III
Dimitra Galani (Δημητρα Γαλανη)

About:

14 November 1952

Dimitra Galani was born in Athens, Greece on 14 November 1952. Her father had studied art and song, and her grandfather was a cantor from Epirus. In 1968, at the age of sixteen, she contributed two songs to an album by D. Moutsis and Νikos Gatsos, 'Ena chamogelo' ('A smile'); that was the beginning of a long career in music.

She has sung the songs of almost every Greek composer (Chatzidakis, Theodorakis, Tsitsanis, Moutsis, Xarchakos, Spanos, Loizos, Mikroutsikos, Vagelis Papathanasiou,, Savvopoulos, Chatzinasios, Chalaris, Kraounakis and others) and has confirmed the words of some of the most important lyric-writers (L.Nikolakopoulou, K. Tripolitis and poets such as N. Gatsos, Palamas, Elytis, Kavafis and Kavadias).

Her career currently includes well over eighty albums and varies from pure Greek folk music to Byzantine hymns and easy listening performances. She also writes music for television and film, and promotes young and talented performers. Galani established herself as one of the best and most succesfull female artists in Greece.

In 2011 Galani has released an experimental live album with Vassilikos, front man from Greek new wave band Raining Pleasure. To celebrate the thirty year anniversary of 'Ta tragoudia tis xthesinis imeras' the famous duo album with Haris Alexiou, both diva's perform live at the Pallas. A live registration of the performances is released in 2012.

On the web:

- Dimitra's website: http://www.galani.gr

What do we think:

DB: Galani has an almost similar voice to Haris Alexiou in aspect of colour but her material is quite different. One could say that Alexiou goes for the big gestures while Galani likes to keep things small. She shares this ability with artists like Mari Trini and Ornella Vanoni who pull you into the speakers with soft voices.

PR: Galani can be compared to Alexiou as far as her status is concernced, but I do not agree with DB that their voices are similar. On the contrary, Galani's voice is far more introspective. Furthermore, she is more the singersongwriter type with some folk influences. She composes most of the songs on her later albums, but does not write the lyrics. If you are interested in a mature, serious female singer, Dimitra Galani is a good choice!

If you like this, you probably like.. / european counterparts:

Mari Trini (Spain)

Maurane (Belgium)

Recommended abums:

Ο ΚΑΜΠΟΣ - 1974

♪♪♪ - Μ' ΑΓΑΠΟΥΣΕΣ ΘΥΜΑΜΑΙ - 1978

♪♪♪ - ΕΙΚΟΝΕΣ - 1979

♪♪♪ - ΚΑΛΑ ΕΙΝΑΙ ΚΙ ΕΤΣΙ - 1981

♪♪♪♪ - ΚΑΝΟΝΙΚΑ - 1984

♪♪♪ - ΠΑΛΙΡΡΟΙΑ - 1989

♪♪♪ - ΦΩΣ - 1991

Μ' ΕΝΑ ΓΛΥΚΟ ΑΝΑΣΤΕΝΑΓΜΟ - 1992

♪♪♪♪ - Η ΔΗΜΗΤΡΑ ΓΑΛΑΝΗ ΣΤΟ ΧΑΡΑΜΑ - 1994

♪♪♪♪♪ - ΑΝΑΣΑ Η ΤΕΧΝΗ ΤΗΣ ΚΑΡΔΙΑΣ - 1995

Η ΔΗΜΗΤΡΑ ΓΑΛΑΝΗ ΣΤΟ ΧΑΡΑΜΑ ΜΕΡΟΣ ΔΕΥΤΕΡΟEi! - 1996

ΤΑ ΧΑΡΤΙΝΑ - 1997

META - 2001

♪♪♪♪ - Σ' ΑΓΑΠΩ ΜΠΟΡΕΙ - 2004

♪♪♪ - ΝΤΑΜΑ ΚΟΥΠΑ - 2007

♪♪♪♪ - Pixel - 2009

♪♪♪ - Live at Gazarte (with Vassilikos) - 2011

♪♪ - Live Pallas 2012 (2cd, with Haris Alexiou) - 2012

♪♪♪♪- Allios - 2014

 

-------------------------------------------------------------------------
♪♪♪♪♪ = outstanding album, an absolute must-have
♪♪♪♪ = great album, highly recomended
♪♪♪ = nice album
♪♪ = be careful, requires listening before buying
♪ = best to be avoided