Domna Samiou meets Yehudi Menuhin in Kaisariani

The acquaintance of the world-renowned violinist and conductor Yehudi Menuhin (1986 - 1999) with Domna Samiou (1928 - 2012) and Greek traditional music took place in 1977, during a shooting for the French tv show Le Grand Échiquier (Antenne 2), in Kaisariani, close to the famous Monastery. A rare document of this great meeting is the video of Menuhin accompanying Domna with the violin in the Istanbul song, "Goodbye Panagia". Domna Samiou first interacted with Byzantine and demotic (folk) music at 13, apprenticing near Simon Karas.

As a member of his choir, she associated with the National Radio/E.I.R. Foundation. From 1954 to 1971, she worked in the Department of Ethnic Music. From this position, she had the opportunity to meet the most important folk musicians and get to know local musical idioms. In 1963 she began her travels throughout the country for on-site recordings and documentations of musical material for her personal archive. As a performer, she first appeared in 1971 in the lively and anti-junta boite Rodeo with Dionysis Savvopoulos. A little later, she participated in the English Bach Festival in London.

These performances marked the great turning point in the relationship between young people and traditional music and changed the overall mentality. Her diverse personality and dense, authentic performances profoundly influenced a younger generation of musicians and songwriters. Her work surpassed the Greek border. Her albums have been published in France and Sweden. For about forty years she gave many popular concerts.  From Australia to South America, the Greeks of the diaspora followed her performances passionately, and foreigners discovered a different, "superior Greek music without the use of bouzouki".

Information comes from www.domnasamiou.gr

The "fragment" was added at the suggestion of Mrs. Anastasia Dimopoulou.