The great music composer Mimis Plessas has died
- Written by E.Tsiliopoulos
The great music composer Mimis Plessas died, a week before celebrating his 100 years, on October 12.
The news was announced by his wife Loukila Carrer Plessa with a touching message:
"And you will not be by my side, Star of my Life..." ....you will always be inside me and protect me until we meet again, my Soul. The shared journey of LIFE has come to an end until we reciprocate. Grateful for everything…. Thank you for everything…. I love you forever….”
Mimis Plessas: 7 decades in song
Mimis Plessas wrote songs that left an era and put his special stamp on Greek cinema with his melodies. Together with Lefteris Papadopoulos in the lyrics, they wrote the greatest hits of Greek cinema. "The moon came to me", "The knife hurt sweetly", "So many summers", "I will drink the moon tonight", "Open stone" and many more.
"Virtuoso pianist and conductor, composer of songs for cinema and theater, jazz, opera and classical music, highlighted many great singers (Nana Mouschouri, Tzeni Vanou, Yiannis Poulopoulos, Stratos Dionysiou, Rena Koumiotis, etc.) and defined the artistic and popular song with his great contribution to the discography as he also owns the most commercial Greek record ever released, "The Road", with lyrics by Lefteris Papadopoulos, with 4,000,000 sales since 1969", they write indicatively about Mimi Plessas in the program of the performance that Giorgos Valaris was preparing in a few days for his 100th birthday.
A week before the moving tribute for his 100 years
Mimis Plessas passed away a week before his 100th birthday, a birthday anniversary for which an emotional performance at the Pallas was planned with the composer's greatest hits and a rich cast of 30-plus artists along with a large live orchestra. The show is scheduled to be staged from October 10 to 20.
A lifetime of music
He was born in Athens. He studied at the Leonetio Lyceum and then studied Chemistry at the School of Physics and Mathematics of the University of Athens. He went to the USA to continue his studies. At an early age he became the first piano soloist at the National Radio Foundation. In 1952, at the age of 28, he was awarded the University of Minnesota's first music prize and the following year he was ranked fifth in the United States. In 1952 he began his occupation with composition and from 1956 as a conductor and composer.
He has collaborated with many top singers, many of whom he has highlighted with his songs. He also composed music for films and plays, with 104 films and 70 plays to his credit. He also wrote the music and songs for the television series The Children of Niobe. He has conducted many of the largest orchestras in the world, in his works and was distinguished on the one hand for his theatrical offering in Paris in 1958, and for his cinematography in Edinburgh and the USA in 1964 and 1965 respectively. They were followed by numerous Greek and foreign distinctions.
Mimis Plessas was the producer of the historical radio show In 30 Seconds which was a knowledge award show with various prizes (radios and books), in the 1960s - 1970s. He participated in most international and Greek judging committees of artistic events. He is a member of the Hellenic Society of Playwrights, the Society of Composers Lyricists of Greece, ERGIM (contemporary music) and many other artistic associations. He also speaks English and French and is a permanent resident of Athens. From January 4, 1986 to July 20, 1988, he was a co-presenter, together with Costas Ferris and Vasilis Tsivilikas, of the ERT show Artistic Cafe, where various personalities from the artistic and social spheres were invited and shared stories of how they started and their lives in general. Mimis Plessas with his excellent piano playing usually accompanied the singers who entertained the cafe. This show was particularly successful.
He was married to Loukila Carrer, with whom he had a daughter in 1998.[His son from a previous marriage is the composer Antonis Plessas.
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