PERIPLUS
Cascais, Lisbon, Portugal | SELF
Music
Press
Amélia & Michales completed the first intermusical voyage of the modern era between Portugal & Greece, doing what no-one else has done until now: strengthening links, interconnecting notes (the musical ones, because the others are rare), creating new itineraries with ancient routes as starting points. - Nuno Pacheco, "Público" – February 20, 2012
Amélia Muge has made with Michales Loukovikas the disc that still no-one else has done, uniting Portugal & Greece, Occident & Orient, past & future. […]
Amélia Muge & Michales Loukovikas, in a time that the crisis sweeps Portugal & Greece, put in "Periplus" the vigour of the ancient epics, proposing a Luso-Hellenic musical voyage that encompasses, within the same adventure, other neighbouring cultures, from Asia to Africa.
"Periplus", an idea so dear to Amélia Muge, has been a risky bet since the beginning. Uniting cultures of the Mediterranean with neighbouring ones of the Atlantic & of the Indian oceans, mixing the Occident & the Orient without giving in to multicultural "pastiches" of dubious taste, demands an enormous dose of dedication, determination & knowledge. The touchstone came across Amélia in the link of Portugal & Greece, working with Michales Loukovikas (excellent discovery) & sharing with him & a lot of musicians of great talent, Portuguese & Greeks, such an adventure. The result is a diamond polished to the point of almost perfection, […]
All this in a contemporary approach where the melodic & rhythmic lines of the two countries approximate, interconnect & challenge each other in a natural & fluid form, as if they have always been neighbours & conversed like that. - Nuno Pacheco, "Público/Ípsilon" – February 24, 2012
An innate understanding in musical affinities, generosity & contagious sense of humour. Amélia & Michales, a Portugal-Greece in the leadership of the championship of building bridges among peoples. […]
A cauldron of sounds where cultural affinities are cooked beyond the frontiers of crisis. - Maria Ramos Silva, "I" – February 21, 2012
A summit of Portuguese & Greek poets & musicians, presided by Amélia Muge & Michales Loukovikas, in order to confirm the idea that much of what we are exists on the other side, as well. […]
Mediterranean, of course. Which had as a port of departure for its exploration the interest about the work of the Greek poet Ares Alexandrou […] & was prolonged through an intuitive search of points of contact & common identity features that […] one needs only to discover. - João Lisboa: "Expresso/Atual" – February 25, 2012
Amélia Muge has made with Michales Loukovikas the disc that still no-one else has done, uniting Portugal & Greece, Occident & Orient, past & future. […]
Amélia Muge & Michales Loukovikas, in a time that the crisis sweeps Portugal & Greece, put in "Periplus" the vigour of the ancient epics, proposing a Luso-Hellenic musical voyage that encompasses, within the same adventure, other neighbouring cultures, from Asia to Africa.
"Periplus", an idea so dear to Amélia Muge, has been a risky bet since the beginning. Uniting cultures of the Mediterranean with neighbouring ones of the Atlantic & of the Indian oceans, mixing the Occident & the Orient without giving in to multicultural "pastiches" of dubious taste, demands an enormous dose of dedication, determination & knowledge. The touchstone came across Amélia in the link of Portugal & Greece, working with Michales Loukovikas (excellent discovery) & sharing with him & a lot of musicians of great talent, Portuguese & Greeks, such an adventure. The result is a diamond polished to the point of almost perfection, […]
All this in a contemporary approach where the melodic & rhythmic lines of the two countries approximate, interconnect & challenge each other in a natural & fluid form, as if they have always been neighbours & conversed like that. - Nuno Pacheco, "Público/Ípsilon" – February 24, 2012
For decades now, I have been following with interest the singular path of Amélia Muge between a mythical tradition & the "social" themes. But "Periplus, Luso-Hellenic Wanderings" is even more beautiful. Musicians & instruments, from here & from the Hellenic archipelagic peninsula, an Odyssey in sounds, the Mediterranean, real & imaginary, the Occident where Portugal reposes, dreams & suffers, with two grand ballads: "Heavy as Iron" & "Zum Zum". - Nuno Rogeiro: "Sábado" – March 1, 2012
"Periplus", […] much more than a mere collection of songs, is a musical voyage through Portuguese & Greek traditions, evocating also the ancient epics while the future is being gazed on. […]
This musical meeting between Portugal & Greece gains a double symbolism, as well, in a moment that both countries face intense social problems. - João Moço: "Diário de Notícias" – February 25, 2012
As a territory of creation, "Periplus" encompasses an extremely contemporary vision of what the musical construction in partnership is & of how music congregates in fact a dimension of an interlocution that surpasses the borders of a world organized in territories of political exclusion. - Susana Sardo, ethnomusicologist, University of Aveiro -February 2012
Discography
PERIPLUS - Deambulações Luso-Gregas
(PERIPLUS - Luso-Hellenic Wanderings)
Photos
Bio
PERIPLUS
(a Project by Amelia Muge and Michales Loukovikas)
Lisbon|Thessaloniki
This concert was premiered at Guimares European Capital of Culture 2012.
A reference composer, Amelia Muge does the sort of music other Musicians listen to, whenever they look for inspiration. Her most recent project is named Periplus, the record and the concert, collaboration with Greek artist Michales Loukovikas, a dialogue and sharing, based on the idea of a cultural journey.
Michales is an outstanding musician and composer from Thessaloniki and also a journalist and a translator.
The journey starts in Portugal supported by the traditional and rural roots, on that urban invention now world heritage The FADO. Supported by the modern declinations on the Portuguese words and even by the warmth from the Cape Vert sounds, all part of a singular experience that helps to define our identity.
This project has been presented as a rigorous concert where Amelia and Michales are joined by both Portuguese and Greek musicians, granting applauses and praise from audiences eager for novelty and wonder. Into the stage Amelia brings with her a unique career that intersects with some of the most representative musicians from the Portuguese music scene such as Julio Pereira, Ana Moura or Gaiteiros de Lisboa and international ones like Ricardo Tesi, Pirin Folk Ensemble, Amancio Prada or Elena Leda.
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