Η National Lyric Opera presented its detailed program for 2021, which includes productions that will take place either in its theaters, in front of a live audience, or as video recordings streamed via online television, GNO TV.
The Greek National Opera is presenting a large-scale anniversary program to mark the 200th anniversary of the Greek Revolution of 1821, which is being implemented with the support of a donation from Stavros Niarchos Foundation.
Distinguished Greek and international artists collaborate with the Greek National Opera’s ensembles on new productions of opera, ballet, musical theater, and concerts, seeking to raise questions and spark discussions regarding the Greek Revolution as a historical event of international significance, which is linked to the major revolutions that led to the creation of the great independent nation-states of the modern world, such as, for example, The French and American Revolutions.
Great works from the opera repertoire, such as Jordan’s *Andrea Chénier*, Mozart’s *The Marriage of Figaro*, Shostakovich’s *Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk*, Puccini’s *Tosca*, operas of the Ionian School such as Carrer’s *Despo* and *Kyra Frosini*, Vivaldi’s Baroque opera *The Triumph of Judith*, Skalkotas’s *Greek Dances* and Theodorakis’s *Zorba* performed by the Greek National Opera Ballet, as well as Kalomiris’s *Symphony of Leventia*, film scores for the American Revolution and the family-friendly opera *The Magic Pillows* make up the multifaceted anniversary program to be presented at the Stavros N, at the Odeon of Herodes Atticus, as well as in unexpected venues such as, among others, the courtyard of the Metropolis of Athens.
As part of the anniversary of the Greek Revolution, the Greek National Opera is presenting a major retrospective of leading Greek composers from various schools and styles. Throughout 2021, great works by the following composers will be performed: Manolis Kalomiris, Pavlos Karrer, Nikos Skalkotas, as well as more recent ones, such as, among others, the Kalliopi Tsoupaki, Giorgos Dousis, Nikos Xydakis, Martha Mavroidi, Giorgos Tsontakis, Alexandros Mouzas, Dimitra Trypani etc.
Starting in 2021 and for the next three years, the Greek National Opera will honor the work of the leading Greek composer Mikis Theodorakis by presenting a large portion of his remarkable body of work.
As part of the three-year cycle Mikis Theodorakis, in 2021, the following works will be exhibited at the Stavros Niarchos Hall *Axion Esti*, *Zorbas*, *The Second Symphony*, *The Song of the Earth*, the *Songs of the Struggle* concert, while on the Alternative Stage, the song sets Asikiko Poulaki and Songs for Little Ones and Children. The cycle will be completed in 2021 with the presentation of Theodorakis’s works at upcoming online festivals, as well as through the ERT, which will feature a concert of the works Dionysus and Epitaph which were filmed last November in Alternative.
Alongside the anniversary program, new, ambitious productions that were put on hold due to the pandemic will be presented to audiences in 2021, along with recitals by leading performers, revivals of past productions, and major co-productions, all of which round out the Greek National Opera’s new program at the Stavros Niarchos Hall and at the Herodion.
These productions are made possible with the support of a grant from the Stavros Niarchos Foundation (SNF) [www.SNF.org] to strengthen the artistic outreach of the Greek National Opera. The second commission of the “The Artist on the Composer” project by the Greek National Opera and NEON presents the new work by Yorgos Lanthimos, the Marina Abramović presents the The Seven Deaths of Maria Callas, the Greek National Opera Ballet presents the classic Don Quixote in a new production, while the new, ambitious Rigoletto of Verdi, He's coming to the Herodeion. The leading tenor of our time Jonas Kaufman, will present an opera gala at the Herodeion, while the famous soprano Sonia Yoncheva He is coming to Greece for the first time, presented by the Greek National Opera, for a unique recital at the Stavros Niarchos Hall.
ALTERNATIVE SCENE
Η Alternative Scene The Greek National Opera is commemorating the 200th anniversary of the start of the Greek Revolution with an extensive and imaginative anniversary program that spans the entire commemorative year and is being carried out with the support of a grant from the Stavros Niarchos Foundation (SNF) [www.SNF.org]. A host of distinguished Greek and international artists from the fields of music, theater, film, multimedia, dance, and the visual arts are creating unprecedented artistic compositions and bold conceptualizations, with —though not exclusively—on the form of contemporary musical theater, both within the Alternative Stage venue and in unexpected non-theatrical spaces.
Commissions by the Alternative Stage that aim to leave their mark on the fruitful artistic ferment surrounding the contemporary and timeless significance of the 1821 anniversary includethe following musical theater productions Kolokotronis Looks to the Future. Women are preparing for the Revolution. And I’ll be thinking about the Michael Marmarinou and Akilla Karazisi, The Song of Kyra Domnitsa by Martha Mavroidi, Maros Vassiliadou, and Maria Maganari, Martha: A story from the Messolonghi of Nikos Xydakis and Dionysis Kapsalis and Kapodistrias: A one-woman play about her secret life Kalliopi Tsoupaki, the film-installation *The City and the City of* Christos Passalis and Sylla Tzoumerka, the multimedia presentation *Set in Time in Space* by Giorgos Poulios and the concert *Rigas' Flute: From Absolutism to the Revolution of* Dimitris Kountouras and Panos Iliopoulos.
The bulk of the Alternative Stage’s anniversary commissions falls into three major thematic categories. The first category, Odes to Byron, edited by the composer Alexandros Mouzas, pays tribute to the iconic Romantic poet and philhellene Lord Byron. The series includes the new musical theater productions *Shadows in Hades* by Alexandros Mouzas, "Ask Ada" Yiannis Kyriakidis and The Air of Greece Giorgos Tsontakis, the concert *The Cornelian Secret* featuring new works by Yiannis Angelakis, Aspasia Nasopoulou, and Orestis Papaioannou, the Jewish melodies of Byron and Isaac Nathan and his musical shadow puppet theater performance Athos Danellis, Byron in Greece. The second cycle, The Revolution Through the Eyes of Others, outlines the international community’s reactions to the Revolution of 1821 and includes the oratorio *Jus soli* by the Turkish composer Kamran Ince and the musical theater productions *Such a Beautiful and Just Cause: Haiti / Greece / 1821* and *His Travels* Konstantinos Hatzis, while the song cycle *Asikiko Poulaki* is included in the new, three-year cycle dedicated to Mikis Theodorakis.
The two major curatorial projects, *Synthesis*, curated by the choreographer, hold a special place in the Alternative Stage’s anniversary program Jenny Argyriou and the visual artist Vasilis Gerodimos, and *A Greek Songbook*, edited by the composer Cornelius Selamsis, which are carried out in collaboration with dozens of creators, researchers, and performers.
Alongside the anniversary program, a series of new, bold productions by the Alternative Stage that were put on hold due to the pandemic, revivals of older productions and international co-productions are coming to the Alternative Stage, hoping to reach their audiences in 2021: the new opera by Charalambos Gogios "Anthony's Death," based on the TV series "Candy Candy" and the philosopher Slavoj Žižek, the opera-ballet *Bibilolo* by Marc Monnet and Arnaud Fabre In co-production with Printemps des Arts de Monte-Carlo (Monaco), GRAME – Centre national de création musicale (France), and Cerise Music, the new production for children and young people by the popular Silence, the king listens to him Nikos Kypourgos along with the revamped revival of the contemporary dance trilogy *Human Behaviour*, which rounds out the annual program.
