Nikos Giousef, Irene Tiniakou, George Katsanos

In the Understage area of the Alexandra Trianti Hall, the musical saw in the hands of Nikos Giousef, and accompanied by piano, samplers and analog synthesizers, is transformed into a voice. 'An otherworldly child's voice', 'a Siren's voice' or 'a castrato voice', as it has been described, it easily climbs to tonic heights that the human voice can only reach with great effort. The pieces chosen for the program reflect this criterion, with works such as the aria 'Erbarme Dich, Mein Gott' from the oratorio of J.S. Bach's 'St Matthew Passion', 'Ave Maria' from Franz Schubert's 'Ellens Gesang III', H. Purcell's 'Music For A While' as well as choral works like 'Lacrimosa' from W.A. Mozart's 'Requiem' and the first part (Grave) from G.B. Pergolesi's 'Stabat Mater'. S. Rachmaninov's 'Vocalise' is also a very interesting choice for musical saw, a song without lyrics as it is. The program also includes two works by Greek composers, Ioannis Planiteros' 'Ina Ti', written in the 17th century and still performed nowadays by local choirs in Zakynthos, and 'The Trawler' from Nikos Skalkotas' popular ballet 'The Sea', as a tribute to the great composer on the occasion of the 70th anniversary of his death. George Katsanos, on the three ambient tracks of the album, is really traveling with us in the mysterious amazing music world of 'Adagios From The Underground'. Nikos Giousef: soprano and baritone musical saw, Irene Tiniakou: piano, George Katsanos: Moog synthesizer, music box, kalimba, effects.

The recording was made on January 2020 at Praxis Studio by Chrysostomos Karantoniou and Costas Parisis. The mixing by Nikos Giousef and mastering by Yiannis Christodoulatos. “Underground World” and “In the Deep” as well as “Wolfgang’s Dream” were recorded live by Petros Petropoulos on April 19, 2019 in the understage area of Alexandra Trianti Hall. The artwork and the photo of the cover is by Vasilis Papadatos. Inside photos by Haris Akriviadis.