Mario Frangoulis
(born 1966) [1] [2] is a Greek tenor and is best known for his song, "Vincerò, Perderò." He sings in Italian, Spanish, English, French and Greek; he is fluent in all 5 languages.
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MARIO FRANGOULIS TICKETS
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Biography
Early life
Frangoulis was born on December 18th, 1966 in
Rhodesia (now
Zimbabwe) of Greek parents
[3]. At the age of four, he was sent to
Athens,
Greece to live with his maternal aunt Loula and her husband. The couple adored him and he came to consider them his real parents.
[4] Frangoulis began singing in choirs at the age of eight, and at the age of eleven he played the part of
Issachar in a school production of
Andrew Lloyd Webber's
Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat
. Thereafter, he had roles in several other school theatrical performances, including the Master of Ceremonies in
Cabaret
and - at the age of 16 - Tony in
West Side Story
.
[5]
Musical and theatre studies
Frangoulis studied the
violin for twelve years, getting a first prize at the age of 14.
, He graduated from the Conservatoire in 1984, and although he did not further his studies, this particular musical training assisted the tenor later on, during his opera studies.
In 1985, Frangoulis moved to
London, where he attended a three-year professional acting course at the
Guildhall School of Music and Drama. In 1988, during his final year, he played
Puck in
A Midsummer Night's Dream, a production in collaboration with the
Royal Shakespeare Company for the Arundel Festival. Frangoulis then played the lead in the
James McConnel/
Kit Hesketh-Harvey [6] musical
Orlando
,, where he was spotted by
Cameron Mackintosh who, after an audition, offered him the part of Marius
[7] in the
West End production of
Les Misérables
at the
Palace Theatre (1988–1989) under the direction of
Trevor Nunn. Also in 1989, Frangoulis - who had never studied classical singing -received the Maria Callas Scholarship for Opera
. After finishing
Les Misérables
, he went to
Italy where he studied with tenor
Carlo Bergonzi at the Verdi Academy in
Busseto, graduating six months later.
In 1990 Frangoulis moved to
Rome where, after a successful audition for the conductor Nicola Rescigno and the renowned tenor
Alfredo Kraus, he became Kraus' first private student
and travelled with him around the world, studying vocal technique and repertory.
Career and further studies
1990 to 1995
In 1991 Frangoulis was invited by Andrew Lloyd Webber to star as Raoul in
Phantom of the Opera
at
Her Majesty's Theatre [8]. The same year, he appeared alongside
Montserrat Caballé,
Samuel Ramey and the British Youth Opera in the charity gala 'Serenade to a Princess' at the
Whitehall Palace, celebrating the birthday of
Diana, Princess of Wales.
In 1992, Frangoulis moved to
New York to continue his operatic studies. At the suggestion of his mentor
Marilyn Horne,
and with the help of the Onassis Scholarship,he completed a three-year course at the
Juilliard School of Music
, as well as studying with soprano Dodi Protero.
In 1993, Frangoulis also travelled to
Liverpool, where he performed in an Opera Gala celebrating the 500th anniversary of the discovery of America, hosted by Sir
Peter Ustinov, with the orchestra and chorus of the London Royal Opera House.Artists appearing were Montserrat Caballé, Dmitri Hvorostowki, Julia Migenes-Johnson, Dennis O' Neil, Rita Hunter and the late Alfredo Kraus, with the orchestra and chorus of the London Royal Opera House conducted by Robin Stapleton, in the presence of His Majesty Juan Carlos of Spain and HM Queen Sophia, and HRH Prince Andrew of England
In the summer of the same year, he sang at the
Athens Concert Hall in an opera gala dedicated to the memory of
Maria Callas alongside stars of the Greek National Opera.
In 1994 he was the first Greek to become a finalist in the Luciano Pavarotti International Competition
.
Career
1995
In 1995, Frangoulis returned to London to play the role of Lun-Tha in the
Rogers and Hammerstein musical
The King and I
during the Covent Garden Festival. This performance received great critical acclaim from a number of newspapers including the
Times and
The Guardian
.
He also sang the title role in the musical Yusupov in Oxford as well as Johnny in «Sail away» (Savoy theatre in London). In 1995 he participated in a recording of
Bernard J.Taylor 's "Nosferatu", a double CD of the whole through-sung work, starring Peter Karrie as Nosferatu,
Claire Moore as Mina, Mario Frangoulis as Jonathan. A highlights cassette is also available. The recording was released in April 1995 with a "Vampire Night" at Stringfellow's nightclub in London, and was Dress Circle's best-selling recording for over three months after its release.
1996
In the summer of 1996 he made his debut at the Herod Atticus ancient amphitheater, under the Athens
Acropolis, in an evening dedicated to the memory of
Leonard Bernstein.
, with the "Orchestra of Colours" ( a symphony orchestra created by Oscar-winning popular Greek composer Manos Hatzidakis, usually misspelled
Manos Hadjidakis), singing excerpts from "
West Side Story", "
Candide", "
Our Town" etc.
He returned to the Odeon the following September in the role of
Orpheus in the
Orpheus Liturgy
[9], an oratorio that was broadcast on Greek television. This marked the start of his collaboration with Greek composer Yannis Markopoulos - here misspelled as
Giannis Markopoulos.
He reprised the role of Lun-Tha in a concert version of the musical with the
BBC Symphony Orchestraconducted by
Wally Harper, with
Barbara Cook.
1996 also saw Frangoulis return to the London cast of
Les Misérables
.
1997–1998
In February 1997, due to his mother's serious illness, Frangoulis returned to Greece. There he joined Athens' theatrical scene, notably through his playing Billy Kracker in
Kurt Weill's
Happy End
with the
Karolos Koun Art Theatre, directed by George Lazanis, the Lead Bird in
Aristophane's comedy "The Birds", directed once more by Lazanis and performed in almost every major ancient amphitheatre of Greece, such as
Epidaurus, Sparta, Filippoi and many more. In September 1997 he was offered the lead role of Danny Zouko in the musical
Grease
, directed by
David Gilmore .
. Once more, it was a great success with public and critics alike and the start of his popularity with the Greek public.
In the same season, he appeared in late night shows in the prestigious music hall "Iera Odos", alongside Greek star
George Dalaras, singing popular Greek, Italian and Spanish songs: the production toured Greece and Europe (London, Paris, Brussels, Helsinki, Munchen, Berlin, and Frankfurt) and was turned into a best-selling CD (by EMI Greece), which soon went platinum.
Representatives of Sony Music heard him in this show and arranged for him to be introduced to Peter Gelb, the head of Sony Classical: the outcome was the signing of an exclusive contract for 2 CDs and 3 CDs optional, enabling M. Frangoulis to start an international recording career at the highest level.
His collaboration with prestigious Greek composers continued with his starring in the May 1998 Herod Atticus performance of Mikis Theodorakis' "Axion Esti", a musical rendition of the historic poem of the same name by Nobel prize winner
Odysseas Elytis.
1999
In the spring of 1999 he made his first solo show at the Iera Odos music hall.
, with songs from all over the world, with the participation of Deborah Meyers. He was an overnight sensation, and these appearances were followed by a hugely successful concert tour in Greece and Cyprus the following summer, playing to audiences of 2.000-10.000 people. His first solo album, "Fengari erotevmeno" ("Love struck moon"), a live recording of the show, a double CD by Sony, Greece (with kind permission of Sony Classical), was an immediate best-seller, thus winning him his second platinum album (both in Greece and Cyprus) in two years.
[10].
2000
In July 2000, Frangoulis was the first Greek tenor to perform at
La Scala, Milan, as Tony in
West Side Story
he there. In August, he sang the title role in Yannis Markopoulos'
Erotokritos
at the Herodion Atticus theatre, and returned to the venue later that month for a solo recital there, celebrating his first ten years as a professional performer on stage. The repertoire included Greek and international songs, in a production that also toured Greece and was turned into a CD.
Frangoulis was invited by the composer
Mikis Theodorakis to perform in the
Machi tis kritis
concert at the Kallimarmaro amphitheatre in a tribute to those who lost their lives in the
Battle of Crete [11]. Around 85,000 people attended.
2001
At the beginning of 2001, Frangoulis took part in a charity opera gala at the Athens Concert Hall, alongside stars of the Greek National Opera. That May, he was one of the leading artists in an evening called
Viva Verdi
,
a tribute for the centenary of the composer's death, given at the Novaya Opera of Moscow. The concert was repeated in Cyprus the following month.
In the summer of 2001 he made his debut in ancient Greek tragedy, played
Dionysus in a touring production of
Euripides'
The Bacchae
,also performed at the Herod Atticus Theatre in Athens.
In October of the same year, Frangoulis was one of the lead performers in the international production
Bravo China
alongside
Nana Mouskouri and famous Chinese artists Liu Huan and Huang Ying, at the Herodes Atticus theatre where he performed in both Greek and Chinese.
2002
In March at the Athens Concert Hall, Frangoulis gave a concert with Deborah Myers, made up of songs from well-known films.
In July of the same year he appeared both at the Lycabettus Theatre in Athens, for the launching of his first international album 'Sometimes I Dream',
, and in
Thessaloniki in a concert with
Justin Hayward of
The Moody Blues, a performance that included '
Nights in White Satin'
[12] This performance was recorded and released on DVD. In October, Frangoulis began a grand tour around Europe, the USA and Asia in order to promote 'Sometimes I Dream'. In November, the Thessaloniki concert was broadcast on
PBS.
[13] At the end of the year, Frangoulis appeared with singer Maria Farandouri representing Greece in the Millennium Festivities held on New Year's Eve under the Acropolis.
2003
On January 30th, Frangoulis was invited by the Athens 2004 Olympic Games committee to give a concert at the Athens Olympic Stadium.
In March he made his first appearance at the Greek National Opera, where he sang opera arias and duets as well as songs and duets from musicals with soprano Elena Kelessidou. In June of that year he appeared at the Ulricksdal festival,
Stockholm, accompanied by the Swedish Symphonic Orchestra. Orchestra.
August 2003 found him in at the
Helsinki Festival.
With the Moscow New Opera soloists, chorus and orchestra, he made a hugely successful tour of different cities in Russia and Cyprus, singing arias and duets in a concert with sets and costumes, called «Tribute to Maria Callas» in which he interpreted, among others, Verdi's "
Otello".
2004
On New Year's Eve, he welcomed 2004 with the Mayor of Athens, in an open-air performance in Syntagma Square, which was broadcast live all over Greece and, by satellite, all over the world. Also taking part in that concert were Greek stars Alkistis Protopsalti, Konstantinos Markoulakis, Dimitris Papadimitriou as well as the
Gypsy Kings.
In April he appeared in an evening in honor of Danai, a Greek singer very famous in the '30s, where he sang - an unusual for him repertoire - songs by Attic, Hairopoulos etc...
On May 11th, he sang at the Herod Atticus Theatre in a concert for the 550 years of the Great School of the Greeks (a famous Greek institution in ex-Constantinople, now Istanbul). The songs were all by Mikis Theodorakis, with the Greek Radio Television Symphony Orchestra. The first part included symphonic songs in various languages (Greek, Italian, German, English, French and Chinese) and in the second part, "Axion esti", with Konstantinos Markoulakis as narrator and Mario in the role of the Popular Singer.
On May 22nd, at the
57th Cannes Film Festival, he attended the world premiere of the film
De-Lovely
,based on the life of Cole Porter, and starring Kevin Klein. Mario played the part of Alfred Drake, a Broadway star of the '60s, and he sang the duet'
So in Love' from
Kiss Me, Kate
, with Lara Fabian. After the showing of the film, he took part to a concert, with some other of the singing cast of the film (Robbie Williams, Nathalie Cole, Elvis Costello, Alanis Morissette, Diana Krall).
,
[14].
In July – August, his second foray into Greek tragedy: the lead role of
Achilles in the lost Aeschylus trilogy
Achilleis
, recently reconstructed from fragments of
Aeschylus verses, completed with verses from Homer's "
Iliad
", in a translation of Ilias Malandris, directed by Nikos Haralambous, with the Cyprus Theatre Organization, with prestigious co-stars such as Despina Bebedelli, Dim. Kafkaridis and Jenny Gaitanopoulou. The performance, after touring in Cyprus, was presented in Epidaurus on August 6 and 7.
In August, Frangoulis also took part in the final concert of the
Torch Relay at the
Athens Olympic Games.
[15] It was here that he first performed the song 'Here's to the Heroes',
[16], which was shown as part of the UK's BBC Songs of Praise Olympics Special
[17]. In September he took part at the inauguration of the Paralympics, to an audience of 90,000 people. On October 1st, he deepened his relationship with jazz with an appearance at the Herod Atticus Stadium, shared with soprano Barbara Hendrics, singing songs such as
Mack the Knife
,
Unforgettable
, "
When I fall in love
", "
My baby just don't care for me
" and"
Feuilles mortes
", "
I get a kick out of you
",
Cole Porter's "
You're the top
" and "
So in love
", finishing with "
Every time we say goodbye
",
He then flew to Japan where, on October 11th, he gave a concert at the
Bunkamura Orchard Hall with the Tokyo City Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Shuya Okatu and soprano Maki Mori. He sang songs from "Sometimes I Dream", as well as "
O Sole Mio
", "
Granada
", excerpts from Theodorakis'
Canto General
and the
Brindisi
from '
'Traviata''
In November, he was in the U.K. for eight concerts with soprano Heyley Westenra.
November 2004 also saw the release of Frangoulis' second international album
Follow your Heart
.
2005
On February-March he was in the U.S. for his first American tour of 28 cities with pianist Jim Brickman and Ann Cochran, to promote his album. In April he took a break to give concerts in South Africa (Sun City), with Vicky Sampson. Then he continued his tour visiting Canada, Los Angeles, San Francisco. On May 20th, he gave his first solo concert in the U.S., at the New York City Center, with guest artist sooprano Liza Vroman. This was followed by two others, one at the Meyerhoff Symphony Hall with the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra in Baltimore, Maryland and another one at the Sheldon Hall in St. Louis, Missouri
In June he performed at a
black-tie event at the Sharon Lynne Wilson Arts Center in
Wisconsin.
[18] In July, Frangoulis performed his first concert in
Istanbul, a sold-out open-air concert under the auspices of the Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew.
[19]
The rest of the summer he spent in Greece for his usual concert tour around the country, culminating with the "Music of the Night" concert held in October at the Herodes Atticus accompanied by the New Opera of Moscow Symphony Orchestra and Chorus
Later that month, he took part to Plácido Domingo's concert in Cyprus, featuring Kallen Esperian, accompanied by the Cyprus State Symphony and the Moscow New Opera Symphony Orchestra.
2006
His second U.S. tour saw a number of solo concerts:
January 07 - Solo concert in honor of
Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew in
Tampa,
Florida at the Sun Dome, with the Orlando Philharmonic Orchestra,.
[20].
April 6 & 7 - Horatio Alger Award Ceremony Washington, DC
June 10 - Fundraising Gala Event - Sharon Wilson Center, Brookefield, Wisconsin
April 9 - Cincinnati, Ohio - Yellow Ribbon Scholarship Fundraising Event
May 06 – Solo concert at the Detroit Opera House in Detroit, Michigan
June 16 - Solo Concert - Sanders Theater - sponsored by the Greek Institute at Harvard in Cambridge, MA.
And then, for the rest of the summer, in the Mediterranean:
June 24-28 Greek Concert tour (Piraeus, Athens, Thessaloniki etc.)
June 30 - Private Gala Event - Baalbek, Lebanon International Music Festival's 50 years anniversary
July 2, His second concert in Turkey, at the Harbiye Open Air Theater in Istanbul
October: at the Herod Atticus theatre, "Tribute to Mario Lanza" concert.
October: debut Concert in Chicago with the Chicago Symphony at Orchestra Hall and at the Landmark Theatre in Richmond with the Richmond Symphony.
2007
Frangoulis completed his new album
Amor Oscuro
(Skotinos Erotas), dedicated to the Spanish poet and dramatist
Federico Garcia Lorca.
[21] In April he performed with
Elena Kelessidi and the
Baltimore Opera Company orchestra at the
Lyric Opera House,
Baltimore [22]
and in October, he returned to the US for a concert in
Boston.
[23] In December, Frangoulis released another album:
Passione
, a collection of songs that
Mario Lanza used to sing
[24]
Mario Frangoulis resides in Athens, Greece
.
Charity work
He has sung in about forty charity galas, such as the Red Cross Annual Ball, held at the Grosvenor House, several galas organized by the Greek foundation Elpida -a charity dedicated to the cure of children who suffer from cancer- and many others. As a producer, he has organized charity shows and concerts for children in need, such as the one for the Michael S.Polemis Foundation.
- 2002: José Carreras International Leukaemia Foundation gala concert in Leipzig, Germany with Plácido Domingo, Harry Belafonte, Sarah Connors and others.
- March 2003: charity concert for Action Aid with soprano Elena Kelessidou at the National Greek Opera
- September 2003: UNESCO concert during the International Conference for the Cultural Management of World Heritage Cities, Rhodes
- December 2004: "Refugee Voices; a concert for Darfur" – concert in aid of the children of Darfur held at the Royal Albert Hall, London [25]
- April 2005: Concert for the Horatio Alger Association at the DAR Constitution Hall in Washington, D.C.. [26]
- 26th of January 2005, following the Tsunami devastation in Southern Asia, Mario Frangoulis participated in a fundraising concert, held by the National Television of Greece, in support of the children which lost their families in the disaster
- October 2006: concert in Chicago with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra for the benefit of Chicago's Hellenic Museum and Cultural Center [27]
- November 2007: 'Give Us Your Poor', a benefit concert for the homeless in Boston at The Strand theatre [28] He also appears on a compilation album of the same name.
Discography
Personal Discography:
| Title
| Release Date
| Company
| Imprint
|
| Fengari Erotevmeno
| Summer 1999
| Sony Music Greece
| Sony Classical
|
| Acropolis concert (Mikres istories)
| December 2000
| Sony Music Greece
| Sony Classical
|
| Sometimes I Dream (International Release)
| September 17, 2002
| Sony Classical
| Odyssey
|
| Sometimes I Dream (Greek Release)
| December 2002
| Sony Music Greece
| Odyssey
|
| Enas Hartinos Ilios (CD single)
| 2003
| Sony Music Greece
| Sony Classical
|
| Follow Your Heart
| August 16, 2004 (Europe)
January 2005 (North America)
| Sony Classical
| -
|
| O Kipos Ton Efchon
| May 2005
| Sony BMG Greece
| Sony Classical
|
| Music of the Night
| December 2006
| Sony BMG Greece
| Sony Classical
|
| Amore Oscuro
| June 2007
| Sony BMG Greece
| Sony Classical
|
| Passione- A Tribute to Mario Lanza
| December 2007
| Sony BMG Greece
| Sony Classical
|
| Mario and Friends
| December 08, 2008
| Sony BMG Greece
| Sony Classical
|
Live DVD:
- Sometimes I dream live in concert DVD
- Music of the night live CD/DVD in PAL format (12/2006)
Appearances in Other Albums:
- Apple/Full WS Sub Apple
(1980)A DVD of the movie. Two idealistic folk singers take up residence at a decadent artists' colony run by a sleazy Svengali, only to revolt against his bourgeois values. Campy cult fare, with "futuristic" production values that wear the indelible stamp of the 1980s' New Wave.
- Paul Taylor: Nosferatu the vampire
(he sings the role of Jonathan)
- Giannis Markopoulos: Ana-ghennisi: apo tin Venetia stin Poli (he sings two songs)
- Con te partiro
Single with George Dalaras
- George Dalaras:Dalaras in Iera Odos
(He sings duets with Dalaras)
- Cole Porter:De Lovely
(18 Oct 2004) (Soundtrack of the film. He sings the duet So in love
with Lara Fabian)
- Jim Brickman:Grace
(2005) (He sings Ave Maria - (with Jim Brickman)
- Various Artists: Bravo Act II
(2006) The CD features artists such as Luciano Pavarotti, Kiri Te Kanawa, Haley Westenra, Sarah Brightman,Il Divo and Amici Forever (Mario sings track 3, Adagio
)
- Various Artists:Give Us Your Poor
(2007) (He sings Feels Like Home
)
- Carpe Diem
duet with Sarah Brightman (2008) A Winter Symphony CD Album
References
- Mario Frangoulis
- An in-depth look at your favourite celebrity personalities - hellomagazine.com, HELLO!
- Mario Frangoulis
- Mario Frangoulis The Neo-Classical Artist - Biography
- Mario Frangoulis on iLike
- Performing Artistes Online - Artiste of the Month: Kit and the Widow
- 25th International Congress of Pediatrics - 25 -30 August 2007, Athens Greece
- ekathimerini.com | Two top voices to join forces at Herod Atticus
- Mario Frangoulis and Friends
- Mario Frangoulis The Neo-Classical Artist - Discography
- Mikis Theodorakis - 2001
- Justin Hayward : Happenings : Archives
- ArtsPass - Digital Arts For A Digital World
- Cannes Festival
- Olympic Torch in Athens :: Embassy of Greece - The Hague Netherlands - Press & Communication Office ::
- Noteworthy | csmonitor.com
- http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/programmes/songsofpraise/factsheets/20040808.html
- Wilson Center Performance, Event and Art Exhibition Calendar: June 2006
- Mario Frangoulis The Neo-Classical Artist - Biography
- Lyra Newsletter - Winter 2006
- Amor Oscuro
- http://www.prometheas.org/eventAnnouncements/FRANGULISPOSTER.jpg
- Mario Frangoulis in Concert: 'Amor' | Boston Central
- Passione
- UNHCR - "Refugee voices" concert rings in over $350,000 in support of Darfur victims
- Former Homeless Student Surprised With $20,000 Scholarship From the Horatio Alger Association After Boston Concert Performance
- Frangoulis Makes Chicago Debut in Support of the HMCC
- Give Us Your Poor :: Concert