Marinella, Y. Parios, G. Dalaras. In October 2004, the retrospective compilation album titled Anthology was released. This double CD is composed of 38 songs from her previous albums and of two new ones. Alexiou herself selected the included songs, not only choosing the most popular ones, but also bearing in mind the significance of each song for herself.
In April 2005, remastered and repackaged editions of her 16 albums under the banner of Minos EMI were released. The albums were reprinted, digitally remastered, and the new editions were meticulously designed (including the lyrics, many informative texts and original photos from the time of the first release).
In 2006, Haris Alexiou is back with Sour cherry and bitter orange, an album depicting the traditional aspects of contemporary music. Thodoris Papadopoulos, Smaro Papadopoulou and Makis Seviloglou wrote the music and the lyrics, suggesting a return to our roots. An album that, despite its unusual content, managed to go platinum, just a few months after it was released, receiving people's recognition and love. During the summer she made a series of special appearances. Along with Dimitra Galani, she gave two concerts dedicated to Sofia Vembo at Odeon of Herodes Atticus, an event organized by Athens Festival. She gave four sold-out concerts along with Sokratis Malamas and Alkinoos Ioannidis, celebrating "Melodia" radio station's 25 years of broadcasting, at Lycabettus theatre in Athens and at "Palais des sports" in Thessaloniki. These concerts were recorded and a double CD and DVD edition will be released in March 2007. At the end of 2006 Haris Alexiou undertook a major tour around Europe, giving a series of concerts and promoting the international release of her album, "Anthology".
In early 2007, she appeared at the Athens Concert Hallfor in five concerts directed by Panos Papadopoulos. The songs were orchestrated by Kostas Papadoukas and the orchestra conducted by Alexandros Myrat. Alexiou gave three concerts under the title "Everything reminds me of you", dedicated to Manos Loizos, at the Odeon of Herodes Atticus in June 2007, participating in the celebrations for the 70th anniversary of his birth. The concerts were directed by Panos Papadopoulos Nikos Portokaloglou, the songs were arranged by Kostas Papadoukas, and the lighting was designed by Andreas Sinanos. The group "Triphonon" appeared along with her on stage. Two more concerts were given at Thessaloniki, followed by a summer tour around Greece and Cyprus along with the "Triphonon", dedicated to the great composer. On 22 October the album Haris Alexiou - A tribute to Manos Loizos was released, containing the live recording and video-taping of the concerts given at the Odeon of Herodes Atticus the previous June during the Athens Festival. Nikos Portokaloglou and the group "Triphonon" also appear on the album. The album was released in both a double CD and a double CD-DVD packaging by Estia recordings.
From Greece to Australia, from Russia to Africa, from America to Japan, Haris Alexiou travels around and shows the world the feeling of the Greek song. She firmly believes that the Greek song, through its poets and composers, made her love and better understand the history and the culture of her country.
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