Anastasia Moutsatsou

Anastasia Moutsatsou was born on 14 March 1961 in Velanidia, a village near Cape Maleas in Laconia, and grew up there. According to the Greek discography archive, she has lived in Athens since 1978. In the 1980s she worked as a singer on the Athens music scene, and record credits from that decade show her voice on albums by other artists. Her own first album, Κύματα κρύσταλλα (Waves, Crystals), followed in 1992. It was produced by Michalis Nikoloudis, who remained a collaborator in later years.

During the 1990s she released a series of albums with music by Greek songwriters. Μυστικά σημάδια (Secret Signs) appeared in 1994, and Στους άγιους τόπους της καρδιάς (In the Holy Places of the Heart) followed in 1996, with music by Pantelis Thalassinos. In 2000 she shared a live album with the singer Marina Skiadaresi on the Lyra label, and that summer the two toured Greece, with a stop at the Ermoupoleia festival on Syros. In an interview with the newspaper Τα Νέα that March, she said that studying the songs and meeting a different audience every night kept her evenings on stage interesting.

Later projects include a 2008 album of songs by Notis Mavroudis and a 2016 stage show with Fotini Velesiotou at the Glass Music Theatre, for which she wrote a monologue. Her 2020 album Απ’ το μέλλον και το παρελθόν (From the Future and the Past) sets lyrics by Ourania Patelli.

Moutsatsou is above all an interpreter: she brings songs by many composers to life with a deep, warm voice. A 2007 review of an international acoustic compilation described her as a contralto, the lowest female voice type. Her first album went back to tradition. Κύματα κρύσταλλα gathers traditional songs such as Μελιτζανιά (Aubergine Plant) and Τζιβαέρι (Jewel), a well-known song of longing. Μυστικά σημάδια (Secret Signs), released in 1994 by Music Box International, made her more widely known; its songs include Το λιμάνι (The Harbour) and Όλα τα δύσκολα (All the Hard Things).

In 2007 Όλα τα δύσκολα appeared on Women of the World: Acoustic from the American label Putumayo, beside singers from France, Cape Verde and other countries. A reviewer noted the bouzouki, the long-necked Greek string instrument, on this track. Her collaborations reach across generations of Greek song. The 2005 album Ώρες μου χρωματιστές (My Colourful Hours), by the songwriter Giorgos Stavrianos, brought her together with Glykeria, Giorgos Dalaras and Pantelis Thalassinos. In 2017 she wrote the lyrics of Γυναίκες μόνες (Women Alone), with music by Dimitra Galani, and recorded it with Fotini Velesiotou. For her 2020 album, composers including Lavrentis Machairitsas, Giorgos Andreou and Nikos Xydakis set lyrics by Ourania Patelli. Machairitsas gave her his song before his death in 2019, and its title became the album title.

Moutsatsou belongs to a generation of Greek singers who have carried éntekhno song from the 1990s into the present, often in shared programmes with other singers. Her records are a good way to hear how a Greek song is built from a voice and instruments. Find Όλα τα δύσκολα (All the Hard Things), on Μυστικά σημάδια or on the Putumayo compilation, and listen for the bouzouki. Then say what you hear with the pattern τραγουδά με…: Η Αναστασία τραγουδά με μπουζούκι (Anastasia sings with a bouzouki). Change the instrument for another song you know: με κιθάρα (with a guitar) or με πιάνο (with a piano). These are our own practice sentences about the recording, not words from the song.

• She was born in Velanidia, a village near Cape Maleas at the south-eastern tip of Laconia.
• A song of hers appeared on a 2007 Putumayo compilation beside singers from France and Cape Verde.
• On the 2005 album Ώρες μου χρωματιστές she sings Ο καημός της φυσαρμόνικας (The Harmonica’s Sorrow).
• She also writes: the lyrics of Γυναίκες μόνες (Women Alone) are hers, set to music by Dimitra Galani.