«Ρετρό Σάββατα με τον Δαυίδ Ναχμία»

Retro Savvata me ton David Nachmia is a concert at the B. & M. Theocharakis Foundation on Vassilissis Sofias, central Athens, on 21 March 2026. Nachmias sits at the piano and melodies from the 1930s fill a room that faces Parliament across the avenue.

This installment of Retro Saturdays pays tribute to Kostas Giannidis, born Giannis Konstantinidis in Smyrna in 1903. He studied composition at Berlin's Stern Conservatory, then built two careers under two names: serious concert works as Konstantinidis, and operettas, film scores, and popular songs as Kostas Giannidis. Between 1932 and 1950, he composed music for roughly fifty musical comedies and seven Greek films, including Madam Sousou and I Prosfygopoula. Vocalist Marianna Zachou performs alongside Nachmias, who narrates and plays.

Nachmias is a pianist, musicologist, and broadcaster. His Sunday program on ERT's Third Program, The Musical Clock of the 20th Century, has traced Greek popular song for over twelve years. In December 2024, the Athens Academy awarded him its Prize for Letters and Arts.

If you want amplified sound and a standing crowd, this room works differently. But if you want to hear songs from a Greece that composed by candlelight — performed on a grand piano steps from Syntagma — Saturday evening has a chair.

The Theocharakis Foundation is at Vassilissis Sofias 9, accessible by metro from Syntagma. Tickets 10-20 EUR. Doors at 20:30.

A composer who wrote under two names, played by a pianist who has spent twelve years making sure nobody forgets either one.