“The deep voice was heard in the deeper night,” wrote Yannis Ritsos in his poem “Toward Saturday.” “Then the tanks went by.”
Best of Chicago voting is live now. Vote for your favorites »
Since 1934–the same year his first volume of poetry was published and he joined the Greek communist party–Ritsos had been recognized as that rare breed of artist who upheld high formal quality while remaining accessible to the general public. His poems fused references to ancient history and legend with contemporary political upheavals, expressing a leftist view through images of the daily lives of peasants and workers. His political engagement was no mere radical-chic gesture. He fought with the communist guerrillas during the civil war of the late 1940s and over the years was imprisoned and exiled by several governments.
Ritsos’s memory and work will be honored next week at a concert organized and headlined by Gaitanos, who has won a large following with his singing at the north-side nightclub and restaurant Deni’s Den. The performance, sponsored by the Hellenic Cultural Organization, will feature musical settings of Ritsos’s poetry.
So Gaitanos returned to Deni’s, where he and his band now play five nights a week. These days his repertoire includes his renditions of music by Theodorakis, Leontis, Manos Hadjidakis, and other contemporary Greek composers as well as his own compositions, some featuring his own lyrics, others the words of such poets as Greece’s Constantin Cavafy, Germany’s Bertolt Brecht, and Ireland’s Brendan Behan.
