Editing Mikis Theodorakis (section)

== Return to Greece ==
[[File:Bundesarchiv Bild 183-1989-0115-030, Pfingsttreffen der FDJ.jpg|thumb|Theodorakis on a visit in [[East Germany]], May 1989]]

After the fall of the colonels, Mikis Theodorakis returned to Greece on 24 July 1974 to continue his work and his concert tours, both in Greece and abroad.<ref>Gail Holst, op. cit, p. 271 sq</ref> His return was in triumph, with huge crowds and his music playing on the radio.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1974/07/26/archives/theodorakis-expresses-joy-on-return-to-athens.html|title=Theodorakis Expresses Joy on Return to Athens|date=26 July 1974|newspaper=[[The New York Times]]}}</ref> At the same time he participated in public affairs. In 1978, through his article ''For a United Left Wing'', he had "stirred up the Greek political life. His proposal for the unification of the three parties of the former [[United Left (Greece)]]—which had grown out of the [[National Liberation Front (Greece)|National Liberation Front]]—had been accepted by the Greek Communist Party which later proposed him as the candidate for mayor of Athens during the 1978 elections." (Andreas Brandes)<ref>{{cite web |url=http://en.mikis-theodorakis.net/index.php/article/articleview/379/1/67/ |title=Mikis Theodorakis – The Home Page – "I Gitonies tou Kosmou" |website=En.mikis-theodorakis.net |date=24 August 2004 |access-date=13 February 2012 |archive-date=20 March 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120320184625/http://en.mikis-theodorakis.net/index.php/article/articleview/379/1/67/ |url-status=usurped }}</ref> He was later elected several times to the Greek Parliament (1981–1986 and 1989–1993) and for two years, from 1990 to 1992, he was a minister in the government of [[Constantine Mitsotakis]]. After his resignation as a member of Greek parliament, he was appointed General Musical Director of the Choir and the two Orchestras of the Hellenic State Radio ([[Hellenic Broadcasting Corporation|ERT]]), which he reorganised and with which he undertook successful concert tours abroad.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://en.mikis-theodorakis.net/index.php/article/articleview/31/1/8/ |title=Mikis Theodorakis – The Home Page – 1988-1996 |website=En.mikis-theodorakis.net |access-date=13 February 2012 |archive-date=29 September 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110929132819/http://en.mikis-theodorakis.net/index.php/article/articleview/31/1/8/ |url-status=usurped }}</ref>

He was committed to raising international awareness of human rights, environmental issues, and the need for peace.  For this reason, he initiated, along with the Turkish author, musician, singer and filmmaker [[Zülfü Livaneli]], the Greek–Turkish Friendship Society.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.loizidis.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=147&Itemid=116&lang=en|title=Mikis Theodorakis profile|website=Loizidis.com|access-date=13 February 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110713232743/http://www.loizidis.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=147&Itemid=116&lang=en|archive-date=13 July 2011|url-status=dead}}</ref>

From 1981, Theodorakis had started the ''fourth period'' of his musical writing, during which he returned to the symphonic music, while still going on to compose song-cycles. His most significant works written in these years are his ''Second'', ''Third'', ''Fourth'', and ''Seventh Symphony'', most of them being first performed in the former [[German Democratic Republic]] between 1982 and 1989. It was during this period that he received the [[Lenin Peace Prize]]. He composed his first opera [[Kostas Kariotakis]] (The Metamorphoses of Dionysus) and the ballet [[Zorba the Greek]], premièred in the [[Arena of Verona]] during the Festival Verona 1988. During this period, he also wrote the five volumes of his autobiography: ''The Ways of the Archangel'' (''{{lang|el|Οι δρόμοι του αρχάγγελου}}'').<ref name=":0">{{Cite news|last=McFadden|first=Robert D.|orig-date=2 September 2021|date=3 September 2021|page=A20|id={{Gale|A674108918}}|title=Mikis Theodorakis, Greek Composer and Marxist Rebel, Dies at 96|language=en-US|newspaper=[[The New York Times]]|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2021/09/02/arts/music/mikis-theodorakis-dead.html|access-date=2 September 2021|issn=0362-4331|archive-date=2 September 2021|archive-url=https://archive.today/20210902092214/https://www.nytimes.com/2021/09/02/arts/music/mikis-theodorakis-dead.html|url-status=live}}</ref>

In 1989, he started the ''fifth period'', the last, of his musical writing: He composed three operas (lyric tragedies) ''[[Medea (Theodorakis)|Medea]]'', first performed in [[Bilbao]] (1 October 1991), ''[[Elektra (Theodorakis opera)|Elektra]]'', first performed in [[Luxembourg]] (2 May 1995) and ''[[Antigone (Theodorakis opera)|Antigone]]'', first performed in [[Athens Concert Hall]] (7 October 1999). This trilogy was complemented by his last opera ''[[Lysistrata]]'', first performed in Athens (14 April 2002): a call for peace... With his operas, and with his song cycles from 1974 to 2006, Theodorakis ushered in the period of his ''Lyrical Life''.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Kutulas |first1=Asteris |title=Mikis Theodorakis, without a partner in dialogue |url=https://neoskosmos.com/en/2021/09/03/dialogue/opinion/mikis-theodorakis-without-a-partner-in-dialogue/ |website=Neos Kosmos |access-date=14 September 2021 |date=3 September 2021}}</ref>

In March 1997, gave a concert at the Berlin [[Haus der Kulturen der Welt]]. Afterwards he was hospitalized due to respiratory difficulties and it was when he declared that this was his last concert.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Mikis Theodorakis: Greece's poet of freedom
|url=https://www.dw.com/en/mikis-theodorakis-greeces-poet-of-freedom/g-54344493|date=2 September 2021|website=[[Deutsche Welle]]}}</ref>
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For a period of 10 years, [[Alexia Vassiliou]] teamed up with Mikis Theodorakis and his Popular Orchestra. During that time, and as a tribute to Theodorakis' body of work, Vassiliou recorded a double album showcasing some of the composer's musical creations, and in 1998, Sony BMG released the album titled ''Alexia–Mikis Theodorakis''.{{cn|date=September 2021}} unable to cite this reliably-->

Theodorakis was [[Doctor honoris causa]] of several universities.<ref>{{Cite news|title=Mikis Theodorakis, figure des arts et de la politique en Grèce, est mort|url=https://www.sudouest.fr/politique/mikis-theodorakis-figure-des-arts-et-de-la-politique-en-grece-est-mort-5677724.php|access-date=2 September 2021|website=[[Sud Ouest (newspaper)|Sud Ouest]]|date=9 February 2021 |language=fr-FR|last1=Jonathan |first1=Stéphane C. }}</ref>

[[File:Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and George Papandreou, Greece May 2010 5.jpg|thumb|Theodorakis holding hands with [[Turkish Prime Minister]] [[Recep Tayyip Erdoğan]] and [[Prime Minister of Greece|Greek Prime Minister]] [[George Papandreou]]]]