On Saturday, in Volos, «Anna Karenina» premieres in a theatre that bears the name of a child of Agria. Evangelos Odysseas Papathanassiou was born on 29 March 1943 in the seaside village next to Volos. The world knew him as Vangelis.
From Agria to Paris
He grew up in Athens. His father, Odysseas, was a great lover of music, and his mother, Foteini, had trained as a soprano. In the 1960s he played with the Forminx and then with Aphrodite's Child, together with Demis Roussos. Their album «666», from 1972, is considered a classic of psychedelic rock.
He spent six years in Paris, where he wrote music for Frédéric Rossif's animal documentaries, and in the mid-1970s he moved to London. There he set up his studio, Nemo, which he called his «laboratory».
Chariots of Fire
His music for the 1981 film «Chariots of Fire» won him the Oscar for best original score, and its theme reached number one in the American charts. Then came «Blade Runner», «1492: Conquest of Paradise» and «Alexander», while tracks from his albums were heard in Carl Sagan's series «Cosmos». He worked with Jon Anderson of Yes and with Irene Papas, with whom he recorded traditional and religious songs, and wrote the music for Michael Cacoyannis's «Electra» at Epidaurus.
In his last twenty years he wrote music for missions of NASA and the European Space Agency. His «Mythodea» became the theme of the Mars Odyssey mission, and his last album, «Juno to Jupiter» from 2021, was written for the mission to Jupiter. He died in Paris on 17 May 2022.
Volos and the child of Agria
The link with his home did not fade. In 2018 the University of Thessaly, in Volos, made him an honorary doctor of its Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, a fitting choice for someone who turned electronic instruments into an orchestra. And the Municipal Theatre of Volos is named after him.
Agria is a few kilometres east of Volos, on the Pagasetic Gulf, on the road to south Pelion, with the Pelion steam train starting from neighbouring Ano Lechonia. If you are in Volos for «Anna Karenina» or for the Volos Night Run, a walk on Agria's seafront on Sunday morning ties in with his story.
