Nicu Alifantis (born May 31, 1954) is a Romanian Folk singer, songwriter, stage actor and poet. With an over fity-year musical career, Alifantis is best known for his discography created with fellow band "Alifantis & Zan" and for his collaborations with other folk bands such as "Pasărea Colibri".[1]
Nicu Alifantis | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Alifantis in June 2019 | |
| Born | 31 May 1954 |
| Occupations |
|
| Years active | 1973–present |
| Awards |  Order of the Crown of Romania (2024) Order of Cultural Merit (2007)Honorary citizenship of Brăila (2017) |
| Musical career | |
| Genres | |
| Instrument(s) | Vocals, guitar |
| Labels |
|
| Member of | Nicu Alifantis & Zan |
| Website | Website |
Biography
editNicu Alifantis, born on May 31, 1954, in Brăila to Greek-Macedonian parents. His mother, Evdocsia, was Aromanian, and his father, Menelaus, was Greek. Alifantis studied music privately and made his stage debut in 1973. He is employed in 1975 at the "Maria Filotti" Theater in Brăila and becomes quite well-known and loved by the public, so that in 1976 the record label Electrecord publishes his first record material, Cântec de noapte, with four tracks. In the same year, he enrolled in ATM.[2]
After the army, he became a member of the Cenacle Flacăra, led by the poet Adrian Păunescu, and participated in most of the "artistic events", his songs appearing on the compilations Folk 1 and Folk 2 published by Electrecord in 1977 and 1978, respectively. In 1983, at the appearance of the triple LP that marked 10 years of activity of the cenacle, Alifantis is the best represented singer-songwriter on this album, appearing with three tracks.[3]
Between 1973 and 2002 he performed in a total of 4,036 concerts.
In 1995 he founded the group Alifantis & Zan, as a studio band for his album Voiaj. In 1996, after the recording of the Nichita album, Zan becomes a project band with the following members: Virgil Popescu (bass guitar, vocals), Sorin Voinea (keyboards, vocals), Răzvan Mirică (electric and acoustic guitar, sitar, mandolin, vocals ), Relu Bițulescu (drums).
In April 1999, he established the Nicu Alifantis Foundation with the aim of promoting "artistic projects in which value, strength and authenticity will be paramount".
Discography
editDebuts
edit- debut as a composer in 1972 - "The Storm" by Ostrovsky, "Maria Filotti" Theater, Brăila.
- stage debut in 1973 – Tele Top show, TVR.
- discography debut in 1976 – EP Night song, Electrecord.
Songs
edit- Night Song (EP, Electrorecord, 1976)
- After Snails (LP, Electrecord, 1979)
- Nicu Alifantis & Florian Pittiș (EP, Electrecord, 1980) (album made with Florian Pittiș)
- Nicu Alifantis (Typewriter) (LP/MC, Electrecord, 1984)
- Mitică Popescu (LP, Electrecord, 1985; reissued on CD in 2014) (album made with Mitică Popescu)
- Romanian Square no. 9 (LP/MC, Electrecord, 1988)
- The Waster of Love (LP/MC, Electrecord, 1990)
- December (single, Toji Productions, 1992)
- Ia toji balladist (LP, Romtrust & Eurostar & Toji Productions, 1992; reissued on CD/MC in 1998)
- Voiaj (CD/MC, Intercont Music, 1995; reissued on CD in 2011 and 2016) (album made with the band Zan)
- Nichita (CD/MC, Nemira, 1996; reissued on CD in 2011 and 2015) (album made with the band Zan, includes recordings with Nichita Stănescu)
- 25 (CD/2xMC, Intercont Music, 1998)
- The Living Corpse (CD, Toji Productions, 2001)
- Neuitatele femei (CD/MC, Nemira, 2002; reissued on CD in 2006 and 2011) (album made with the band Zan)
- Checkmate (CD/MC, Nova Music Entertainment, 2004; reissued on CD in 2016) (album made with the band Zan)
- Tenderness for women with the 4 lovers (DVD, TVR Media, 2005) (album made with Mircea Baniciu, Mircea Vintilă and Alexandru Andries)
- Simphonicu (2xCD/DVD, Nicu Alifantis Foundation & Nova Music Entertainment, 2005)
- December (CD, Nova Music Entertainment & Unica, 2006) (distributed with Unica magazine)
- Vinyl Collection (4xCD, Intercont Music, 2007; reissued 2014)
- Collected Music, Vol. 71 (CD, Jurnalul Național, 2008) (distributed with Jurnalul Național newspaper)
- Tonight I'm staying at home (CD, Nicu Alifantis Foundation & TVR Media, 2009) (album made with Ștefan Iordache)
- Fireside Songs (CD/LP, Nicu Alifantis Foundation, 2010)
- The Merry Wives of Windsor (CD, Nicu Alifantis Foundation, 2011)
- Mosaic (CD+book, Alifantis Music, 2013)
- Winter Songs (CD, e-media & Click! for Women, 2014) (distributed with Click! for Women )
- Sotron - Vol. I (CD+coloring book, Alifantis Music, 2015)
- Madame Mon Amour (Love songs) (CD, Alifantis Music & e-media, 2016)
- Unopened letters (CD, Nemira & Alifantis Music, 2016) (audiobook read by the author)
- The country where I come from... (CD, Alifantis Music & e-media, 2018) (album made with the band Zan)
- Memorabilia • Theater Music Collection • 45 Anniversary Box Set (8xCD/2xDVD box-set, Alifantis Music, 2018)
- Live at UM 01671 (USB memory stick 8GB, Alifantis Music, 2019) (album made with the band Zan)
- December 50 Collection • Fifty winters over December (CD/DVD box-set, Alifantis Music, 2019)
- Leoneed Is Love (CD+book, Alifantis Music, 2021) (album made with the band Zan)
Other media
editFilmography
edit| Year | Title | Role | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1980 | Bietul Ioanide | Matei Basarab | [4] |
| 1984 | Călifar's Mill | Music composer | [5] |
| 1985 | Snow Wings | Music composer | [6] |
| 1987 | A day in Bucharest | Folk singer | [7] |
Stage plays
edit| Year | Title | Role |
|---|---|---|
| 1972 | Philadelphia ești a mea | Ater Ego |
| 1972 | Furtuna | Accordionist |
| 1973 | Swanewit | Minstrel |
| 1973 | Întîlnirea mea cu Micul Prinț | Balladist |
| 1973 | O șansă pentru fiecare | Narrator |
| 1979 | Copiii lui Kenedy | Drummer |
| 1980 | Șoareci de apă | Balladist |
Books
edit- Unopened letters joined by 2 epistles by Emil Brumaru and Laurentiu Ulici (Ed. Nemira, 1997) (book relaunched in 2016)
- Alifantis' Dictionary (Ed. Nicu Alifantis, 2014) (book relaunched in 2019)
- Mozaic (Alifantis Music, 2013) (book released together with Mozaic album )
- FaceCarte (Ed. Nicu Alifantis, 2016)
- 45 random poems (Ed. Nicu Alifantis, 2018)
- Between yesterday and tomorrow (poems, thoughts, fireflies) (Ed. Nicu Alifantis, 2020)
- Leoneed Is Love (Alifantis Music, 2021) (book released with Leoneed Is Love album )
Awards and honors
edit- UNITER Prize for Theater Music (1991)
- Stage Music Award for 'Ubu Rex' with Scenes from 'Macbeth' (1991)
- Constanța Theater Music Award (1995)
- The award for stage music from the show "The Living Corpse" (2002)
- Honorary Citizen of Braila (2017)[8]
- On December 10, 2004, the President of Romania Ion Iliescu conferred on Nicu Alifantis the Order of Cultural Merit in the rank of Knight, Category B - "Music", "for the special contributions to the artistic and cultural activity in our country, for the promotion of Romanian civilization and history".[9]
- On October 22, 2024, the Romanian Royal House conferred on Nicu Alifantis the "Order of The Crown in the rank of Knight" for the special contributions to the artistic and cultural activity[10]
References
edit- ^ Bardasu, Paul (12 November 2024). "Nicu Alifantis: "Români și alte naționalități, vi se pregătește ceva"". jurnalul.ro (in Romanian). Retrieved 24 November 2024.
- ^ http://www.cotidianul.ro/nicu_alifantis_vine_cu_balonul-17843.html
- ^ „Nu îmi propun să fac șlăgare”. Interviu cu Nicu Alifantis - Observatorul cultural, Nr. 126, iulie 2002
- ^ Bietul Ioanide (1979), aarc.ro, archived from the original on 2 February 2017, retrieved 21 January 2017
- ^ Moara lui Călifar Archived 2017-11-13 at the Wayback Machine pe site-ul All About Romanian Cinema
- ^ Aripi de zăpadă Archived 2022-07-17 at the Wayback Machine (aarc.ro)
- ^ "Situația numărului de spectatori înregistrat de filmele românești ieșite în premieră până la 31.12.2014" (PDF). Centrul Național al Cinematografiei. 31 December 2014. Archived from the original (PDF) on 7 April 2016. Retrieved 29 January 2017.
- ^ Cetățeni de onoare, Primăria Brăila
- ^ Decretul nr. 1094 din 10 decembrie 2004 privind conferirea unor decorații, text publicat în Monitorul Oficial nr. 1177 din 13 decembrie 2004.
- ^ Stefan, Andrei (22 October 2024). "Artistul Nicu Alifantis, decorat de Casa Regală a României". europafm.ro (in Romanian). Europa FM. Retrieved 24 November 2024.
External links
edit- Site web oficial
- Nicu Alifantis at CineMagia
- Biografie Archived 2011-01-09 at the Wayback Machine, musicmix.rol.ro
- Poezie si muzica, 3 aprilie 2005, Cristina Ologeanu, Jurnalul Național
Interviews
edit- "Ma simt in deplinatatea fortelor mele artistice", Corina Pavel, Formula AS - 1999, no. 348
- "Dupa mine, artistul trebuie sa traiasca nu bine, ci foarte bine, pentru a-si lasa spiritul sa alerge in cautarea inspiratiei", Formula AS - 2002, no. 531
- „Nu imi propun sa fac slagare“. Interviu cu Nicu ALIFANTIS, Svetlana Cârstean, Observator cultural - no. 126, July 2002
- 30 de ani de muzica - Nicu Alifantis, Dia Radu, Formula AS - 2005, no. 657
- Nu mă simt vinovat - interviu despre Cenaclul Flacăra, 16 January 2005, Cristina Ologeanu, Jurnalul Național
- Nicu Alifantis: Casatoria nu e un act de caritate Archived 2014-02-01 at the Wayback Machine, 22 November 2007, Alice Nastase Buciuta, Revista Tango
- Iubirile unui trubadur - Nicu Alifantis, Bogdana Tihon Buliga, Formula AS - 2010, no. 920
- Nicu Alifantis: „Acum îmi doresc cel mai mult să plec din țară“, 9 June 2011, Sînziana Boaru, Adevărul
- INTERVIU Nicu Alifantis: „M-am cerut în armată ca să scap de medicină“, 1 December 2012, Laurențiu Ungureanu, Adevărul
- Nicu Alifantis: „De foarte multe ori, muzica există în text“, 23 August 2013, Corina Vladov, Ziarul Metropolis
- UN OM CÂT TOATĂ ISTORIA MUZICII | Nicu Alifantis, interviu de Mihai Căsălean, 3 June 2021