Lallas, Dimitrios

Dimitrios Lallas was born in 1848 in Ottoman Macedonia , in the village of Magarevo , near the city of Monastiri . The village was inhabited mainly by Latin-speaking and Greek-speaking ramparts . He received his primary education at a Greek village school (established in 1845). He continued his studies in Monastiri, Thessaloniki and Athens. He continued his musical education in Geneva (1865), Vienna and Munich (1868), and mainly in Bayreuth .

In 1874, Lallas met Richard Wagner and his wife Cosima Liszt. This acquaintance played a key role in the musical development of Lallas. As Cosima wrote in her diary, the young Lallas came to the Wagner couple's house almost daily, studied music with Richard, after which the three of them discussed various musical issues. In turn, the Wagner couple often visited the Lallas house and during one of these visits met one of the Lallas brothers. Becoming Wagner's favorite student, Lallas took part in August 1876, as the second conductor of the orchestra, in the first production of the Nibelung Ring tetralogy in Bayreuth . In recognition of his contribution to this event, the name of Lallas is embossed on a memorial plate in the peristyle of the Bayrot Theater. Researcher K. Kallitsunaki believes that Lallas’s secret love for Wagner’s wife is the most likely reason why he left Munich, where he opened up brilliant professional prospects. In 1877, Lallas moved to Salzburg , where he worked as a conductor, after which he left for Athens , where he worked as a music teacher.

Lallas continued to work as a music teacher in his homeland, in Monastiri, and then at the Halka Theological School . Sources describe him as a charming personality, which made him a prominent bridegroom in the salons of Vienna and Constantinople, but Lallas refused to bind himself with family ties. In 1881, he decided to settle in the capital of Ottoman Macedonia, the city of Thessaloniki . Here he developed his activities as a composer, as well as a teacher of piano and composition. He also taught singing at Thessaloniki Greek School of Noble Maidens and at the same time gave private lessons to wealthy young ladies. He also directed the orchestras and choirs of the Greek cultural societies of the Macedonian capital - the “Friends of the Muses”, “Orpheus” and “Apollo”.

In the same period he wrote songs, choral works, one opera and several orchestral works. One of the orchestral works “The Macedonian Pean ” ('' Μακεδονικός Παιάν '') indicates that the Struggle for Macedonia did not leave him indifferent. Lallas presented this work to the ideologist of the struggle for Greek Macedonia, Ion Dragumis , with a request to transfer it to Joseph Kesaris , for performance at the (extraordinary) Olympics of 1906 in Athens. Ultimately, the `` Macedonian Pean '' was performed on 21-02-1907 in the Club of the Military Garrison of Athens by the Royal Guard Orchestra under the direction of Joseph Kesaris.

Among the Thessaloniki students of Lallas was the future famous composer and pianist Emilios Riadis . Much later, in 1909, while studying in Munich , Riadis wrote a poem, “The Owl,” dedicated to “my great teacher, Dimitris Lallas” ^[2] .

Lallas also became known as a composer of children's songs ^{[3] [4]}

Dimitrios Lallas died in Monastiri in 1911, infected with cholera. In the same year, one of his students, Sotiris Grekos, created the first private conservatory in Thessaloniki ^[5] .

Dimitrios Lallas published a very small number of his works. During the First World War , in 1917, the Lallas family sent his works for publication in Italy. Unfortunately, the steamer with which the work was sent was torpedoed by a German submarine at the exit from Thessaloniki. Very few examples of the composer's work have been preserved ^[6] .

However, these samples also make it possible to evaluate the quality level of his work. Lallas is of particular importance in the musical history of Thessaloniki, as it is the founder of the tradition of professional musical art, which is directly related to the musical tradition of Central Europe.

1. ↑ ΕΚΔΡΟΜΗ ΣΤΟ ΜΟΝΑΣΤΗΡΙ - ΜΠΙΤΟΛΑ ( unopened ) (inaccessible link) . Date of treatment July 31, 2015. Archived November 24, 2014.
2. ↑ Μεγάλη Μουσική Βιβλιοθήκη της Ελλάδος - ΛΙΛΙΑΝ ΒΟΥΔΟΥΡΗ
3. ↑ Τάκης Καλογερόπουλος, Λεξικό της Ελληνικής μουσικής, εκδόσεις Γιαλλελή, 2001
4. ↑ Δημήτριος Στ. Λάλλας - Εξαίρετος συνθέτης και πιανίστας με καταγωγή από το Μεγάροβο Πελαγονίας.
5. ↑ μουσική
6. ↑ Δημήτρης Λάλας: ο μαθητής και φίλος του Richard Wagner Ritsmas Corner ( unopened ) (link not available) . Date of treatment July 31, 2015. Archived March 4, 2016.