Theodorakis in Minnesota

I was privileged to see Theodorakis in concert in Minneapolis in the fall of 1973. It was the final year of his exile (which none of us could know at the time of course), and I made the effort to go downtown to see someone whose music had been such a part of my life up to then. I went with some Greek friends who had moved to Minnesota at the same time I did. (One of these is now president of the Greek Bible Institute near Athens.)

To my astonishment, Theodorakis appeared to be largely self-taught. His conducting style was fairly haphazard, and he simply waved his arms about without any seeming method. But his orchestra nevertheless knew exactly what to do, and they did it very well indeed. I wish I could recall which of his music they played, but the memory of this event has faded with the passing of the decades.