The Greek Schubert

Internationally distinguished baritone Aris Argyris will make his Greek National Opera Alternative Stage debut at the Stavros Niarchos Foundation Cultural Center, giving a singular song recital titled The Greek Schubert on Saturday 8 April 2023, at 20.30.

In this special recital by Aris Argyris, who has carved out a brilliant career abroad, accompanied by pianist Peter Bortfeldt, the audience will have the chance to attend sixteen of the great Austrian composer Franz Schubert’s (1797-1828) fascinating songs revolving around the gods and myths of ancient Greece.

The longing for a better world, for harmony and happiness in the community, for the golden age or simply for the country where milk and honey flow is deeply human. In every era, this longing was particularly formative for the great philosophers and statesmen of their time.

In the 19th century, in search of lofty ideals, people looked back with reverence on the historical era of Graeco-Roman antiquity. Poets like Friedrich Schiller or Friedrich Hölderlin almost transfigured it, thus laying the foundation for the tradition of humanist education.

The spark of admiration for antiquity was also kindled in the great Franz Schubert’s soul, in particular through his friendship with the Viennese poet Johann Mayrhofer, who was active as a classicist and thus an expert in Greek mythology. Around 30 lyric songs and ballads on this subject were created in this way, that is, nearly one twentieth of the giant output of the genre (approximately six hundred songs), an output that places him among the greatest representatives both of the form and the Romantic music as a whole. Famous songs such as “Die Götter Griechenlands”, “Ganymed” or the renowned “Der Atlas” from the collection Schwanengesang (Swan Song) uncover the composer’s genius in treating the text and the form, while illuminating the most tragic and magnificent aspects of his musical language.

Having stood out in a plethora of operatic roles at the world’s leading opera houses (New York Metropolitan Opera, Royal Opera House, London, La Scala, Milan), baritone Aris Argyris returns to the GNO and makes his Alternative Stage debut in a promising collaboration with meticulous German pianist Peter Bortfeldt and with a programme that brings out the sensitive and meditative side of this important performer