At the beginning of the 20th century, Europe is living in peace and prosperity. The “Belle Époque” is an outgrowth of previous important historical events and developments. The networks that are created and which evolve funnel both people and their products, tangible and intangible. It is within this multi-layered world that sound recording and sound reproduction is invented. Early record labels send mobile crews literally all over the world to record local musicians. The range of the repertoire is endless. Cosmopolitanism in large urban centers favors polystylisms and polymorphisms. Colonialism, revolutions, conflicts, refugee flows; the theater, cinema, radio, photography, orchestras’ tours, but also circulations in all kinds of commercial channels in a world that evolves dynamically and anisotropically, form a complex network of “centers” and “peripheries” in alternating roles setting musical idioms in motion, both literally and figuratively. The network in which the Greek-speaking urban popular song participates, constantly conversing with its co-tenants, is magnificent. Discography has already provided important tools in understanding the relationships that developed between “national” repertoires. The result of this ongoing research is “Cosmopolitanism in Greek Historical Discography”.

One of these fascinating networks concerns the Spanish world, which, through a variety of paths, meets the Greek one. A key chapter in this influence was the unparalleled international success achieved by a Spanish estudiantina in 1878 in Paris. Following its success, the band toured countless locations around the world. According to the sources, on February 28, 1886, the Spanish estudiantina gave a concert in Constantinople (Istanbul) and on April 26 and 29, 1886, in Athens (for the first Greek estudiantina, see Ordoulidis, 2021a: 88–100 and Ordoulidis, 2021b). The Spanish students mainstream the culture of semi-professional music bands, the culture of the banduria, the mandolin, the guitar, the “tuna”, that is, the street serenades, and the habanera. The latter follows a path that starts from the Afro-Cuban repertoires and ends up being appropriated by Greek musicians, finding its place even in the form of the manes (see, for example, the Smyrneiko minore (Smyrnaean minor), Gramophone 12574b). The network of the theater is a key environment for the circulation of music; and the relationship between the two (music-theater) is more than dynamic. The appropriation by Greek musicians is twofold: on the one hand are the lyrics, which are now in Greek (often, in fact, they have nothing to do with the original ones), and, on the other hand, the performance practices: different instrumentation, different singing style, often differences in melodic and rhythmic forms and in the harmonies. Greek musicians adapt what they hear to their own condition, based on their own capabilities. In 1894, when the play of the then most popular zarzuela “La Gran Vía” was played for the first time, a new path that led to the appearance of the Athenian revue opened. Spanish songs started being adapted into Greek since then. These songs arrived at the Greek-speaking world either directly or indirectly, through other repertoire networks. In any case, the circulation of musics is already a reality before the 20th century with theatrical and musical performances tours, but also with the networks of music publishing houses. Discography was not only embedded in this context, but played a key role in its transformation. It should also be noted that, in various cases, often due to the great international success of the songs, the network that is finally formed is extremely complex and does not only concern Greek-Spanish relations. Finally, we have time and time again stumbled upon songs whose creators were born in a different place, worked in another, and, in the end, met in a third location and created a new work, often inspired by something pre-existing. Undoubtedly, cases of this type demonstrate the complexity regarding the issues of ownership of works, but also the problem of applying national signs to musical creations.

According to the information collected so far, this recording is the only recording of the famous Spanish zarzuela entitled "La Gran Vía" in Greek historical discography. This renowned zarzuela, with music set by Federico Chueca and Joaquín Valverde and libretto by Felipe Pérez y González, premiered at the Teatro Felipe in Madrid on July 2, 1886.

An illustrative fact of the success of the zarzuela is that some of the songs, such as "Vals de El Caballero de Gracia" (Ariston 2024) and "Jota de los Ratas" (Ariston 2023) were released on a 33 cm and 24 hole perforated cardboard record, one of the first sound recording systems, but in fact a member of the large and historical family of mechanical musical instruments.

The first edition of the zarzuela's sheet music was published in 1887, in Madrid, by Pablo Martín.

This recording is a Greek adaptation of "Barkarola" (or "Marinaresca" or "Serenata Marinaresca"). The song was not included in the first Spanish version of the zarzuela, and was added to some of its later versions.

The score of this song, entitled "Serenata Marinaresca" and with Italian lyrics, as well as other excerpts from "La Gran Via", were published, probably for the first time in Greece, in the publication Mousiki Efimerida, in 1895. It is included in the third volume (pp. 499–502) of Thodoros Chatzipantazis’ and Lila Maraka’s book I Athinaiki Epitheorisi (1977).

The lyrics of the above musical score were found under the title "Marinaresca" in the Italian version of the libretto of the zarzuela, published in 1895 by the Stampata da B.C. a beneficio del zoppo Ferrarini publishing house, in Castelfranco Emilia, Modena, as well as in the same year, in Turin, by the Tipografia Origlia, Festa e Comp publishing house. Based on this evidence and by comparing the present recording with the style of the rest of the songs of the operetta, it is possible that it is not a composition by Chueca - Valverde, but a song, probably of Italian origin, that was included in zarzuela performances staged by Italian troupes. This is not surprising, since "local" chants were added to "foreign" songs on several occasions when these were being performed outside their countries of origin.

Most likely, this version of the zarzuela was presented for the first time in Greece in April 1894 by the Italian troupe Gonzalez, at the winter Comedy Theater of Athens, starring the sopranos Annita (Nina) d 'Agostini and Tecla Cordové. The shows excited the Athenian audience and met great success, stimulating developments for the appearance of a new theatrical genre, that of the Athenian revue (see also Maraka, 2000).

Research and text: Leonardos Kounadis and Nikos Ordoulidis