Day: September 16, 2013

Φόρος τιμής στη Μαρία Κάλλας, 36 χρόνια μετά τον θάνατό της

Φόρος τιμής στη Μαρία Κάλλας, 36 χρόνια μετά τον θάνατό της

Τη Μαρία Κάλλας τιμά απόψε η Εθνική Λυρική Σκηνή με σειρά μουσικών δρώμενων στο κέντρο της Αθήνας, από τις 18:00 το απόγευμα έως τις 22:00 το βράδυ και με αφορμή τη συμπλήρωση 36 χρόνων από την επέτειο του θανάτου της (16 Σεπτεμβρίου 1977).

Στους δρόμους Αθήνας, της πόλης που μεγάλωσε η Μαρία Καλογεροπούλου, πριν γίνει η μεγάλη Κάλλας, θα ακουστούν οι διάσημες άριες, οι οποίες σημαδεύτηκαν για πάντα από τις μοναδικές ερμηνείες της, από τους καλλιτέχνες του Λυρικού θεάτρου, στο οποίο έκανε τα πρώτα βήματα της καριέρας της.

Οι σολίστ Δήμητρα Θεοδοσίου, Αντωνία Καλογήρου, Βασιλική Καραγιάννη, Ειρήνη Καράγιαννη, Έλενα Κελεσίδη, Τσέλια Κοστέα, Μυρσίνη Μαργαρίτη, Μαρία Μητσοπούλου και Τζούλια Σουγλάκου, οι πιανίστες και η Ορχήστρα της ΕΛΣ, σε μουσική διεύθυνση του Καλλιτεχνικού Διευθυντή της Μύρωνα Μιχαηλίδη θα ερμηνεύσουν αποσπάσματα από τις όπερες Τραβιάτα, Μποέμ, Τόσκα, Μαντάμα Μπαττερφλάι, Μάκμπεθ, Ριγολέττος, Ο κουρέας της Σεβίλλης, Τροβατόρε, Ο σικελικός εσπερινός κ.α.

Ο μουσικός περίπατος σε πέντε πράξεις-στάσεις, έχει σχεδιαστεί με τέτοιο τρόπο ώστε να δίνει τη δυνατότητα στο κοινό να παρακολουθήσει και τις πέντε συναυλίες, μετακινούμενο με τα πόδια από τη μία στην άλλη.

Η Λυρική προσκαλεί τους θαυμαστές της ντίβας της όπερας –και όχι μόνον– να περιδιαβούν τους δρόμους της πόλης, με συνοδοιπόρους τις όπερες των Βέρντι, Πουτσίνι, Ροσσίνι, Ντονιτσέττι κ.α. να σταθούν σε περισσότερο ή λιγότερο δημοφιλή σημεία της, για να δουν με μια νέα ματιά τόσο την πόλη, όσο και την τέχνη της όπερας.

Τη Δευτέρα συμπληρώνονται 36 χρόνια από την ημέρα που η φωνή της μεγάλης Ελληνίδα σοπράνο, Μαρίας Κάλλας σίγησε για πάντα. Προδομένη από την καρδιά της «έφυγε» σε ηλικία μόλις 53 ετών στις 16 Σεπτεμβρίου 1977. Το όνομα της γράφτηκε με χρυσά γράμματα στην ιστορία της όπερας και μετατράπηκε σε έναν παγκόσμιο μύθο.

Η Μαρία, Άννα, Σοφία, Κεκιλία Καλογερόπουλος, όπως ήταν το πλήρες όνομα της Κάλλας, γεννήθηκε στις 3 Δεκεμβρίου του 1923 σε νοσοκομείο του Μανχάταν από Έλληνες γονείς. Η παιδική ηλικία της ήταν μάλλον δύσκολη εξαιτίας της ταραχώδους σχέσης των γονιών της που έληξε όταν η μητέρα της Ευαγγελία πήρε την Μαρία Κάλλας και την μεγαλύτερη αδελφή της πίσω στην Ελλάδα λίγο πριν από τον Β’ Παγκόσμιο Πόλεμο. Η ίδια η σοπράνο θυμόταν με πικρία τα παιδικά χρόνια της και κατηγορούσε την μητέρα της ότι την υποχρέωνε να εργάζεται και να τραγουδά από πολύ μικρή. «Η αδελφή μου ήταν αδύνατη, όμορφη και φιλική και η μητέρα μου πάντα την προτιμούσε. Ήμουν το ασχημόπαπο. Άσχημο, ατσούμπαλο και μη δημοφιλές. Είναι σκληρό να κάνεις ένα παιδί να αισθάνεται άσχημο και ανεπιθύμητο. Δεν θα την συγχωρήσω ποτέ που μου στέρησε την παιδική ηλικία μου» είχε πει η ίδια σε συνέντευξη της στο περιοδικό Time το 1956.

Η πορεία της Κάλλας προς την δόξα και την διεθνή αναγνώριση ξεκίνησε τον Φεβρουάριο του 1941 από την Εθνική Όπερα της Ελλάδας. Μετά το τέλος του Β’ Παγκοσμίου Πολέμου η δασκάλα της την παρακινεί να μετακομίσει στην Ιταλία και να κυνηγήσει το όνειρο της για μία θέση στην Σκάλα του Μιλάνου. Το ντεμπούτο της έγινε στην La Gioconda στο θέατρο της Βερόνα όπου και γνώρισε τον μετέπειτα σύζυγο της, Τζιοβάνι Μπατίστα Μενεγκίνι.

Παντρεύτηκαν το 1949 και ο πλούσιος επιχειρηματίας Μενεγκίνι που ήταν κατά πολύ μεγαλύτερος της ανέλαβε να καθοδηγήσει την καριέρα της Κάλλας. Εκείνο το διάστημα η σοπράνο άρχιζε να καταλαβαίνει ότι το μεγάλο βάρος της αποτελεί πρόβλημα στην απόδοση της στην σκηνή. Φίλοι της εξομολογούνταν ότι τα πικρόχολα σχόλια δημοσιογράφων για την εικόνα της την έκαναν έξαλλη. Τον Μάιο του 1953 κατάλαβε ότι χρειαζόταν μία πιο λεπτή σιλουέτα προκειμένου να ερμηνεύσει με μεγαλύτερη επιτυχία τους δραματικούς ρόλους. Μέσα σε ένα χρόνο έχασε σχεδόν 36 κιλά, άλλαξε την γκαρνταρόμπα της. Η μεταμόρφωση της δεν έμεινε απαρατήρητη από τον διεθνή Τύπο που σχολίαζε με ιδιαιτέρως κολακευτικά κείμενα τις φωνητικές ικανότητες αλλά και την σκηνική παρουσία της.

Το 1957 η Κάλλας γνώρισε τον εφοπλιστή, Αριστοτέλη Ωνάση σε ένα πάρτι που δινόταν προς τιμήν της. Η σχέση τους θυελλώδης και δυνατή, όπως και οι χαρακτήρες τους. Άλλωστε η Κάλλας είχε ήδη κερδίσει το παρατσούκλι «Τίγρης» εξαιτίας μίας σκληρής έκφρασης του προσώπου της όταν θύμωσε μπροστά σε φωτογράφους και κέρδισε τον τίτλο της καλλιτέχνιδας με έντονο ταπεραμέντο.

Η Κάλλας χώρισε με τον Μενεγκίνι το 1959 και άφησε στην άκρη την καριέρα της προκειμένου να μείνει πλάι στον Ωνάση. Εκείνη περιμένει μετά από 9 χρόνια τον Σμυρνιό εφοπλιστή να την ζητήσει σε γάμο. Εκείνος το 1968 αποφασίζει ξαφνικά να παντρευτεί την χήρα του Αμερικανού προέδρου, Τζον Κένεντι, Τζάκι. Η Μαρία Κάλλας έχασε την γη κάτω από τα πόδια της και σύμφωνα με μαρτυρίες φιλικών προσώπων της έπεσε σε κατάθλιψη.

Η τελευταία της εμφάνιση έγινε στην Ιαπωνία τον Δεκέμβριο του 1974. Σχεδόν 2 χρόνια μετά τον θάνατο του Ωνάση η Μαρία Κάλλας πέρασε στην αιωνιότητα την 16η Σεπτεμβρίου 1997 στο Παρίσι.

Κλεμμένο το «My number one» της Παπαρίζου

Source:  gossip-tv.gr

Κλεμμένο το «My number one» της Παπαρίζου

Οκτώ χρόνια μετά την επιτυχία της Ελλάδας στον μουσικό διαγωνισμό της Eurovision με την Έλενα Παπαρίζου, φαίνεται πως συνθέτης του τραγουδιού «My number one» δεν ήταν ο Χρήστος Δάντης, αλλά ο Μάνος Ψαλτάκης.

Η διαμάχη των δύο συνθετών κρατάει αρκετά χρόνια. Μέχρι και το 2005 ο Μάνος Ψαλτάκης ήταν ένας από τους πιο στενούς συνεργάτες αλλά και φίλους του Χρήστου Δάντη. Η σχέση των δύο καλλιτεχνών όμως έληξε απότομα όταν το 2005, ξέσπασε έντονη διαμάχη την «πατρότητα» του «Μy number one», που ερμηνεύτηκε από την Ελενα Παπαρίζου στην Eurovision και έφερε την Ελλάδα στην πρώτη θέση.

Ο Μάνος Ψαλτάκης υποστήριζε πως το τραγούδι ήταν δικό του και πως ο Χρήστος Δάντης έκλεψε την πνευματική του ιδιοκτησία. Η υπόθεση λοιπόν κατέληξε στα δικαστήρια και η πρωτόδικη απόφαση ήταν καταδικαστική για τον Χρήστο Δάντη ο οποίος στη συνέχεια άσκησε έφεση. Σήμερα όμως βγήκε η απόφαση του εφετείου και σύμφωνα με αυτήν, η σύνθεση του τραγουδιού δεν ανήκει στον Χρήστο Δάντη, αλλά στον Μάνο Ψαλτάκη!

Ο ίδιος έγραψε στην προσωπική του σελίδα στο facebook: «Σας λέω ότι και Θεός υπάρχει και δικαιοσύνη υπάρχει. Σήμερα ο Δαυίδ, κέρδισε τον Γολιάθ για δεύτερη φορά. Αυτό να γίνει μάθημα στις φίρμες που ενώ υπάρχουν συνθέτες με εκπληκτικά τραγούδια, αυτοί και τα χώνουν και παίρνουν αηδίες. Το κλικάτο σύστημα το πολέμησα και το νίκησα, κάντε κι εσείς το ίδιο, στη μουσική δεν χωράει σύστημα και η κλίκα ως εδώ. Θέλω να πω σε όλους καλλιτέχνες φίρμες και μη στον κόσμο σε όλους που πιστέψτε με είναι πάρα πολλοί. Ένα πολύ μεγάλο ευχαριστώ που από την πρώτη στιγμή ήταν δίπλα μου και πιο πολύ στους πιο αγαπημένους μου φίλους, Σταμάτη Γονίδη, Θέμη Αδαμαντίδη, Στέλιο Ρόκκο! Σας ευχαριστώ πολύ. Θυμίζω ότι σήμερα βγήκε η απόφαση ότι το «My Number One» είναι του Μάνου Ψαλτάκη!»

Cosmetic king Napoleon Perdis had humble beginnings growing up in Parramatta

Source: TheSundayTelegraph

Napoleon Perdis with his mother Liana Perdis and father John Perdis.

Napoleon Perdis with his mother Liana Perdis and father John Perdis. Source: News Limited

Cosmetic king's humble beginnings

Napoleon Perdis at the head office of Napoleon Cosmetics in Alexandria. Source: News Limited

Napoleon Perdis with his mother as a child.

Napoleon Perdis with his mother as a child. Source: Supplied

 

A family picture of Napoleon Perdis.

A family picture of Napoleon Perdis. Source: Supplied

 

NAPOLEON Perdis wasn’t like most 13-year-old boys growing up in Parramatta in the 1970s.Raised in a Greek-immigrant family, his “woggy” upbringing made life tough in an “Anglo-western” neighbourhood.

It didn’t help either that he loved doing his mother’s make-up.

He watched, mesmerised, as she laid out her palette of powders and creams and step by step, embellished and coloured her face in glamour.

Thirty years later, and Perdis is the country’s cosmetic king whose company turned over $82 million in Australia alone in the year to June 2012.

He’s sells through Myer and in some of the most prestigious stores in the United States, including Bergdorf Goodman on Fifth Avenue.

And Perdis has signed a deal to open four concept stores in the Middle East and distribute his make-up across the region, cementing his status as the nation’s most successful beauty export.

In an exclusive interview with The Sunday Telegraph, the Los Angeles-based Perdis said his ambition from here is to “be happier” and he’s preparing to move his family back to Australia after 2014.

“I want more of a human connection now. I was very ambitious and very angry for a long period of time,” he said.

“I like human beings now. That sounds terrible: it’s just that I’m happier to get to know people.”

Perdis’ dream of a cosmetic empire began when he picked up a make-up brush, at age 13, to help his mother, Liana Perdis, prepare to head out.

“I believe in fabulous,” Perdis said.

“She would do these little tips, one of them I actually still use: she used to extend the line of the eye with the eyeliner. She’d put it and then she’d dab it.”

His first attempt at doing her make-up was a little heavy-handed.

“I remember specifically seeing this thing in a magazine: they were putting electric blue mascara on and they put a little bit in the eyebrow to give a little highlight and (I did that to her) and she went out with it – but she looked like a drag queen.

“She was very proud that I had done her make up.”
The family owned a hot food bar, Stolos Snack Bar, in the city and Perdis was obliged to work in the shop.

“There was a Salvation army car park down the road and we would wash the under arms in that car park, change, go out and do Greek dancing after closing the shop. We still stunk of hamburgers and fish but it was all okay,” Perdis said.

“It was great discipline. At the time, I hated it. It was tough for a kid, to be at school in an Anglo-western world and then have to do these very kind of Greeky, woggy things.

“They are kind of tortured memories but they do shape you.”

The money Perdis brought home on weekend gigs doing make-up for brides convinced his father John Perdis to let go of ambitions that his son was destined to be a chemist or lawyer.

“I saw how much money he would come out with: more than some people earn in a week,” Mr Perdis, 83, said.
Mr Perdis gave his son and daughter-in-law, Soula-Marie Perdis a $30,000 start-up loan.

“I said: ‘This is a little thing – I can describe this as a single brick, build on it and you will go up to the sky’. That was my wish but I never believed that they would get there.”

Sunday Style editor-in-chief Kerrie McCallum said Perdis’ persistence, determination and remarkable stamina have made him Australia’s biggest cosmetics export.

“In terms of business success and his celebrity, he would have to be the most well known Australian,” Ms McCallum said. “He is up against big international companies, which is no mean feat.”

Vogue Australia editor Edwina McCann said: “For one of our makeup artists to build a brand in Australia which today is stocked at Bergdorf Goodman, the legendary US department store on Fifth Avenue, is an incredible achievement and an indication of his international following.”

Perdis and Soula-Marie nine years ago moved to LA with their daughters, Lianna, 13, and 11-year-old triplets Athina, Alexia and Angelene.

They had intended to move back to Sydney next year, but expansion in the US, chiefly through department store Neiman Marcus, has temporarily delayed that plan.

Perdis said: “I am probably more proud (of Australia) now than when I was living here, because I left as an angry wog.”

Turning 40 was also a catalyst for change.

In the months before the milestone birthday, he had lap-band surgery and has been dieting and exercising since, shedding 78 kilos and scaring his staff with the endless energy that has injected.

“That was a big realisation when I came over 40: I’ve done all this fight and now I’m a big fat pig. I haven’t worked on myself, at all, I am really unhealthy. All I have done is worked and worked and worked.”

Napoleon Perdis Cosmetics latest Australian accounts filed with the Australian Securities and Investments Commission show revenue grew from $72.3 million in 2010-2011 to $81.6 million in 2011-2012.

A small loss in the 2011 financial year was turned into a profit of $1.882 million in the 2012 financial year.

Perdis said the team around him is committed to his vision and those who were not, he has no time for.

“There’s people that you’re like: ‘I edit you out of my life. You are no longer relevant. I’m driving and I’m going: you are on the bus or not’. But there’e a lot of people on the bus and it’s only bigger. So for all the disbelievers, there’s a lot of believers. The volume alone of our business proves that, let alone the longevity of staff here.

Ithaka on the Horizon: A Greek-American Journey by Stavro Nashi

LIFE IS A JOURNEY, BUT IT IS NOT ABOUT THE PLACES ALONG THE WAY, IT’S ABOUT THE PEOPLE WHO GIVE YOU A PIECE OF THEMSELVES.

In 1955, a little boy is caught up in the maelstrom that destroys much of the last vestiges of Greek civilization in Turkey. Narrowly escaping death at the hands of a vengeful mob, he and his family emigrate to the United States where he grows up trying to balance two competing cultures, American and Greek, both pulling in different directions. Accompany him on his voyage through life, like Odysseus searching for a mythical Ithaka, he returns to forgotten homelands in search of a true self. “Ithaka on the Horizon” is the real life saga of one man’s quest for self discovery but it is more importantly about family and the people along the way who mould each of us into who we are and who we become. This book offers the reader a rare window into the fading past of the Greek immigrant experience, portrayed against the backdrop of the tumultuous and tragic last one hundred years of Greek history. It relives the past in order to understand and appreciate the struggles of successive generations, each passing on its legacy to the next.

Download the Kindle ebook version of Ithaka on the Horizon today:

www.amazon.com/dp/B00ELXP7DW

 

Interview with Stavro Nashi, author of Ithaka on the Horizon: A Greek-American Journey

C: Tell us about your book

S: It’s a labor of love. I wanted to tell the story of the people in my life who I encountered along my life journey that affected it in a positive way. This book is about being an immigrant, growing up in America, being torn between two cultures, the search for lost homelands and coming to terms with who we are. It is also about the historical events that have shaped my family”s story over the last one hundred years. Writing is a hobby, I have a day job. It took me five years to write this book and believe me when I say I poured my heart and soul into it. Writing and storytelling is about making a connection and my hope is that the reader will see a reflection of their own experiences in this book. More importantly I hope that my extended family will better appreciate those who came before them.

C: How did you begin writing?

S: I started blogging about six years ago and have written hundreds of posts. The blog is called “My Greek Odyssey” and it’s still up, with over 350,000 hits. The editor of the Greek-American “Hellenic Voice” newspaper, Steve Crowe, read my blog and asked me to write for his newspaper. I wrote a column for three years and eventually with Steve’s encouragement I realized that I had the makings of a book somewhere hidden in my writings over the years.

C: What is the theme of your book?

S: Life as a journey. Very much like the one another Greek, named Odysseus embarked upon. A journey full of adventure, discovery, laughter and tears. I have also woven a great deal of Greek-American and Greek history into my story as a backdrop so that the reader can gain a better understanding of how ordinary people are touched and changed by it.

C: How did you come up with the title?

S: Ithaka was the home of Odysseus. He spent ten years trying to get back to Ithaka after the end of the Trojan War after angering the Gods. My favorite Greek poet, Constantine Cavafy wrote a wonderful poem about the search for a mythical Ithaka that each of us experiences on his odyssey through life. It struck a chord.

C: Can you share a few things about your background.

S: I was born to Greek parents in Istanbul, Turkey and immigrated with my parents to America in 1956 at the age of five in the wake of the anti-Greek riots when our home was attacked along with thousands of other homes, churches and businesses. Most Greek-Americans do not know much, if anything about happened to the Greek minority in Istanbul. I grew up in New York City, in the Yorkville section of Manhattan when it was still a working class neighborhood. I graduated from NYU, spent twenty-two years in the Marines Corps with service in two wars. After I retired I attended Nursing school and worked as an ER nurse for three years. I went to graduate school during that period and have worked as a nurse practitioner in a pediatrics practice for the last 15 years.

C: What brought you to Maine?

S: Most of my relatives lived in Saco. It was the first place we came to when we arrived in the USA. My father couldn’t find a job there so we ended up in New York City however we came back often and I fell in love with Maine. Never got it out of my system. My parents moved to Old Orchard Beach, Maine when they retired in 1980 and I moved my family here in 1999. Both of my sons grew up in Saco.

C: Who are the main characters in your book?

S: My grandfather Stavros, who came to Biddeford in 1907, worked in the mills, and although he never realized his dream of becoming an American, made it possible for my father and I to do so.

My grandmother Evdoxia, whose quick thinking saved our lives during the riots. My father and mother who raised us to be proud Americans but according to Greek rules. My wife of 26 years, Anna, who I married when I was stationed in Greece and my two sons, not to mention many others who touched my life.

C: Where can people find your book?

S: It’s available on Amazon, in paperback and Kindle versions, Elements and Nonesuch Bookstores in Biddeford, Maine

C: How did you decide to publish independently?

S: Because it is the wave of the future, allowing authors to bypass agents and publishing houses whose primary focus is making money from your work. It requires a minimal investment on your part and provides an opportunity for many worthy books to come to the attention of a wider audience.

C: What’s next for you and your book?

I still write in my blog called My Greek Odyssey and have written articles that have appeared in the Greek-American press. My next project is a collection of short stories and eventually I would like to write a military history of Greece in the twentieth century.

C: Any advice to prospective authors?

S: Tell a story, know your audience, above all, believe in yourself and don’t be afraid to take the plunge. The easy part is writing your book, the hard part is marketing it to your intended audience.

We got it wrong on warming, says IPCC

Source: TheAustralian

THE Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s latest assessment reportedly admits its computer drastically overestimated rising temperatures, and over the past 60 years the world has in fact been warming at half the rate claimed in the previous IPCC report in 2007.

More importantly, according to reports in British and US media, the draft report appears to suggest global temperatures were less sensitive to rising levels of atmospheric carbon dioxide than was previously thought.

The 2007 assessment report said the planet was warming at a rate of 0.2C every decade, but according to Britain’s The Daily Mail the draft update report says the true figure since 1951 has been 0.12C.

Last week, the IPCC was forced to deny it was locked in crisis talks as reports intensified that scientists were preparing to revise down the speed at which climate change is happening and its likely impact.

It is believed the IPCC draft report will still conclude there is now greater confidence that climate change is real, humans are having a major impact and that the world will continue to warm catastrophically unless drastic action is taken to curb greenhouse gas emissions.

The impacts would include big rises in the sea level, floods, droughts and the disappearance of the Arctic icecap.

But claimed contradictions in the report have led to calls for the IPCC report process to be scrapped.

Professor Judith Curry, head of climate science at the Georgia Institute of Technology in Atlanta, told The Daily Mail the leaked summary showed “the science is clearly not settled, and is in a state of flux”.

The Wall Street Journal said the updated report, due out on September 27, would show “the temperature rise we can expect as a result of manmade emissions of carbon dioxide is lower than the IPCC thought in 2007”.

The WSJ report said the change was small but “it is significant because it points to the very real possibility that, over the next several generations, the overall effect of climate change will be positive for humankind and the planet”.

After several leaks and reports on how climate scientists would deal with a slowdown in the rate of average global surface temperatures over the past decade, the IPCC was last week forced to deny it had called for crisis talks.

“Contrary to the articles the IPCC is not holding any crisis meeting,” it said in a statement.

The IPCC said more than 1800 comments had been received on the final draft of the “summary for policymakers” to be considered at a meeting in Stockholm before the release of the final report. It did not comment on the latest report, which said scientists accepted their forecast computers may have exaggerated the effect of increased carbon emissions on world temperatures and not taken enough notice of natural variability.

According to The Daily Mail, the draft report recognised the global warming “pause”, with average temperatures not showing any statistically significant increase since 1997.

Scientists admitted large parts of the world had been as warm as they were now for decades at a time between 950 and 1250, centuries before the Industrial Revolution.

And, The Daily Mail said, a forecast in the 2007 report that hurricanes would become more intense had been dropped.

Writing in The Wall Street Journal, Matt Ridley said the draft report had revised downwards the “equilibrium climate sensitivity”, a measure of eventual warming induced by a doubling of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. It had also revised down the Transient Climate Response, the actual climate change expected from a doubling of atmospheric carbon dioxide about 70 years from now.

Ridley said most experts believed that warming of less than 2C from pre-industrial levels would result in no net economic and ecological damage. “Therefore, the new report is effectively saying (based on the middle of the range of the IPCC’s emissions scenarios) that there is a better than 50-50 chance that by 2083 the benefits of climate change will still outweigh the harm,” he said.

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