The Holy Week, his audience Stavros Niarchos Foundation Cultural Center (SNFCC), will have the opportunity to attend three musical evenings with a contemplative atmosphere at the Stavros Niarchos Hall, as part of the Cosmos concert series.
Specifically, on Holy Monday, the ERT National Symphony Orchestra presents the Symphony of Sorrowful Songs of Henryk Górecki under the musical direction of Giorgos Petrou. On Holy Tuesday and Holy Wednesday, the musical performance «The Place of Silence», the George Dalaras and Vassilikos perform his compositions Andreas Katsigiannis.
All concerts are made possible by a grant from the Stavros Niarchos Foundation (SNF).
The program in detail:
«Symphony of Sorrowful Songs» by Henryk Górecki
On Holy Monday, April 18, at 8:30 p.m., the ERT National Symphony Orchestra will perform Symphony No. 3 by Polish composer Henryk Górecki. Internationally acclaimed conductor Giorgos Petrou will lead one of the most significant works of the 20th century, also known as the «Symphony of Sorrowful Songs.» Through exquisitely poetic texts that celebrate love, express sorrow, mourn death, and extol faith, the work will convey, among other things, the emotions that characterize the journey from the Crucifixion to the Resurrection.
The first movement of the symphony is based on a 15th-century Polish hymn about the death of Jesus, while the second is based on a note written by an 18-year-old girl from her cell at the Gestapo. In the third part, the composer draws on a traditional Silesian song. In the lyrics of this song, a mother searches for her son, who was killed in the uprisings against the Germans. The demanding vocal part is performed by soprano Myrto Papathanassiou. The concert will open with Nestor Taylor’s lyrical work «The Archangel’s Path,» an elegy for strings.
Tickets: 20 euros (Zone A – general admission), 15 euros (Zone B – general admission), 10 euros (reduced rate).
«The Place of Silence»: Giorgos Dalaras and Vassilikos perform compositions by Andreas Katsigiannis
On Holy Tuesday, April 19, and Holy Wednesday, April 20, at 8:30 p.m., the Stavros Niarchos Hall will host the musical performance «The Place of Silence.» Songs and orchestral pieces from composer Andreas Katsigiannis’s work titled «Great Hours» will be performed by Giorgos Dalaras and Vassilikos, accompanied by the ERT Contemporary Music Orchestra in a unique musical collaboration.
In this work, which engages in a musical dialogue between East and West, the quest and the anguish of humanity’s journey toward the unknown and redemption take center stage. The libretto also includes Friedrich Nietzsche’s poem «You, the Unknown God,‘ as well as texts by Alexandros Papadiamantis and excerpts from Thomas Korovinis’s novella, »The Angel’s Call—The Last Night of Mr. Alexander.« The play was first presented in a production by the »Saint Maximus the Greek‘ Institute.
Giorgos Dalaras and Vassilikos, performers of the highest artistic caliber, will put their own interpretive stamp on these two special evenings.
Tickets: 20 euros (Zone A – general admission), 15 euros (Zone B – general admission), 10 euros (reduced rate).
Advance ticket sales for all concerts are available online at the Ticket Services website or by phone at 210 7234567 (Ticket Services). For more information, visit snfcc.org/Cosmos and follow @SNFCC on social media.
