Iakovos Kambanelis (or Kampanellis) (Greek: Ιάκωβος Καμπανέλλης) (December 2, 1922 – March 29, 2011) was a Greek poet, playwright, screenwriter, lyricist, and novelist.^[1] Born 2 December 1922 in Hora in the island of Naxos, Kambanelis appears as one of the most prominent Greek artists of the 20th century. As a survivor of the Mauthausen-Gusen concentration camp, he authored a Mauthausen cantata[1] with music by Mikis Theodorakis[2]. He has also written a book known as Mauthausen describing his experiences from the concentration camp. He authored at least 12 films and he directed two of them. In addition, he was known as a verse writer and for his membership at the board of the Cultural Foundation of the National Bank of Greece (MIET – Morfotiko Idryma Ethnikis Trapezis), along with some of the most prominent Greek artists [3]. Iakovos Kambanelis was rushed at hospital on February 4, 2011 due to complications of his long-term kidney failure.^[2]

Theatre[link]

Cinema[link]

He wrote several scenarios on cinematographic films including:

• Stella directed by Kakogiannis
• O Drakos (The Dragon) directed by Koundouros
• Arpagi tis Persefonis (The Rape of Persephone) directed by Grigoriou
• To kanoni kai t'aïdoni (The Cannon and the Nightingale) directed by himself and Giorgos Kampanellis

He also translated works and acted in Austria, Bulgaria, England, Germany, Hungary, Romania and Sweden.

He worked as a journalist in newspapers Eleftheria (1963–65), Anendotos (1965–66) and Nea (since 1975). He has been a member of the Greek Theatrical Writers' Company.

Footnotes[link]

^ a: Once upon a time

References[link]

External links[link]

• Iakovos Kambanellis at the Internet Movie Database
• Iakovos Kamnanelis' play called Ibsenland
• I. Kambanellis biography Frankfurt Book Exposition 2001 – Greece, an honoured country (Greek)

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Maria Farantouri (sometimes spelt Maria Farandouri) (Greek: Μαρία Φαραντούρη) was born in Athens on 28 November 1947.^[1] 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. On 14 March 2010, Alpha TV ranked Farantouri the 18th top-certified female artist in the nation's phonographic era (since 1960).^[2]

During the Greek military junta (1967–1974) Maria Farantouri recorded protest songs in Europe with Mikis Theodorakis. In 1971 she recorded "Songs and Guitar Pieces by Theodorakis" with English guitarist John Williams which included seven poems by Federico García Lorca. She has recorded songs in Spanish ('Hasta Siempre Comandante Che Guevara'), Italian, and English ("Joe Hill" and Brecht's "Alabama Song' from Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny), as well as works by Greek composers Eleni Karaindrou and Mikalis Bourboulis ('San Elektra' and 'Tora Xero') in which she realized a special fusion of vocal and instrumental beauty with musical accompaniment by Vangelis. She also sang the notable 'Mauthausen Cycle'.

Her voice is deep contralto with about an octave and a half range.

Maria Farantouri was an elected member of the Greek Parliament from 1989-1993 representing the Panhellenic Socialist Movement (PASOK).^[3]

She is married to the PASOK politician Tilemachos Chitiris.

Discography[link]

This section requires expansion.

With Eleni Karaindrou

• Elegy of the Uprooting (ECM, 2005)

With Charles Lloyd

• Athens Concert (ECM, 2010)

References[link]

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Gisela May (2008)

Gisela May (born May 31, 1924 in Wetzlar, Rhine Province) is a distinguished German character actress of theatre and a singer, critically acclaimed for performing the songs written by Bertolt Brecht and Kurt Weill. She also appeared as a film and TV actress in a number of movies between 1951 and 1991.

May studied at the drama school in Leipzig. She was employed for nine years at various theatres, including the State Theatre of Schwerin and the State Theatre in Halle. From 1951 she was engaged at the Deutsches Theater in Berlin, Max Reinhardt's former workplace. She played a variety of roles from the classics to modern.

In 1962, May moved to Bertolt Brecht's theatre group, the Berliner Ensemble, to which she belonged for 30 years. Here she played many roles including Madame Cabet in The Days of the Commune, Mrs Peachum in The Threepenny Opera and "Mrs Kopecka in Schweik in the Second World War. The theatrical highlight in Brecht's stage work was her personification of Mother Courage. This performance was for about 13 years until the end of 1992 central to the repertoire of the Berliner Ensemble. Since 1992, the artist has been freelance, often working at Berlin's Renaissance Theatre.

May's second career as a chanteuse ran parallel to her acting. The composer Hanns Eisler valued her particularly for her command of Brecht's style, and worked with her.

In addition to song interpretation, May has experience in musicals: in Hello Dolly, she performed as the title character at the Metropol Theatre in Berlin, and as Fraulein Schneider in Cabaret at the Theater des Westens.

Tours through Europe, across America and Australia have taken her to New York City's Carnegie Hall, to the Sydney Opera House and La Scala, Milan. In 1989, she performed in London at a celebration of the 40th anniversary of establishment of German Democratic Republic (GDR).

May has been internationally acclaimed as First Lady of the Political Song and Best Brecht Interpreter.^[who?] She has performed all over the world^[where?] for the past forty years^[when?]. May was one of the leading artists in the former GDR from the early fifties onward. She enjoyed an intensive collaboration with Hanns Eisler and was attached as an actress to the Berliner Ensemble for thirty years, until she was fired in 1990, after the fall of the Berlin Wall.^{[citation needed]} She now performed every two months at the Berliner Ensemble, singing the songs of Brecht, Weill, Eisler and Paul Dessau.

May is the subject of the film, "Every Song Tells a Story" (1998). The film won the Prix Meilleure Vie d'Artiste Festival International du Film d'Art' 1998, [Paris].

Awards[link]

• 1991 Deutscher Filmpreis (German Film Award) Film Award in Gold for outstanding individual achievement: Category actress for: Die Hallo-Sisters (1990)^[1]
• 2002 Bundesverdienstkreuz

References[link]

External links[link]

• May personal webpage accessed November 13, 2009
• imdb