La Gioconda

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The Greek National Opera is officially launching the 2025/26 season with Amilcare Ponchielli’s widely popular opera La Gioconda, in a new major international co-production with two of the world’s most prestigious opera companies: the Salzburg Easter Festival and the Royal Opera House in London. The performances are scheduled for 19, 22, 25, 29 October and 1, 4, and 7 November 2025 in the Stavros Niarchos Hall of the GNO at the SNFCC, featuring an outstanding world-class cast including Anna Pirozzi, Alisa Kolosova, Tassos Apostolou, Anita Rachvelishvili, Arsen Soghomonyan, Francesco Pio Galasso, and Dimitri Platanias. Conducting the opera will be Fabrizio Ventura, while Oliver Mears, the Artistic Director of Covent Garden, is in charge of the stage direction. This production is made possible by a grant from the Stavros Niarchos Foundation (SNF) [www.SNF.org] to enhance the Greek National Opera’s artistic outreach.

La Gioconda returns to the stage twenty years after its last performance by the Greek National Opera, marking a significant step in the company’s international presence. It signals GNO’s first co-production with the renowned Salzburg Easter Festival, which opened with this production in 2023, and also represents GNO’s second collaboration with the Royal Opera House in London, where it will be performed after the Athens shows.

The work’s world premiere was given at La Scala in Milan in 1876 and was met with tremendous success, similar to that of Verdi’s Aida and Otello, which were composed during the same decade. In this typical opera of late Romanticism, with influences from French grand operas, Ponchielli—clearly inspired by Verdi—crafts a work featuring tempestuous characters, dramatic scenes, rich orchestration, melodious beauty, and theatrical glamour. The libretto was penned by Tobia Gorrio—an obvious anagram and pseudonym of the poet and composer Arrigo Boito—while the plot is based on Victor Hugo’s play Angelo, Tyrant of Padua. In Boito’s hands, the work’s storyline was moved to 17th-century Venice. The main character is La Gioconda, a wandering singer who is in love with Enzo Grimaldo. Enzo, however, is in love with Laura, the wife of nobleman Alvise. After many adventures, La Gioconda helps the two lovers flee and kills herself.

La Gioconda is considered one of the greatest grand operas in the repertoire, not only because it tells the dramatic story of a great unfulfilled love and self-sacrifice but also because it is rich in unique melodies, famous arias, and wonderful choral parts. And, of course, because it includes one of the most famous ballets of all time, “The Dance of the Hours”, which is accompanied by a melody we all know since it has passed into pop culture after being used in Disney’s film Fantasia in 1940.

La Gioconda marks Maria Callas’ emblematic debut at the Arena di Verona in 1947, which signaled the beginning of her unsurpassable international career. The work’s famous aria “Suicidio” has been inextricably associated with her voice and performance.

Oliver Mears, the Artistic Director of the Royal Opera House in London and one of the most sought-after opera directors in Europe, sets the action in contemporary Venice, delivering a staging that is both impressive and faithful to the spirit of the work while unveiling the characters’ schemes and motives in depth. According to a review from the British Telegraph: “This lavish staging may be as good as this grand but challenging opera is ever going to get.” Following the performances in Athens, La Gioconda will be presented in London. Mears began his career in theatre as an assistant to the distinguished dramaturg and director Howard Barker. In 2004, he co-founded the opera company Second Movement, which became known for its performances at alternative locations. Before taking on the artistic direction of Covent Garden in 2017, he had been the founding Artistic Director of Northern Ireland Opera since 2010. This year’s repertoire at the Royal Opera House includes his staging of Tosca, which has received rave reviews, along with the revival of his highly successful staging of Rigoletto.

The sets are by the pioneering and internationally acclaimed artist Philipp Fürhofer, who has been working as a set and costume designer with leading creators at some of the greatest opera houses in the Netherlands, Finland, Denmark, and more, since 2008. The costumes are designed by Annemarie Woods, who has a very significant career in the field of opera. The GNO audience had the opportunity to be introduced to her work with Don Giovanni, a co-production between the GNO and the Gothenburg and Copenhagen Operas. The choreography was created by Lucy Burge, who has also carved out an international career and is known for her collaboration with leading organisations, including Covent Garden and the Paris Opera. The lighting is designed by the award-winning Fabiana Piccioli, who is also familiar to Greek audiences from the GNO’s production of Don Giovanni in the 2022/23 season.

The Greek National Opera Orchestra will be led by Italian conductor Fabrizio Ventura in his third collaboration with the GNO, following the successful revival of Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk in 2023 and the diptych Aleko – Bluebeard’s Castle in 2024. He has performed at some of the world’s most prestigious stages, such as in Stockholm, Copenhagen, Oslo, Prague, London, Rome, Turin, Verona, Nice, Essen, Sydney, Montreal, and more.

For this production of La Gioconda, the Greek National Opera has secured an excellent cast of internationally renowned performers.
After winning over audiences at the recent GNO production of Medea and the Opera Gala Callas at the Herodium, and a few months before taking the stage of the Ancient Theatre of Epidaurus to perform again as Medea, the GNO welcomes, for the third time, the great Italian dramatic soprano Anna Pirozzi in the title role. Pirozzi has carved out a unique career spanning over ten years, following her debut in Turin in 2012 and the huge success she achieved at the Salzburg Festival in the role of Abigaille (Nabucco), conducted by Riccardo Muti. She immediately became sought-after at the world’s greatest opera houses, and to this day she has performed at the Royal Opera House in London, the Metropolitan Opera in New York, La Scala in Milan, the Opéra national de Paris, the Vienna State Opera, and the Teatro Real in Madrid, among other venues.

The role of Enzo Grimaldo will be shared by Arsen Soghomonyan (19, 22, 25, 29/10) and Francesco Pio Galasso (1, 4, 7/11).

Internationally sought-after tenor Arsen Soghomonyan returns to the GNO after his spectacular summer debut at the Metropolitan Opera as Herman in Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky’s The Queen of Spades alongside Sonya Yoncheva. The Armenian dramatic tenor Soghomonyan was a sensation in his first appearance with the GNO during the 2023/24 season in the opera double bill Cavalleria rusticana – Pagliacci. He has been distinguished for his performances in the dramatic repertoire and, after the huge success he achieved in the role of Otello under Zubin Mehta in Berlin, he has appeared at leading opera houses, including, among others, the Teatro San Carlo in Naples, the Bavarian State Opera in Munich, the Mariinsky Theatre in Russia, as well as the Baden-Baden and Aix-en-Provence Festivals.

Described by critics as “an important voice with a school in the line of the great tenors of the golden age”, the acclaimed Italian tenor Francesco Pio Galasso has established himself through important roles in the operatic repertoire. He has performed at major opera houses and festivals, including the Teatro San Carlo in Naples, the Bolshoi in Moscow, the Gran Teatre del Liceu in Barcelona, etc, sharing the stage with renowned artists such as Sondra Radvanovsky, Carlos Álvarez, Angela Meade, and others. The GNO audience had the opportunity to enjoy him last June at the Odeon of Herodes Atticus in the emblematic Turandot by Andrei Șerban.

The renowned Russian mezzo-soprano Alisa Kolosova performs the role of Laura Adorno. Kolosova, known to the GNO from her performance as Suzuki in Olivier Py’s staging of Madama Butterfly at the Odeon of Herodes Atticus, has appeared with great success at important theatres and festivals worldwide, such as the Opéra national de Paris, La Scala in Milan, the Bavarian State Opera, the Salzburg Festival, and the Vienna State Opera, among others.

Anita Rachvelishvili, one of the most famous opera singers in the world, returns to the GNO for the fifth time, this time to perform the role of La Cieca. In 2009, she gained international recognition when she sang the role of Carmen at La Scala in Milan under the musical direction of Daniel Barenboim, alongside the co-starring tenor Jonas Kaufmann. Since then, she has sung numerous roles to triumphant reviews worldwide.

The leading Greek baritone Dimitri Platanias is taking on the role of Barnaba. Platanias has performed successfully at major theatres and festivals worldwide, such as the São Carlos Theatre in Lisbon, the Munich State Opera, the Frankfurt Opera, La Monnaie in Brussels, the Bregenz and Salzburg Festivals, the Royal Opera House in London (Covent Garden), the Bavarian State Opera, the Florence Opera, and others, while in 2026 he will make his debut at La Scala in Milan.

The role of Alvise Badoero will be performed by the renowned bass from the GNO, Tassos Apostolou. Apostolou has sung, among other venues, at the Thessaloniki Opera House, the Athens and Thessaloniki Concert Halls, the Odeon of Herodes Atticus, Epidaurus, the UN, and Lincoln Center in New York, as well as in Italy, Germany, Qatar, Switzerland, Boston, Egypt, Cyprus, and other locations. He has collaborated with all the major Greek orchestras and has participated in concerts, premieres, and recordings of acclaimed Greek composers. He has starred in ancient and contemporary repertoire works with the National Theatre of Greece, the Art Theatre, the Amore Theatre, and others.

Completing this top-tier cast are GNO’s celebrated soloist,  Yannis Kalyvas, as well as the emerging star Maxim Klonovskiy.

The GNO Chorus has been coached by Agathangelos Georgakatos, and the GNO Children’s Chorus by Konstantina Pitsiakou.

Featuring dancers from the Greek National Opera Ballet.