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”.

Historical sources underline the close relations between Italian-speaking and Greek-speaking music. The conversations that developed with specific places, such as the Ionian Islands, the Dodecanese and Patras, as well as their results, are enough to highlight the strong ties between the two ethno-cultural groups. Furthermore, relationships were forged in places where the two ethnicities lived together, such as, for example, in the case of cosmopolitan Smyrna (Izmir) in the Ottoman Empire, or that of New York, where Italians and Greeks immigrated. When researching the historical material, it seems that one particular city in the Italian peninsula developed special relations with the large urban centers where Greek-speaking musicians played a leading role: it was Naples, with its famous Canzone Napoletana. This recording belongs to a corpus of songs from which the Greek protagonists borrowed music and/or lyrics from pre-existing Neapolitan-speaking songs. In many cases, the appropriations concern not only Neapolitan-speaking songs but the Italian language as a whole, since, often, the original Neapolitan-speaking songs were translated into Italian, from which the loan arose. 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 is not only embedded in this context, but plays a key role in its transformation. 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, are the performance practices: different instrumentation, different singing style, often differences in melodic and rhythmic forms but also in the harmonies. Greek musicians adapt what they hear to their own condition, based on their own capabilities. After all, the mandolins, the guitars, the marches, polyphonic song and the bel canto singing style are characteristics that reveal the influences of the Canzone Napoletana on the Greek-speaking urban popular song. 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-Italian relations.

This recording includes an adaptation with Greek lyrics of the Neapolitan song "O ritorno d' 'o cungedato" set to music by Enrico Cannio (Naples, January 10, 1874 – Naples, January 30, 1949) and lyrics by Diodato Del Gaizo (Naples, July 7, 1868 – Naples, January 13, 1943).

The score is included, along with the musical scores of six other songs, in the edition "Pierrot: artistico musicale, 1905" (see here) published in Naples in 1905 by the Casa editrice parthenopea. Another musical score of the song published around 1906 in Naples by the Bideri publication house (see here) has been found. Two more Neapolitan songs arranged with Greek lyrics and recorded in Greek-peaking discography are present in the edition. These are: "Birbantella" and "O sfizio", which were recorded under the titles "Nea gynaika" and "I prodotra" respectively.

"Piedigrotta", which is written in the publication, refers to one of the most famous and oldest religious festivals that took place in Naples. During the festival, a music competition took place, which, in the 19th century, turned into a dynamic festival. This festival took the form of a commercial mechanism which played a key role in shaping and promoting Neapolitan song.

As is results from the musical score published by Georgios D. Fexis’ publishing house entitled "Asma Stratou", the song "O ritorno d' 'o cungedato", adapted by Theofrastos Sakellaridis and with lyrics by Bampis Anninos and Giorgos Tsokopoulos, was included in the first show of the revue "Panathinaia" (written by Bampis Anninos and Giorgos Tsokopoulos, music by Theofrastos Sakellaridis). It premiered on July 6, 1907 at the "Nea Skini" theater by the Kostas Sayior troupe and had as its main theme the immigration wave to the USA. Another musical score of the song published by the Veloudios publication house (see here) has been found.

In 78 rpm discography’s catalogs the recording entitled "Ta Panathinaia: O stratos" (Odeon Gx 114 – X 65090), which was made in Athens in 1907-1908, is found. The song is performed by tenor and actor Michail Kofiniotis, who first appeared on stage at the revue "Panathinaia" of ​​1907.

The song “Asma stratou”, in a more recent performance by Giorgos Moutsios (see here from 09′ 20″ to 11′ 50″), was included in the episode “I diorganosi” (The organization) of the dramatized documentary television series “Istoria grammeni me notes” (History written with notes), scripted by theater professor Theodoros Chatzipantazis, directed by Giorgos M. Dampasis and musically arranged by Takis Athinaios. The series, produced by the Hellenic Broadcasting Corporation (commonly shortened to ERT), was broadcast by the public television station ET-1 in 1983. The same episode includes two more covers of Neapolitan songs from the revue “Panathinaia” of 1907. These songs are "Asma dikaiosynis" (see here from 07′ 29″ to 09′ 18″) and "Gyrise piso" (see here from 11′ 53″ to 15′ 42″).

We should note that two more Neapolitan songs adapted by Theofrastos Sakellaridis are included in the revue "Panathinaia" from 1907. These are the songs "Asma dikaiosynis", an adaptation of the song "Nanninella", on which the song "Smyrniopoula" was also based, and "Gyrise piso", an adaptation of the song "Torna a surriento".

The composer turned to Neapolitan music to borrow musical material or draw inspiration. In addition to the aforementioned cases, we also note the songs "Nea gynaika" from the revue "Panathinaia 1908", "Ta dendra" (arrangement of the song "Mbraccia a me!..." on which the song "Den se thelo pia" was also based) from the revue "Panathinaia 1909", "Dyodia Apallagentos - Elenitsas" (arrangement of the song "Il pesciolino" recorded under the title "O komitis") from the revue "Panathinaia 1910", "Eklogi-Apokria"(arrangement of the song "'A 'nnammurata d' 'o Bersagliere", on which the song "I dolia sou i matia" was also based) from the revue "Panathinaia 1914".

Regarding the dating of Favorite's records, Aristomenis Kalyviotis notes (2002: 101) the following: "One point which should be noted in Favorite 's records is a certain date written on the labels of the first editions with its red and white stripes. This date has been established as the recording date of the songs. In some of these dates, however, mistakes have been made. Specifically, the dates have been reversed. For example, the date 07.6.12 was printed on the label as 21.6.07! This mistake probably arose from the fact that in the old Turkish script the characters are read from right to left. Unprecedented confusion was thus created, as many scholars took Favorite's incorrect recording dates as correct. The issue was finally clarified by H. Strötbaum, who also noted all the company's recording dates in Thessaloniki, Istanbul, Izmir and Cairo".

Research and text by: Leonardos Kounadis and Nikos Ordoulidis