Mario Frangoulis
| Mario Frangoulis Μάριος Φραγκούλης |
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| Background information | |
| Birth name | Marios Frangoulis |
| Born |
18 December 1967 Rhodesia |
| Origin | Greece |
| Genres | Classical music, operatic pop, opera |
| Occupation(s) | Musician, singer, actor |
| Instruments | Vocals, violin |
| Years active | 1988–present |
| Labels |
Sony Classical (1998–present) Sony Music Greece (1999–present) |
Mario Frangoulis (Greek: Μάριος Φραγκούλης; born 1967) is a Greek tenor and is best known for his song, "Vincerò, Perderò". He sings in Italian, Spanish, English, French, and Greek; he is fluent in all five languages.
Frangoulis was born on 18 December 1967 in Rhodesia (today Zimbabwe) of Greek parents. When he was four years old he was sent to Athens, Greece to live with his maternal aunt Loula and her husband George. The couple adored him so much and Mario considered them as his parents. At the age of eight Frangoulis began singing in various choirs and at the age of eleven he played the part of Issachar in a school production of Andrew Lloyd Webber's Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat to follow by many different roles in several other school theatrical performances, including the Master of Ceremonies in Cabaret and at sixteen played Tony in West Side Story.
When Frangoulis was six years old, he started violin lessons, which he continued for twelve years, receiving a first prize when he was as young as fourteen. He graduated from the Conservatory in 1984, and although he did not further his violin studies, this particular musical training assisted Frangoulis with his operatic studies later in life.
In 1985, Frangoulis moved to London, where he attended a three-year-long professional acting course at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama. In 1988, during his final year, he played Puck in A Midsummer Night's Dream, a production in collaboration with the Royal Shakespeare Company for the Arundel Festival. Frangoulis played the lead in the James McConnel/Kit Hesketh-Harvey musical Orlando, where he was spotted by Cameron Mackintosh who after an audition offered him the part of Marius in the West End production of Les Misérables at the Palace Theatre (1988–1989) under the direction of Trevor Nunn. Also in 1989, Frangoulis, who had never studied classical singing, received the Maria Callas Scholarship for Opera. After finishing Les Misérables, Frangoulis moved to Italy where he studied with tenor Carlo Bergonzi at the Verdi Academy in Busseto, graduating six months later.
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