Dissenso Duo

Giorgos Samoilis

Alexis Mastihiadis

MMMD

Nikos Veliotis

ILIOS

Act I / At Violetta Valery’s house in Paris. August, around 1850. During a reception, Vicomte Gastone de Letorieres introduces Violetta, a famous courtesan of Parisian high society, to another admirer of hers, Alfredo Germont. After the young man has made a toast, the guests go on to the ballroom. Feeling unwell, Violetta remains behind; her symptoms suggest that she is consumptive. Alfredo assists her and confesses his deep love for her. When the guests leave, Violetta wonders whether this affectionate young man could free her from her present way of life.

Act II, Scene 1 / A country house near Paris. January, around 1851. Three months have already passed since Violetta and Alfredo set up house together. When he finds out that she has been selling her belongings to finance their life together, he decides to return to Paris in order to settle his affairs. During his absence, his father, Giorgio Germont, secretly visits Violetta. He asks her to leave Alfredo, claiming that his son’s relationship with a courtesan threatens the future prospects of his daughter, who is soon to be married. Violetta is heartbroken but eventually capitulates. When Alfredo returns, she bids him farewell pretending that she is only leaving for a short while. Through a letter she later informs him that she has deserted him. Germont tries to comfort his son, but Alfredo, not knowing the true reasons of Violetta’s actions, swears vengeance.

Scene 2 / Flora Bervoix’s house, Paris. Flora, Violetta’s friend, is holding a reception; her guests are enjoying themselves. Alfredo enters and is soon followed by Violetta, who is escorted by one of her previous admirers, the Baron Douphol. Alfredo starts playing cards and wins large sums. As the rest of the guests retire for dinner, Alfredo and Violetta speak privately. She is afraid for his life and begs him to leave. In order to convince him she claims that she now loves the Baron. Alfredo is furious and insults her in front of all the guests. He scornfully throws his winnings at her feet as payment for her “services”. His father reproaches him for his offensive behaviour, while Douphol challenges him to a duel.

Act III / Violetta’s bedroom, February. Violetta has only a few more hours to live. She rereads a letter from Germont, telling her that Alfredo had fled abroad after wounding the Baron at the duel but was now hurrying back to ask for her forgiveness, having learned of her sacrifice. Outside, a group of revellers can be heard celebrating carnival. Alfredo soon arrives and the two lovers are happily reunited. They dream about leaving Paris together. However, when Violetta stands up to get dressed, she collapses. The doctor rushes to her bedside, but it is too late. Germont also arrives and begs her to forgive him. Violetta gives Alfredo a locket with her portrait and wishes him to marry a woman worthy of himself. Then she dies in Alfredo’s arms.

With the GNO Ballet

*The production contains nudity

Ticket prices: €15, €20, €25, €30, €35, €40, €45, €60
Students, reduced: €12
Limited visibility: €10

With the GNO Principal dancers, Soloists, Demi-Soloists and Corps de Ballet

With:
Alkinoos Ioannidis (The Martlet's Tale), Dimitra Selemidou, Ioulia Spanou (Sweet Movie)

With the GNO Orchestra and Children's Chorus

Ticket prices: €15, €20, €25, €30, €35, €40, €45, €60
Students, reduced: €12
Limited visibility: €10

ENRICO
Tassis Christoyannis (24/2, 3, 20, 22, 24/3)
Kyros Patsalides (10/3)

With the GNO Orchestra and Chorus

AMELIA'S MAID
Vassiliki Petroyanni (19, 22, 25, 27/1)
Anastasia Kotsali (20, 23, 26/1)

With the GNO Orchestra and Chorus

Ticket prices: €15, €20, €35, €40, €50, €55, €60, €90
Students, reduced: €15
Limited visibility: €10 

CHOREOGRAPHERS
Pavlina Andriopoulou, Olivia Thanasoula

LIGHTING
Christos Tziogkas

SOLOISTS
Tassis Christoyannis (5/1: 18.30 & 10/2)
Dimitris Tiliakos (5/1: 20.30)
Lenia Safiropoulou (3/2)

With the GNO Orchestra

*Free admission upon priority vouchers that will be distributed two hours prior to the concert at the GNO Box Office

Ticket prices: 15, 20, 35, 40, 50, 55, 60, 90 €
Students, reduced: 15 €
Limited visibility: 10 €

With the participation of a 30-member musical ensemble

With the participation of the students of the GNO Professional School of Dance: Nikos Damo, Loukas Theodosopoulos, Apostolos Kousinas, Konstantina Liodou, Anna-Maria Makropoulou, Nina Michailidou, Noni Boufi, Elena Myriagou, Marita Nikolitsa, Michalis Pinos, Christos Pomonis, Stathis Tzouvaras, Rea Tsantouri, Petros Tsofyllas

CONDUCTOR
Elias Voudouris

CHOREOGRAPHY-DIRECTOR-SETS
Konstantinos Rigos, with references to the choreographies of Marius Petipa and Lev Ivanov

ORIGINAL COMPOSITION
Thodoris Regklis

DRAMATURGY CONSULTANT
Alexandros Efklidis

COSTUMES
George Segredakis

LIGHTING
Christos Tziogkas

ASSOCIATE ARCHITECT
Mary Tsagari

VIDEO
Konstantinos Garinis

Greek National Opera - Stavros Niarchos Hall
Stavros Niarchos Foundation Cultural Center

Starts at: 20.00 (Sundays: 18.30)  |    2 hours and 30 minutes

ACT I A magnificent park outside the palace. Prince Siegfried is celebrating his birthday with his tutor, friends and peasants.The revelries are interrupted by Siegfried’s mother, the Queen, who is concerned about her son’s carefree lifestyle. She tells him that he must choose a bride at the royal ball the following evening. Siegfried is upset that he cannot marry for love. His friend Benno and the tutor try to lift his troubled mood. As evening falls, Benno sees a flock of swans flying overhead and suggests they go on a hunt. Siegfried and his friends take their crossbows and set off in pursuit of the swans.

ACT II That night at the lake Siegfried is transfixed by the appearance of a swan, which changes before his eyes into the princess Odette. She and her maidens are prisoners of the sorcerer Rothbart, and condemned to be swans for all but a few hours of each night. Only a vow of true love and fidelity can break the spell. Rothbart suddenly appears. Siegfried threatens to kill him but Odette intercedes – if Rothbart dies before the spell is broken, it can never be undone. As Rothbart disappears, the swan maidens fill the clearing. Siegfried breaks his crossbow, and sets about winning Odette’s trust as the two fall in love. But as dawn arrives, the evil spell draws Odette and her companions back to the lake and they are turned into swans again.

ACT III The next night in the palace ballroom. A great ball is in progress, and this evening the distracted prince is expected to choose a future consort to reign with him. None are aware of his secret love for Odette. The festivities are interrupted by the arrival of Rothbart and his retinue, which includes his daughter Odile. Strangely resembling Odette, the seductive beauty captivates Siegfried. Odette appears and attempts to warn Siegfried, but he does not see her. He then proclaims to the court that he will marry Odile, believing her to be Odette, before Rothbart shows him a magical vision of Odette. Grief-stricken and realizing his mistake, Siegfried hurries back to the lake.

ACT IV That night at the lake Odette is distraught. The swan-maidens try to comfort her. Siegfried returns to the lake and makes a passionate apology. She forgives him, but his betrayal cannot be undone. Rather than remain a swan forever, Odette chooses to die. Siegfried chooses to die with her and they leap into the lake. This breaks Rothbart’s spell over the swan maidens, causing him to lose his power over them and he dies. The lake rises from the storm and drowns Odette and Siegfried. The storm quiets, and a group of swans appears on the lake.

ΕMPEROR
Nikos Kotenidis

COURTIER, DEATH
Giorgos Roupas

NIGHTINGALE
Marilena Striftompola

FISHERMAN, COURTIER, ΤΕCHNICIAN,
Yannis Filias 

NIGHTINGALE'S FRIEND, TECHNICIAN
Niki Chaziraki

VIOLONIST
Dimitris Nalbandis

NARRATOR
Maria Skoula

Ticket prices
Evenings & Weekends: 12€, 15€
Students: 10€

Following the great success of Thodoris Ampazis’ opera Prince Ivan and the Firebird, the children’s opera of Lena Platonos, whose songs of Lilipoupoli have raised generations of children, sets the bar of expectations even higher.

Lena Platonos wrote The emperor’s nightingale, a “musical fairy tale with operatic elements”, as she has described it, in 1989, based on Hans Kristian Andersen’s fairy tale of the same name, to respond to the wish of counter-tenor Aris Christofellis. The libretto was written by the poet-biologist Giorgos Voloudakis. The work’s recording featured top performers, such as Aris Christofellis, Savina Yannatou, Spyros Sakkas, Fragiskos Voutsinas etc. Platonos characterized the work’s music as neo-impressionistic.

Andersen’s fairy tale morphs into a parable about the relationship between art and technology, which nowadays is more topical than ever. The work’s modern-day message, the co-existence of analog and electronic music, the irresistible melodic lines of Platonos and the skilled vocal writing make The emperor’s nightingale an ideal opportunity to acquaint children with the magical world of the lyric art.

SOPHIE SCHOLL
Aphrodite Patoulidou

HANS SCHOLL
Christos Kechris

ACTOR
Antonis Gritsis

PARTICIPATION
Irini-Anastasia Vougiouka

ΜUSIC ENSEMBLE

ΚΑΛΛΙΤΕΧΝΙΚΟΣ ΣΧΕΔΙΑΣΜΟΣ ΜΟΥΣΙΚΟΥ ΣΥΝΟΛΟΥ
Αλέξανδρος Μούζας

FLUTE
Μarilena Dori

ΟBOE
Κostas Yiovannis

CLARINETTE
Grammenos Chalkias

ΗΟRN
Μanos Ventouras

TROMPETTE
Spiros Arkoudis

ΤROMBONE 
Spiros Vergis
Ilias Vortelinas

PERCUSSIONS
Babis Taliadouros

PIANO
Stefanos Nasos

HARP
Thodoris Matoulas

VIOLIN
Dionisis Vervitsiotis
Franc Sestani

VIOLA
Εleftheria Toya

CELLO 
Αlexandros Botinis

DOUBLE BASS
Yiorgos Arnis

Τicket prices: 15 €, 20 €
Students, children: 10 €

“We will not remain silent, we are your bad conscience, the White Rose will not leave you in peace…” These are the closing words of the fourth manifesto of the anti-nazi student group named “The White Rose” (Die Weisse Rose), formed at the University of Munich. This particular manifesto was the cause for the arrest of the group’s leaders, Hans Scholl and his sister Sophie. After a long-hour interrogation by Gestapo, the siblings were executed by guillotine on 22 February 1943.

This is the historical framework surrounding Udo Zimmermann’s opera Die Weisse Rose, whose first version was written in 1967. However, the composer reworked his material in 1986. In the new version, titled Weisse Rose, the action is no longer linear, and the characters are limited to the two Scholl siblings. Centered around the wait before their execution, Zimmermann creates a musical theatre work, where historical re-enactment gives its place to a heart-wrenching, deeply personal exploration of morality, death and political responsibility.

The play’s core is an “architectural” dramaturgy, during which, the stage becomes the construction site of a detention cell, and at the same time, the place where the prison is demolished through the near-death, a poetic reverie of the two characters. In the end, a new, hidden landscape of emotion, freedom, and disobedience is revealed.

RECITAL 

Alexandra Papastefanou (6/11)
Giorgos Kontrafouris (7/11)
Nikolas Anadolis (13/11)
Achilleas Wastor (20/11)
Lola Totsiou (21/11)

UPCOMING ARTISTS

Pavlos Sifnaios (7/11)
Andreas Foivos Apostolou (21/11)

YOUNG ARTISTS

Nick Venner, Dionysis Pantis (6/11)
Nikolas Pappas, Dimitris Farmakis (13/11)
Safira Antzus-Ramos, Stathis Chomatsas (20/11)

A TRIBUTE TO GEORGE GERSHWIN
24, 25 Νovember 2018

CONDUCTOR
Vladimiros Symeonidis

PIANO
Antonis Anisegos
Charalambos Angelopoulos
Dimitris Theocharis

SOPRANO
Maria Mitsopoulou

With the participation of select members of the Athens Youth Symphony Orchestra

FLUTE
Nafsika Tsara

CLARINETTE
Ζacharias Fotis

SAXOPHONE
Babis Vlachos

FAGOTTO
Αndreas Anthopoulos

ΤROMPETTE
Sofia Siorra

ΤROMBONI
Andreas Kalpondinos

PERCUSSIONS
Marinos Tranoudakis

VIOLIN
Thodoris Mouzakitis
Aggeliki Potiri

VIOLA
Antilochos Tranos

VIOLONCELLO
Kiara Konstantinou

DOUBLE BASS
Nikos Tsoukalas

Ticket prices: 12 €, 15 €
Students, children: 8 €

While the triumphant advent of jazz led it to appropriate piano as its main instrument, an opposite influence became manifest on the composers of intellectual music. Impressed by the dynamism of the new folk music idiom, intellectual music composers quickly integrated the harmonic and rhythmic elements of jazz into their compositions, breathing thus new life into classical music.

The 2018 GNO Alternative Stage Piano Festival will center both on the jazz-influenced repertoire of intellectual music composers, and on jazz pianists who will present their own personal approach to the classical piano repertoire. The festival’s two main concerts constitute a tribute to the work for piano and orchestra of one of the greatest 20th-century American composers, George Gershwin. Starting from some of Gershwin’s most popular compositions such as the Rhapsody in Blue and the Concert in F, an osmosis of the classical repertoire with the jazz culture and improvisation will be attempted.

The Festival’s parallel actions include a three-day masterclass with members of the Piandaemonium ensemble, afternoon concerts of up-and-coming soloists, as well as concerts of young artists that will be selected through auditions.

IN THE ROLE OF WOMAN
Elena Kelessidi

IN THE ROLE OF MAN
Aimon Garofallou

Τicket prices: 18 €, 25 €
Students, children: 15 €

Admission will be free on a first come, first served basis

In the first part, the musicologist and cultural studies theoretician Nikos Vourdoulas focuses on Platonos’s electronic song-writing, by probing into the ways in which she expresses and emotionally brings together groups of people from the Greek and the international LGBT communities.
In the second part, there will be a variety show with artists from the domestic queer music scene and in particular from the Fytini music label. Andriana Minou, Louiza Doloxa, Alexandros Drosos, Filtig, etc will present covers that reinterpret Platonos’s work at another sound, lyrics and performance level.

TENOR
Kevin Skelton

SOPRANO
Rachel Redmond

VIOLA DA GAMBA
Lucile Boulanger
Robin Pharo
Andreas Linos

PLUCKED STRING INSTRUMENTS
Theodoros Kitsos
Romain Falik
Miguel Henry

HARP
Flora Papadopoulou

Τicket prices: 18 €, 25 €
Students, children: 15 €

Starting from the sui-generis instrumental ensemble of Hadjidakis’ original work, gambist, director and visual artist, Andreas Linos, alongside an exquisite group of musicians, proposes a paradoxical, yet attractive reading of what is perhaps the composer’s most important song cycle, viewed from the most typical English baroque music ensemble, the Broken consort. Translated into the English of the Restoration period, Magnus Eroticus proves its universality.

“Magnus Eroticus is not dressed in local folk costumes. It is dressed in its own clothes which are a composition of difficult combinations of sounds, light colours and poetic dreams. It does not contain messages easily erased by the rain, it doesn’t fight back. The order followed by these poems of Greek poets, forms an unbreakable song cycle, a mass for Magnus Eroticus – something like the vespers for the Saints at some far away deserted chapels with the participation of imaginary angels, lovers, virgins and adolescents. It is a strange litany, yet also so natural, in our inner and secret life. These songs are not sensual. Their effect is beyond action, it lies in the deep feeling which characterizes any relationship, of all kinds, so long as it contains the prerequisites for human communication.”

Manos Hadjidakis
Athens, 28 November 1972