Summer

Programme

Dear friends of theGreek National Opera,There are many major surprises and unique experiences in store for everyone this summer. Renowned directors, soloists with international artistic recognition and emblematic works of the operatic repertoire continue this season’s exciting artistic period for the Greek National Opera. We are exceedingly pleased to announced two major opera productions at the Odeon of Herodes Atticus. The summer season commences with Mozart’s masterpiece, Don Giovanni, under the musical direction of Lukas Karytinos. The show premieres on 11th June and is directed by Yannis Houvardas, until recently Artistic Director of the National Theatre. It signals his first collaboration with the Greek National Opera as well as his first production of an opera in Greece. Our second summer production at the Odeon of Herodes Atticus is Verdi’s Otello, which is directed by the internationally renowned Yannis Kokkos and premieres on 27th July. This is a spectacular production with amazing scenery and the unparalleled force of Verdi’s music, where the Shakespearean hero’s epic heroism shall flood the ancient Odeon.The Greek National Opera’s Ballet has its own surprise this summer. It shall present Mikis Theodorakis’ ballet Zorba on June 29th – for one and only performance – at the imposing Kallimarmaro Panathenaic Stadium site. This is a monumental production that is choreographed by the renowned choreographer Lorca Massine with Nikos Kazantzakis’ literary hero as the point of reference, whose personality encapsulates the grandeur of the Greek spirit.

Furthermore, our various artistic activities in Athens, the presentations of our young artists ensembles and the tour of the Suitcase Opera make up our artistic summer programme, which you will have the opportunity to read about in detail in the following pages.

We look forward to seeing you!

Myron MichailidisGreek National Opera Artistic Director

ARTISTIC DIRECTOR

Myron Michailidis

BOARD OF DIRECTORS

ChairmanAthanassios K. Theodoropoulos

Vice ChairmanGiorgios Grammatikakis

Member Thodoros Mavrommatis

MemberNikos Kypourgos

Memberchristos Zerbinos

GNO is funded by theMinistry of Culture and Sports

Stavros Niarchos FoundationCultural Centre (SNFCC)The future site of theGreek National OperaThe Greek National Opera will be moving to its new facilities in 2016 at the Stavros Niarchos Foundation Cultural Centre in Delta Falirou. This building – architectural ornament has a total area of 28,000 square metres and has been designed by the internationally renowned architect Renzo Piano. Its construction is progressing rapidly and making its distinct appearance in the city’s urban fabric. The complex’s building facilities have begun taking shape and are fringed by the imposing cranes that dominate the capital’s seafront. The new GNO building – one of the most modern in the world – shall combine high quality aesthetics, cutting edge acoustics, modern technological capabilities and the flexibility of switching between sets, with an equally high quality aesthetics artistic repertoire, which enhances the overall Opera experience. In addition to the GNO facilities, the SNFCC shall accommodate the new ultramodern facilities for the National Library of Greece as well as the 17 hectare Stavros Niarchos Park. The project site for the Stavros Niarchos Foundation Cultural Centre (SNFCC) on the Esplanade has already opened its doors to the public since October 2013 with the Visitors’ Centre, which is a temporarily and recyclable construction with simple design

lines and a transparent form that is aesthetically compatible to the designs by Renzo Piano for the SNFCC under construction and which shall operate until the completion of the SNFCC in 2016. The public has had the opportunity of viewing the SNFCC project site for the first time through the Visitors’ Centre, which has already had more than 14,000 visitors during its first six months of operation, and being informed about the intensive construction and development works pertaining to a complex project, whose completion within approximately two years shall radically alter the urban skyline of Athens. Following the project’s completion, the public shall have the opportunity of being informed about the SNFCC through the new and permanent Visitors’ Centre that shall be operating at the Stavros Niarchos Park. The Greek National Opera presents on the first and last Saturday every month, within the context of the Visitors’ Centre programmes for the general public, a short “Pocket” concert with piano accompaniment and one or two voices, with the new home of the Greek National Opera at the SNFCC as the background, where soloists and musicians perform an initial link between the Lyrical Theatre and the new cultural topography that is being created at the SNFCC.

Ren

zo P

iano

www.SNF.org

Conductor Lukas KarytinosDirector Yannis HouvardasSets Eva ManidakiCostumes Ioanna TsamiLighting Lefteris PavlopoulosChorus master Agathangelos Georgakatos

Don Giovanni Franco Pomponi - Dionyssis sourbis Donna Anna Myrtò Papatanasiu - Francesca Dotto Don Ottavio Anthony Koroneos - Μusa NkunaCommendatore Dimitri Kavrakos - Τassos ApostolouDonna Elvira cellia costea - Μaria Luigia Borsi Leporello christophoros stamboglis - José FardilhaΜasetto Petros Magoulas Zerlina Maria Mitsopoulou

With the participation of the GNO Orchestra and chorus

Don GiovanniWolfgang Amadé MozartΟpera in two acts - New production within the context of the Athens Festival Libretto Lorenzo Da Ponte11, 13, 14, 15 June 2014Odeon of Herodes Atticus

Opera

Starting time: 21.00 Ticket PricesUpper Tier: €25, Tier C: €45Tier B: €55, Tier A: €60Grand Tier B & D: €85Grand Tier C: €100

Children & student ticket prices: €15

Presale starts on 21 May

Don Giovanni, one of western civilization’s leading creations will be the Greek National Opera’s first production at the Odeon of Herodes Atticus. With his music Mozart describes the course of a man who defies God and takes fate into its own hands. Nothing is as it seems in this quintessential opera, which musically raises the curtain on Romanticism in a most impressive manner. Yannis Houvardas, until recently Artistic Director of the National Theatre, in his first collaboration with the Greek National Opera as well as his first production of opera in Greece, offers his penetrating reading of the piece. As he points out “The fascination of the performance lies in the dark attraction that the main character exerts upon all women and men but, also, in the successive upsetting of his plans, which seem to stem from a mysterious hand that invisibly but uninterruptedly observes his course”.

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The Greek National Opera Ballet makes its first appearance at the Kallimarmaro Stadium, with Zorba by Mikis Theodorakis, a classical work – milestone of odern Greek culture that is renowned throughout the world. The literary hero in Nikos Kazantzakis’ novel Life and Times of Alexis Zorbas is brought to life by the dancers of the GNO Ballet troupe at the unique Kallimarmaro Stadium through Lorca Massine’s grandiose classical choreography. This impressive spectacle is about the imperishable strength of the Greek soul, about the hero-symbol of a distinctive Greece, where the unrestrained momentum of his temperament is transformed through Mikis Theodorakis’ Dionysian music that has journeyed as a synonym of Greece to every corner of the globe. The hero that was spawned by Kazantzakis’ pen is amongst us, to once again speak to us about the power of life and to extinguish his joy and pain in dance.

ZorbaLorca Massine / Mikis TheodorakisLibretto based on the novel Life and Times of Alexis Zorbasby Nikos Kazantzakis29 June 2014Panathenaic stadium [Kallimarmaro]

Conductor Elias VoudourisChoreography - Libretto Lorca MassineΑrtistic supervision Renato ZanellaSets sophia PantouvakiCostume diligence chryssanthi PsaropoulouLighting Yannis TheodoridisChorus master Agathangelos Georgakatos

Zorbas stratos PapanoussisJohn Danilo ZekaMarina Maria KousouniManolios Aleksandar NeskovHortense stavroula Kaburakis

Singer Maria Farantouri

With the participation of the Orchestra, the chorus, Principal Dancers, soloists, coryphées and corps de ballet of the GNO

Ballet

Starting time: 21.00 Ticket Prices: €15, €20, €25Children & student ticket prices: € 15

Presale starts on 29 May

Υποστηρικτής

Conductor Myron MichailidisDirector - Sets - Costumes Yannis KokkosArtistic Collaborator - Dramaturgist Anne BlancardLighting Michael BauerChorus master Agathangelos Georgakatos

Otello Ζoran Todorovich - Rudy ParkΙago George Gagnidze - Dimitri Platanias Cassio Dimitrios Flemotomos - Yannis christopoulosRoderigo charalambos AlexandropoulosLodovico Tassos Apostolou - Petros MagoulasΜontano Akis Lalousis - Pavlos sampsakisA herald Pavlos Maropoulos - Theodore MoraitisDesdemona Alexia Voulgaridou - cellia costeaEmilia Antigone Papoulkas - Ines Zikou

With the participation of the GNO Orchestra and chorus

Giuseppe Verdi’s masterpiece Otello is presented for four performances in a new production at the Odeon of Herodes Atticus by the acclaimed opera director Yannis Kokkos, who attempts a psychological reading of the work. Otello is a story that is full of strong contrasts and violent emotions, about a powerful black soldier who thanks to his skills and bravery becomes the general of the superpower that was Venice during the 15th century. It is also the story of a man that experiences the insecurity of his origin and his beliefs, and is therefore easily manipulated by devious opponents such as Iago who leads him to destruction. Verdi presents the story of the Shakespearean hero with very powerful music and an economy of expressive means: a single phrase is sufficient to outline Otello’s heroism, Iago’s envy and Desdemona’s kindeness. Using very few musical measures Verdi describes with tremendous force both the storm of the raging sea and the tumult in Otello’s soul. The performances will be conducted by Myron Michailidis, the GNO’s Artistic Director.

OtelloGiuseppe Verdi Opera in four acts - New production within the context of the Athens FestivalLibretto Arrigo Boito, based on the homonymous play by Shakespeare27, 29, 30, 31 July 2014Odeon of Herodes Atticus

Opera

Starting time: 21.00 Ticket Prices: Upper Tier €25,Tier C: €45, Tier B: €55, Tier A:€60. Grand Tier B & D: €85.Grand Tier C: €100

Children & student ticket prices: €15

Presale starts on 7 July

Sponsored by

With the participation of the GNO choir and the soloists

The Greek National Opera celebrates the Athenian summer with a large open-air surprise-concert.. The acclaimed Greek National Opera Soloists and Chorus interpret arias, duets and choruses from the repertoire’s most popular operas at the city centre in an emblematic archaeological site, the Olympeion at the Arch of Hadrian. They will be singing in Greek, thus honouring the Greek National Opera’s great and long-standing tradition until the late ‘70s, of presenting the works in Greek. The GNO’s archive contains excellent translations of librettos from all the famous works into the Greek language. A dip into the past of the GNO is attempted in the most lyrical manner and this is a unique opportunity for the public to get acquainted with Loukìa tou Lammermoòr instead of Lucia di Lammermoor, as well as the Greek version of The woman is fickle - La donna è mobile, from Verdi’s Rigoletto.

Starting time: 20.30 Admission is free with priority tickets that are distributed two hours prior to the commencement of the performance at the event venue.

Opera alla Greca8 July 2014Olympeion (Temple of Olympian Zeus - Vassilisis Olgas Av., Athens)

Artistic Events

Conductor Nikos VassiliouDirector Angela saroglouSets George KoliosCostumes Dina AntonopoulouLighting spyros Tzoras

Clarice Dimitra Kotidou - Erophili-Josephina PapadogiaLucinda Dimitra-Roxani Papadimitriou -Ioanna Kokovika Dorina Maria-christina Asimakopoulou -Elizabeth-Nepheli Papageorgiou Conte Eugenio christos KechrisDon Orazio stamatis BerisMingone Nikolaos KatsigiannisMarchese Canoppio Maxim Klonofski

With the participation of the GNO Opera studio Orchestra

Baldassare Galuppi’s comical opera One man for all women (L’amante di tutte) is presented by the Opera Studio’s soloists at the Greek National Opera. This is a comedy of characters, with a happy ending after certain misunderstandings, illicit romances and break-ups, which find all heroes happy and smiling. The director has set the scene for the opera at a villa in Kifisia, one of the expensive suburbs of Athens, in the early 60s and presents the work as a movie from the “golden age” of black and white Greek cinematography.

Opera studio

One man for all womenBaldassare GaluppiLibretto Antonio Galuppi20 & 22 July 2014Olympia Theatre

Opera

Starting time: 20.00 Ticket Prices: €10, €12Children & student ticket prices: €8

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GNO Ballet New Choreographers11 & 12 July 2014Olympia Theatre

Starting time: 20.00 Free admission

Seven dancers from the Greek National Opera Ballet present their choreographies over two evenings at the Olympia Theatre. Like every year, the opportunity is provided at the end of the artistic period to those dancers wishing to develop and present one of their own choreographies on a theme and music of their own choice. The choreographies are interpreted by their colleagues, Ballet dancers of the Greek National Opera.

(Choreographers are presented in alphabetical order)

PreludeChoreography Agapios AgapiadisMusic Johann sebastian Bach

Bitter earthChoreography Agapios Agapiadis - Vangelis BikosMusic Max Richter

RebornChoreography Eleana AndreoudiMusic Ludwig van Beethoven, One Republic

VII/D.s.Choreography Yannis BenetosMusic Ludwig van Beethoven, Iron Maiden, Rob. D.

Among strangersChoreography Elton DimrochiMusic Rene Aubry, Encardia

RootChoreography Maria KousouniMusic Richard Wagner

Two ... One ... Three ... II in spaceChoreography Thanassis solomosMusic christos sakellaridis

Ballet

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The customary annual presentation by the Greek National Opera Dance School, where students at the School shall present their own creations, as well as excerpts from classical and contemporary repertoire that is taught at the School under the direction of Yannis Dontsakis, the principal. The audience shall have the opportunity of meeting tomorrow’s dancers and coming into direct contact with creations by the younger generation.

GNO Dance SchoolPresentation by the Greek National Opera Dance School4 & 5 July 2014Olympia Theatre

Starting time 20.00 Free admission

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Start time: 21.00Free admission

sPEAKERs

Myron Michailidis, Artistic Director GNO Georgia Farinou Malamatari, Professor of Philology Faculty of Philosophy, Aristotle University of ThessalonikiDimitris Polychronakis, Assistant Professor of the Division of Byzantine and Modern Greek Philology, University of CreteDimitrios Vergetis, Psychoanalyst, member of the International Psychoanalytical Association and editor of «αλήthεια», a psychoanalysis and philosophy magazineGiorgos Koumendakis, Composer of The MurderessYannis svolos, Music critic, librettist of The MurderessΑlexandros Efklidis, Director of The Murderess

With the participation of soloists, Polyphonicand Instrumental ensemble.

Musical excerpts from The Murderess (Η φόνισσα) shall be presented – at a world premiere – from the new opera by the acclaimed composer Giorgos Koumendakis, within the context of the symposium works on the leading Skiathos literary Alexandros Papadiamantis. The opera shall be presented in its complete form in November 2014 in the Alexandra Trianti Hall of the Athens Concert Hall. The work is based on a libretto by Yannis Svolos, the sets will be created by visual artist Petros Touloudis while the production will be directed by Alexandros Efklidis.

Symposium on The Murderess in SkiathosOn the occasion of the new opera by Giorgos Koumendakis6 July 2014Mpourtzi, skiathos

Symposium Major Sponsor

Symposium Big Sponsors

Symposium Sponsors

Director Alexandros EfklidisSets Vassiliki PapadopoulouCostumes Natassa DimitriouLighting spyros TzorasPiano Frixos Mortzos

Don Giovanni Nikos Kotenidis - Dionyssis sourbis - Dionysos TsantinisCommendatore / Masetto Theodore Moraitis -Kostas Dotsikas - George RoupasDonna Anna sophia Kyanidou - Maria Mitsopoulou -Anna stylianakiDon Ottavio christos Kechris - Nikos stefanouDonna Elvira Georgia Eliopoulos - Elena Kelessidi -Julia souglakouLeporello, Don Giovanni’s servant Haris Andrianos - Dimitris Kassioumis - Vangelis ManiatisZerlina Vassia Zacharopoulou - Myrsini Margariti -Despina scarlatou

The Greek National Opera presents Mozart’s legendary Don Giovanni in the form of a “Suitcase Opera”. This is a flexible and perpetually moving opera production that is presented in unexpected places outside of traditional theatres to piano accompaniment and with prominent GNO leading singers. Under the direction of Alexandros Efklidis it examines the complicated motives of the heroes, whom it removes from their rococo frame and sets them down into the present in order to narrate the story of the Spanish noble Don Giovanni, the profane man who is admired by men for his courage and by women for his scandalous reputation.

“suitcase Opera”Don Giovanni Wolfgang Amadé MozartPoetic text Lorenzo Da Ponte1 June 2014, spata: “christos Bekas” cultural centre (Starts at 20.00)21 June 2014, Piraeus: Piraeus Municipal Theatre (Starts at 20.00)27 June 2014, Mandra: “Astron” summer cinema (Starts at 21.00)29 June 2014, Megara: stratoudakeion cultural centre (Starts at 20.00)2 July 2014, Marousi: Amalieio Institute cultural Events Area (Starts at 21.00)6 July 2014, Penteli: Duchess of Plaisance concert Hall (Starts at 21.00)

Admission is free with priority tickets that are distributed one hour prior to the commencement of the performance at the event venues

The performance is presented with surtitles in Greek

www.SNF.org

With a donation from the stavros s.

Niarchos Foundation within the context of the “Journey to the stavros s. Niarchos Foundation cultural

centre” initiative

General informationGREEK NATIONAL OPERAOLYMPIA THEATRE

59-61 Akadimias Street, 10679 AthensMETRO Station: Panepistimio

Ticket office operating hours:Tuesday - Sunday 09.00-21.00& Monday 09.00-16.00

Ticket office telephone number:210 36 62 100Fax number: 210 36 62 019 Email: info@nationalopera.gr

E-TIcKET sALEswww.nationalopera.gr

TELEPHONE BOOKINGs All credit cards accepted.

TIcKET REFUNDsThis is not possible.

sTUDENT TIcKETs These are provided at all the performances. Students must produce their student identification card during the issuing of the ticket and during their entry into the theatre. Student tickets also apply to people up to 28 years old.

GROUP BOOKINGs Groups of music lovers [ten (10) persons and above], associations and schools may apply for bookings on 210 37 11 342(Mrs Vicky Panagou).

PEOPLE WITH REDUcED MOBILITY Seats are provided in the Theatre Square.

ARRIVAL BY LATE-cOMERs After the show has commenced, entry is only possible during the interval, where this is provided.

cANcELLATIONs In the event where the event is cancelled due to weather conditions, force majeure, strikes, or government announcements, there shall be a GNO communication about the method for refunding the ticket price.

FOR YOUNG PEOPLE … LAsT MINUTE TIcKETsSpecial Price: € 15 – Applies twenty (20) minutes prior to the commencement of the performances for young people up to twenty eight (28) years of age, for any ticket zone**Where tickets are available

DURING THE PERFORMANcEs IT Is NOT PERMITTED: To take photographs with or without flash; To record or videotape all or a part of the performance; To smoke; To consume food and beverages; To use mobile phones; For children under six years old to enter (excluding children’s shows); or To tip

sUBscRIBER sERVIcEsTel: 210 37 11 381, Fax: 210 36 23 401 Email: pr@nationalopera.gr