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 networks in which the Greek-speaking musics participate, constantly conversing with their co-tenants, are 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”.

The inextricable relation between music and performing arts is more than vital. The cinema (as well as the theater too) traffics music on its own terms and plays a key role in diffusing it to places that are often far away. It also builds a special network that communicates with discography. Some of the songs that used for the cinema are often the tip of the spear as regards the popularity of the films. One such case is the tango song "Filo to cheri sas mantam".

Tango is one of the main musical elements of the national identity of modern Argentina. It is born in the marginalized environment of the port of Buenos Aires, but soon conquers Europe and the USA, where it is carried by traveling Argentine musicians and dancers during the first decade of the 20th century. Its acceptance by the upper and middle classes was due to its transformation from a multicultural musical expression of the underworld to a dance-music one for whites, as well as to its thematic cleansing of its overtly sensual origins. Primarily marginal types and their provocative liminality are replaced by quaint figures who are possessed by unquenchable, but stylized love passions. This is how a “tamed” musical genre emerges that recalls a more romantic Argentina. Tango takes Parisian cabarets by storm, and its initially targeted popularity soon develops into widespread appeal. Record companies, composers and orchestras manage it as an integral part of their business. At the end of the 1920s and the beginning of the 1930s, Greece succumbs too to this “tangomania”. During the interwar period, tango has a central place in the repertoire of elafro (light music) and enriches discography’s catalogs with hundreds of original compositions which complement the systematic arrangements of popular pieces, mainly of European origin, “dressed” with Greek lyrics.

This recording is an adaptation with Greek lyrics of the German song "Ich küsse Ihre Hand, Madame" set to music by Ralph Erwin (Erwin Vogl, Bielitz, Silesia, Austro-Hungarian Empire, October 31, 1896 – Beaune-la-Rolande internment camp, Loiret, France, May 15, 1943) and lyrics by Fritz Rotter (Vienna, Austro-Hungarian Empire, March 3,1900 – Ascona, Switzerland, April 11, 1984).

The song was recorded for the first time in Berlin, on August 28, 1928 by Richard Tauber and the Dajos Béla Orchestra (Odeon Be 7172 – O-4921a). The great success of the song was pivotal in its introduction to cinema, further boosting its popularity. On January 17, 1929, the German film of the same name "Ich küsse Ihre Hand, Madame" (see the film here), in which Tauber's performance of the song was used, began its screenings in Berlin cinemas.

The song became a global hit and was covered and recorded many times in various forms, languages and locations. For example:

– “Megcsókolom kezét, Madame!”, Gábor József, Budapest, 1928 (Polydor 962 br 2 – T 42482).
– “Jeg Kysser Deres Hund, Madam”, Einar Rose, Berlin, 1929 (Odeon Nw 1808 – D 4226/A 180194a).
– “Ich küsse Ihre Hand, Madame”, Louis Davids, England, 1929 (Columbia F 574 – D10065).
– “I kiss your hand, Madam”, Jack Hylton and his Orchestra – Sam Brown, London, February 13, 1929 (His Master's Voice Bb 15883-1 – B-5602).
– “Ce n’est que votre main... Madame!”, Fred Pizella, Paris, March 10, 1929 (Columbia L 1484 – D 19183).
– “I kiss your hand, Madame”, Bing Crosby, New York, May 24, 1929 (Columbia W148619 – 1851-D).
– “Os beso la mano madame”, Roberto Díaz – Orquesta Típica Petrucelli, Buenos Aires, 1929 (Victor BAVE-44853 – 47194).
– “Eu beijo as tuas maos senhora”, Matheus Moacho, Berlin, 1929 (Odeon OG 1095 – A 187094a).
– “Ja ljubim vašu ruku madame”, Vlaho Paljetak – Jazz band Schild-Vlahovi, Zagreb, 1929 (Edison Bell Radio SZ 700 – SZ 1363).
– “Eu beijo a sua mão madame”, Francisco Alves, Brazil, 1929 (Odeon 3048 – 10501).
– “Całuję Twoją dłoń, Madame”, Kazimierz Krukowski, Warsaw, 1929-1930 (Syrena-Electro 20696 – 20696 – 3442).
– “Jeg kysser Deres hånd, madame”, Gustav Winckler – Willy Sörensens orkester, Denmark, January 25, 1952 (Tono 4165 – Z 18173-2).

In addition to the present recording, the song was recorded one more time in Greek historical discography by Tetos Dimitriadis under the title "Filo to cheri tis madame" (Victor CVE 51617 – V-58024-A), on April 11, 1929, in New York.

The Greek musical score, with lyrics by Minos Matsas, was published in Athens, in 1930, by the Michalis Gaitanos publishing house.

Research and text: George Evangelou, Leonardos Kounadis and Nikos Ordoulidis