Το Χαμόγελο Της Τζοκόντας

Gioconda’s Smile by Manos Hadjidakis (Produced by Quincy Jones)

Some years ago I spent some time living in mainland Greece working as a teacher and maintain some very fond memories of the country and its people. One such vivid memory is the music of Manos Hadjidakis who is particularly famous for his score for Never on a Sunday.

I had got somewhat bored of my meagre tape collection and thought I’d find something with a Greek flavour so one afternoon before a long bus journey through the countryside I was in a small shop for some cigarettes when I spotted a small collection of tapes. There on the top of the pile was a copy of Gioconda’s Smile. Immediately intrigued by the cover I thought I’d give it a try, handed over my money and popped it into my walkman for my trip.

As the bus wended its way through the little villages and undulating countryside the music in my head provided the perfect accompaniment to the rolling vista at my window as I realised that Hadjidakis had captured the essence of the Greek landscape with much the same genius that Elgar did for England’s and suddenly I saw Greece in a new and more colourful light.

Over the years I have listened to that tape to the point that it is utterly inaudible over the hiss so it is with much pleasure I have managed to hunt down a digital copy, remastered from its original 1965 recording and still all I have to do is put my headphones on and close my eyes to see the Greek landscape rolling past once more.

Sample below : “The Virgin in my neighbourhood”.