Parigi o cara

Lead GNO & Tour Supporter

The Greek National Opera is set to present a mixed spectacle that brings together the cinematic and operatic arts across Greece, titled Parigi o cara.

Aiming to make the art of opera accessible to audiences throughout Greece who have likely never had the chance to attend an opera performance before, the GNO creates a new, hybrid work through the tradition of pastiche. The term pastiche (pasticcio in Italian and pastiche in French), which has been used since the 18th century, refers to a musical work that consists of excerpts from various pieces by one or more composers.

The new cine-pastiche work, titled Parigi o cara, features a selection of excerpts from famous repertoire operas with references to Paris. After all, it is a fact that the City of Light has inspired popular operas by renowned Italian and French composers, including Verdi, Puccini, Massenet, Charpentier, and Offenbach, among others. Thus, a modular pastiche film is created, featuring independent stories that talk about love and death in the streets and neighbourhoods of Paris. The film shows seamstress Mimì falling in love and ultimately dying in Quartier Latin, just a few streets away from the fallen Violetta. Meanwhile, the poets of Montmartre write about the moral decline of Manon, and Louise leaves her home to experience love in La Vie parisienne.

Audiences watch a silent, modular film on a cinematic screen. In front of the screen, opera singers perform arias and duets associated with Paris, accompanied by piano. Thus, the magic of opera is not confined to a single scene with minimalist sets and costumes. On the contrary, the stories in the work are impressively depicted on the big screen, remaining true to the text, with professional actors and scenes filmed in natural settings. The goal of the production is to spark the audience’s imagination and convey the magnificence of opera art, presenting operatic stories on the big screen through cinematic narration, compelling scenes, consistent narratives, and Greek subtitles.