Silence, the King Is Listening

Lead GNO & Tour Supporter

The brilliant musical Silence, the King Is Listening, by the distinguished composer Nikos Kypourgos, one of the most successful productions of the Greek National Opera, offers an immersive music theatre experience that introduces audiences to the enchanting world of music theatre. Its educational character, entertaining performances, and exceptionally direct musical language help convey the fundamentals of music even to uninitiated audiences, in the guise of a game.

The music king is never satisfied, no matter what pieces of music his court musician plays. The musician is roused from his despair by the Muse, who seizes the opportunity to return to a job she had not practised since the glorious eras of Schubert, Mozart and Bach. She enlists the help of the seven notes of the musical scale, inspiring the musician to write a wonderful piece – which once again fails to satisfy the king! It’s time, therefore, for the imagination to give (as always!) a solution…

The musical Silence, the King Is Listening is inspired by Hans Christian Andersen’s fairy tale The Emperor’s New Clothes. Deftly poised between operatic traditionalism and playful postmodernism, this work is a perfect introduction to both young and older audiences of the concepts, techniques, and tools of musical writing. “Silence, the King Is Listening is not a work written for children. Only after its completion, some saw in it an educational character that makes it also appropriate for children. Therefore, in a way, what I’ve always believed became apparent: that the boundaries between works for adults and works for children are never too clear or too discernible", notes the composer, Nikos Kypourgos.