Aristotle, the ancient Greek philosopher, has said that Truth lies always somewhere in the middle. Regardless of the extent to which we may agree or disagree on which the “land” of truth is, one thing is for sure. We cannot live without it. Either looking for it, trying to hide from it, avoiding to face it or admit it, finding the courage to tell it and accept it, humans have always had a passionate relationship with Truth.

Maybe this is one of the reasons why the latest musical performance of Panos Gourgiotus and Giouli Asimakopoulou has taken its name. It may be that the creators and performers of this concert wish to find a way to tell Truth themselves that they do know the integral role it holds in humans’ lives.

But they also want, like they said in their concert yesterday on the 30th of November 2019 in Luxembourg, hosted by the non-profit cultural organization Mitos asbl, to find a name that can represent the identity of the songs they have included in their performance.

Every single song of theirs is a piece of a global common Truth we share as inhabitants of this planet called Earth. You see, Truth cannot wear out because of time or loss of memory. Truth leaves an eternal mark on humanity’s history but it is the humans who decide not to remember it or pretend that they have forgotten all about it.

Nevertheless, the ones who decided to attend yesterday’s performance and the ones who have been a stable, ongoing part of their audience are part of these humans who wish to remember parts of our common shared Truth that we may have danger of forgetting.

Panos Gourgiotis and Giouli Asimakopoulou have built a musical performance which presents songs reflecting a part of our commonly shared global Truth. Most of these Truths were unknown to me and it was through their songs and the background info provided to the audience on the screen that I was offered the opportunity to be familiarized with them.

I did not know that the classic ballad “Hey Jude” from the summer ’68 was Paul McCartney’s way of showing his strong bond to John Lennon and his 5year old child who experienced the painful divorce of his father John. I had forgotten that ‘Where the Wild roses grow” was written by Nick Cave thanks to his inspiration by the traditional song “Down in the Willow garden” narrating a real incident of a woman’s killing.

“Sunday, Bloody Sunday” by U2 refers mainly to the internal Irish conflict of 1972 whereas “The children down the plain” by Manos Hatzidakis, one of the most beloved worldwide Greek composers, is the result of Hatzidakis’ need to express in 1945, year of Greece’s independence at the end of the Second World War, his thoughts on the oppression and limitation of freedom which his nation has been through as a result of foreign conquerors or internal authoritarians.

The performance ‘Truth’ consists of numerous songs, each portraying a Truth of humanity’s history. It is an emotional performance which leads its listeners to realize something we usually say but rarely become really conscious of it. Truth is always carried within our genes no matter our national, historical, or cultural background. Truth is shared and is common. No matter how we decide to interpret it, Truth exists and music is in my opinion one of the best lenses to look at it.

As a member of the audience of yesterday’s performance of Panos Gourgiotis and Giouli Asimakomoulou, I would like to express my gratitude for offering me the opportunity to familiarize with our common humanity. We are humans, inhabitants of a world which experiences similar true stories, generated by common human ‘problematic areas’ such as wars, betrayals, lies, divorces, painful confessions, love disappointments, fears, agonies, exploitations, aggressiveness.

We all breathe in and out the conscious or unconscious memories of what we have shared through our human nature. The voices of Panos Gourgiotis and Giouli Asimakopoulou transformed into an air balloon which lifted us a bit up in the air of the common language of music which demolishes barriers of time, space and cultural differences and took us on a trip around the world within the 2,5 hours of their performance.

I hope that this initiation of Mitos asbl who organized and hosted the whole event and was hugged by all of us who attended the event will be a part of the events that are to be organized in the future. A big thank you to both parts involved, Mitos asbl and the singers. A big thank you to the magic of music which can help us keep our ears open to the Truth. The Truth which makes us feel more human, therefore more fulfilled and in peace with our nature.

style="text-align: right;">Maria Papamargariti  01.12.19

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