God is Love - 24 Prayers of John Chrysostom

A musical work based on 24 phrases from 24 prayers by John Chrysostom and excerpts from the thoughts of our contemporary Saint Porphyrios about prayer, with music by Tassis Christoyannis.

Praying is a way to be. It’s a way for people to connect and communicate with God and other people. The same applies for art, speech, and music. They are like breathing, without which man cannot live. The days of the Holy Week seem to hang between the earth and the sky, embodying the ideal time for union, the deepest and most tragic time for prayer, the time for divine sacrifice.

Eight people, seven musicians and an actress, meet and are connected in Trinity. They offer and are offered. Eight notes, eight sounds are multiplied by three and become one body, one alphabet that embodies the profoundly sweet words of John Chrysostom. The Church’s Hierarch proposes 24 brief prayer phrases, representing 24 moments, 24 chances for love, 24 possibilities for building connections, understanding, and reaching wholeness, all selected from his extensive body of work.

The Church is the body of Christ. It is man’s salvation and fulfilment. Because when a person is alone and isolated, they cannot avoid their own decline; they practically cannot live. The Church calls man to Love, to the truth of existence, to the connection with God.

By taking the initiative to organize and care for this festival, which is also a celebration, the Greek National Opera invites all of us, artists and audiences alike, to communicate this love on a human level. We are invited to participate and test this connection – this prayer –, through music and speech, always with the love of God and within God’s love. 

We wholeheartedly thank you. - Tassis Christoyannis

BRIEF BIOGRAPHICAL NOTES

Tassis Christoyannis 

Greek baritone, he was born in Piraeus. Since 1989 he has been singing with the Greek National Opera, at the Athens Concert Hall and at the most prestigious theatres worldwide. His repertoire includes leading roles in such operas as Il barbiere di Siviglia, Macbeth, Don Giovanni, Don Carlos, La traviata, Die Zauberflöte, Eugene Onegin, Faust, Hamlet, Un ballo in maschera, Falstaff, Il trovatore, Simon Boccanegra and Wozzeck. He has recorded operas (Tamerlano, La traviata, Falstaff, Persée, Phèdre, Le Τimbre d’argent, etc), songs by French composers (Camille Saint-Saëns, Félicien David, Reynaldo Hahn, Charles Gounod, Benjamin Godard, etc), as well as works by Greek composers (Hadjidakis, Theodorakis, Mamagkakis, Kouroupos, Mikroutsikos, Markopoulos, etc). He also composes music. He has written the music for the musicals Christmas Story, Once Upon a Time There Was a Young Prince, the ballets On the Road, Labyrinth, and the song cycles E.E.Cummings, Thomas Moore, which have been presented in Greece and abroad. He received the Prix de l’Academie Charles Cros (“Best French songs interpreter”, category: opera). He is artistic director of the Olympia Municipal Music Theatre "Maria Callas"

Polis Ensemble

The Polis Ensemble was established in December 2011 in Athens (initially named the "Polis" Orchestra of Eastern Music). The term "polis" is meant to represent the cities of the Eastern Mediterranean, whose tradition has never ceased to inspire the members of the ensemble. From the first months of 2012 to the present day, the sextet has performed in prestigious concert halls and has collaborated with esteemed composers, soloists, singers, actors, the ERT Contemporary Music Orchestra, and various other choral ensembles. In 2021, they participated in the diverse programme of events titled “200 years of Folk Singing”, under the artistic guidance of world-renowned composer and maestro, Stavros Xarchakos.

All events at the Old Stock Exchange of Athens are held in collaboration with the National Bank of Greece Cultural Foundation