Dimitris Mitropanos ( el, Δημήτρης Μητροπάνος; 2 April 1948 – 17 April 2012) was a

Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...

singer. He was renowned for his mastery of Laïkó, a

Greek music The music of Greece is as diverse and celebrated as its History of Greece, history. Greek music separates into two parts: Greek folk music, Greek traditional music and Byzantine music. These compositions have existed for millennia: they originat ...

style.

Biography

Mitropanos lived in his native city of

Trikala Trikala ( el, Τρίκαλα; rup, Trikolj) is a city in northwestern Thessaly, Greece, and the capital of the Trikala regional unit. The city straddles the Lithaios river, which is a tributary of Pineios. According to the Greek National Stati ...

in northwest

Thessaly Thessaly ( el, Θεσσαλία, translit=Thessalía, ; ancient Thessalian: , ) is a traditional geographic and modern administrative region of Greece, comprising most of the ancient region of the same name. Before the Greek Dark Ages, Thes ...

until the age of 16, beginning his musical career in 1964. Mitropanos was an Aromanian. He worked with some of the most renowned Greek composers, such as

Mikis Theodorakis Michail "Mikis" Theodorakis ( el, Μιχαήλ "Μίκης" Θεοδωράκης ; 29 July 1925 – 2 September 2021) was a Greek composer and lyricist credited with over 1,000 works. He Film score, scored for the films ''Zorba the Greek (film) ...

Stavros Xarhakos Stavros Xarchakos, Greek: Σταύρος Ξαρχάκος (born 14 March 1939) is a Greek composer and conductor. Biography Stavros Xarchakos was born in Athens, where he studied at the Athens Conservatoire. He has family origins from the M ...

, Giorgos Zabetas,

Manos Hatzidakis Manos Hatzidakis (also spelled Hadjidakis; el, Μάνος Χατζιδάκις; 23 October 1925 – 15 June 1994) was a Greek composer and theorist of Greek music, widely considered to be one of the greatest Greek composers and one of the most ...

Marios Tokas Marios Tokas ( el, Μάριος Τόκας) (8 June 1954 – 27 April 2008) was a Cypriot composer of traditional music born in Limassol, Cyprus. During the 1974 invasion, he fought as a soldier against the Turkish invaders. In 1975, he went to At ...

, and

Thanos Mikroutsikos Athanasios "Thanos" Mikroutsikos ( el, Αθανάσιος (Θάνος) Μικρούτσικος; 13 April 1947 – 28 December 2019) was a Greek composer and politician. He is considered one of the most important composers of the recent Greek mu ...

Early years

From an early age, Mitropanos worked summers to help his family financially. First as a waiter in his uncle's restaurant and later at ribbon cutting wood. After the third grade of junior high, in 1964, he went to Athens to live with his uncle on Acharnon Street. Before finishing high school, he began working as a singer.

Career

At that time, with some encouragement from

Grigoris Bithikotsis Grigoris Bithikotsis (Greek Γρηγόρης Μπιθικώτσης, ; December 11, 1922 – April 7, 2005) was a Greek folk singer/songwriter with a career spanning five decades. He is considered one of the most important figures in Greek popular ...

, whom he met at a gathering at his uncle's company at which he sang, Mitropanos visited EMI-Lambropoulos Bros. Ltd.(EMIAL S.A.) There, Takis Lampropoulos introduced him το

Giorgos Zampetas Giorgos Zampetas (Pronounced 'Zabetas', el, Γιώργος Ζαμπέτας, sometimes romanized as George Zambetas / George Zabetas / Giorgos Zabetas; 25 January 1925 – 10 March 1992) was a Greek bouzouki musician. He was born and died in Ath ...

, with whom he would work alongside at "Ksimeromata." Mitropanos considered

to be a great teacher and a second father to himself. As he stated, Zambetas is the only man in music who helped me without expecting anything. With all my other colleagues, I got something and I gave something in return''". In 1966 Mitropanos met

and sang the Party songs " Romiosini "and"

Axion Esti An axion () is a hypothetical elementary particle postulated by the Peccei–Quinn theory in 1977 to resolve the strong CP problem in quantum chromodynamics (QCD). If axions exist and have low mass within a specific range, they are of interes ...

"in a series of concerts in

Greece Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders with ...

and

Cyprus Cyprus ; tr, Kıbrıs (), officially the Republic of Cyprus,, , lit: Republic of Cyprus is an island country located south of the Anatolian Peninsula in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Its continental position is disputed; while it is geo ...

. In 1967, Mitropanos recorded his first 7" single "Thessaloniki." This followed the recording of "Chameni Paschalia", a song that was censored by the

Greek military junta The Greek junta or Regime of the Colonels, . Also known within Greece as just the Junta ( el, η Χούντα, i Choúnta, links=no, ), the Dictatorship ( el, η Δικτατορία, i Diktatoría, links=no, ) or the Seven Years ( el, η Ε ...

and thus never released. In a course mapped out by folk art music, 1972 is a milestone. The composer Dimos Moutsis and the lyricist and poet Manos Eleftheriou released "Agios Fevrouarios" with Mitropanos and Petris Salpeas as the song's performers, marking a milestone in Greek music. In July 1999, Mitropanos and Moutsis met again on stage at the "Odeon" with

Dimitra Galani Dimitra Galani ( el, Δήμητρα Γαλανή) is a Greek singer and songwriter. Galani was born 1952 in Athens and began her musical career at the age of 16 providing vocals on several tracks of Dimos Moutsis and Nikos Gatsos on the album "A ...

and the soprano Julia Souglakou for two nights at the Athens Festival. The concerts were recorded live and released in a double CD two months later. George Katsaros's "The Road to Kythera" and

Giorgos Hatzinasios Giorgos Hatzinasios (also spelled Hadjinasios; el, Γιώργος Χατζηνάσιος, ; born 19 January 1942) is a Greek songwriter and composer. Early life Hatzinasios was born in Thessaloniki. His father was Agapios Hatzinasios, a na ...

's "Ta Sinaxaria" follow suit, projects of high quality with a high profile in Greek society. Ta Ladadika, Parea Me ena Ilio

. In a long career in the Greek music industry, Dimitris Mitropanos collaborated with leading artists of the

Laïko Laïko or laïkó ( el, λαϊκό �ραγούδιlaïkó 'tragoúdi'' ; “ongof the people", "popular ong, pl: ''laïká'' 'tragoúdia'' is a Greek music genre composed in Greek language in accordance with the tradition of the Greek peopl ...

and

Éntekhno Éntekhno ( el, έντεχνο, , pl: ''éntekhna'' 'tragoudia'' is orchestral music with elements from Greek folk rhythm and melody. Its lyrical themes are often based on the work of famous Greek poets. Éntekhno arose in the late 1950s, draw ...

music.

Dimos Moutsis Dimos Moutsis ( el, Δήμος Μούτσης, ; born 2 August 1938) is a Greek singer-songwriter and composer. Biography Moutsis was born in Piraeus. He was a student of the violin at the Athens Conservatoire from the age of seven and gradu ...

Apostolos Kaldaras Apostolos may refer to: * The Apostolos (Eastern Orthodox liturgy), a book containing texts traditionally believed to be authored by one of the twelve apostles (disciples) – various epistles and the ''Acts of the Apostles'' – from which one is ...

Takis Mousafiris Takis Mousafiris ( el, Τάκης Μουσαφίρης; 1936 – 11 March 2021) was a Greek composer, lyricist and songwriter. He collaborated with several notable Greek singers such as Stratos Dionysiou, Dimitris Mitropanos, Rita Sakellariou ...

Christos Nikolopoulos Christos may refer to: * Jesus of Nazareth * Christ (title), a title for the Jewish Messiah in Christianity * Christos (surname) * Christos (given name) *, a Greek owned, Liberian flagged cargo ship in service 1962-71 See also * Christ (disamb ...

("Pare Apofaseis" with lyrics by

Lefteris Papadopoulos Lefteris (Eleftherios) Papadopoulos ( el, Λευτέρης Παπαδόπουλος) is a Greek lyricist, writer and journalist. Lefteris Papadopoulos was born in Athens, Greece on 14 November 1935. He is the son of Greek refugees, with a fath ...

Yannis Spanos Ioannes "Giannis" Spanos ( el, Ιωάννης "Γιάννης" Σπανός, ; 26 July 1934 – 30 October 2019), also transliterated as Yannis Spanos, was a Greek music composer and lyricist. In his early days as a musician he was also a piano ac ...

were composers with whom Mitropanos collaborated, building a career intertwined with the

tradition, until the late 1980s.

North American Tour (2010)

Mitropanos performed a North American Tour for the first time in 13 years since his last visit to the United States. During his tour, he performed a concert on 1 July 2010 at

Radio City Music Hall Radio City Music Hall is an entertainment venue and Theater (structure), theater at 1260 Sixth Avenue (Manhattan), Avenue of the Americas, within Rockefeller Center, in the Midtown Manhattan neighborhood of New York City. Nicknamed "The Showplac ...

in front of a near capacity crowd. He performed many of his famous songs that had been written in the earlier stages of his career as well as more recent songs which continue to be popular among Greeks, such as "Roza", "Panta gelastoi", "Ta Ladadika" and many more. It was at this concert that he was accompanied by the Greek folk singer Margarita Zorbala, whose music is well known in their mutual homeland. Mitropanos concluded his concert with a passionate performance of his famous song "Alimono", with all in attendance giving him a standing ovation as he walked off the stage. As is commonplace among Greeks to show appreciation for a singer's performance at the conclusion of a concert, chants of "kialo" followed, meaning "more". Following his performance at Radio City, Mitropanos cancelled the remainder of his North American tour. Greek news outlets such as ERT reported that Mitropanos was apparently ill and could not finish his tour.

Death

On 17 April 2012, Mitropanos was rushed to the Igia Athens hospital after he suffered a heart attack earlier that morning. He had

insomnia Insomnia, also known as sleeplessness, is a sleep disorder in which people have trouble sleeping. They may have difficulty falling asleep, or staying asleep as long as desired. Insomnia is typically followed by daytime sleepiness, low energy, ...

and showed signs of a

pulmonary edema Pulmonary edema, also known as pulmonary congestion, is excessive edema, liquid accumulation in the parenchyma, tissue and pulmonary alveolus, air spaces (usually alveoli) of the lungs. It leads to impaired gas exchange and may cause hypoxemia an ...

, from which he died of later on that day. He was buried in

First Cemetery of Athens The First Cemetery of Athens ( el, Πρώτο Νεκροταφείο Αθηνών, ''Próto Nekrotafeío Athinón'') is the official cemetery of the City of Athens and the first to be built. It opened in 1837 and soon became a prestigious ceme ...

, not far from the singer

Rita Sakellariou Rita Sakellariou ( el, Ρίτα Σακελλαρίου) (born 22 November 1934, Sitia, Crete, Greece – died 6 August 1999, Athens, Greece) was a Greek singer. Biography Her mother originated in Kalymnos and her father in Izmir. As a child, h ...

. Mitropanos was survived by his two daughters and his wife, Venia. Mitropanos instructed his family not to accept a state funeral if it was offered. It was indeed offered and his family declined the offer and covered the costs of the funeral themselves.

Notable songs

* Πες μου πού πουλάν καρδιές (Pes mou pou poulan kardies, ''Tell me where they are selling hearts'') * Κυρά ζωή (Kira Zoi, ''Ms life'') * Άλλος για Χίο τράβηξε κι άλλος για Μυτιλήνη (Alos yia Chio travixe ki alos yia Mitilini, ''Someone sailed to

Chios Chios (; el, Χίος, Chíos , traditionally known as Scio in English) is the fifth largest Greek island, situated in the northern Aegean Sea. The island is separated from Turkey by the Chios Strait. Chios is notable for its exports of mastic ...

and someone else to Mitilini'') * Σ'αναζητώ στη Σαλονίκη (S'anazito sti Saloniki, ''Searching for you in

Salonika Thessaloniki (; el, Θεσσαλονίκη, , also known as Thessalonica (), Saloniki, or Salonica (), is the second-largest city in Greece, with over one million inhabitants in its metropolitan area, and the capital of the geographic region of ...

'') * Ρόζα (Roza, ''Rose'') * Tα Λαδάδικα (Ta Ladadika, ''The greasy sites (referring to the brothels)'') * Έρχονται βράδια (Erhonte vradia, ''Some nights come'') * Πάντα γελαστοί (Panta gelastoi, ''Always smiling'') * Σβήσε το φεγγάρι (Svise to fegari, ''Erase the moon'') * Αλίμονο (Alimono, ''Alas'') * Για να σ' εκδικηθώ (Yia na se ekdikitho, ''To revenge you'') * Δώσε μου φωτιά (Dose mou fotia, ''Give me fire'') * Τι το θες το κουταλάκι (Tee to thes to koutalaki, ''What do you need the spoon for?'') * Απόψε θα 'θελα (Apopse tha 'thela, ''Tonight I'd like to'')

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mitropanos, Dimitris 1948 births 2012 deaths People from Trikala Greek people of Aromanian descent 20th-century Greek male singers Aromanian musicians Greek laïko singers Minos EMI artists Burials at the First Cemetery of Athens