Theophrastus Sakellaridis

If Skalkottas is indubitably one of the foremost Greek composers of the 20th century, then his compatriot Theophrastos Sakellaridis gives us a glimpse of a field with which probably only a very small number of specialists are familiar – that of Greek operetta, which he established as a genre during Central Europe’s Silver Age. At a guess, he composed around 80 operettas, which are as little-known outside Greece as his operas and works in other genres. His Foxtrot Shimmy sounds just like an upbeat number from a stage work by someone like Lehár or Kálmán. It started life as a vocal duet belonging to the operetta Για να αρέσει στον άντρα της (‘To Please Her Husband’), premiered in 1922.