THE GREEK NATIONAL OPERA ANNOUNCES 2023-24 SEASON

Photo of Stavros Niarchos Hall (SNFCC) by  A. Simopoulos

Highlights at Stavros Niarchos Hall and the Odeon of Herodes Atticus include: 

Callas at the Herodium, an opera gala at the Odeon of Herodes Atticus honoring Maria Callas’s centennial anniversary

Tributes to Maria Callas for her centennial including an exhibit entitled Unboxing Callas: An Archival Exploration of the Dimitris Pyromallis Collection and a new documentary film about Maria Callas focusing on her early career in Greece and her history with the Greek National Opera

Les Éclairs, based on the life of inventor Nikola Tesla, composed by Philippe Hersant and with a libretto by Jean Echenoz, in a co-production between GNO and Opéra Comique

A new production of Richard Wagner’s Die Walküre—the first Wagner opera to be performed at Stavros Niarchos Hall— in co-production with the Royal Danish Opera, led by conductor Philippe Auguin and directed by John Fulljames

Additional new productions of a double bill of Mascagni’s Cavalleria Rusticana and Leoncavallo’s Pagliacci directed by Nikos Karathanos, Weill’s Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny directed by Yannis Houvardas, the ballet Carmen choreographed by Johan Inger, and the ballet Coppélia choreographed by Edward Clug

Revivals of Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk directed by Fanny Ardant, Konstantinos Rigos’s choreography of The Nutcracker, and Graham Vick’s production of La Bohème

A new production of Puccini’s Turandot directed by Andrei Șerban and a revival of Konstantinos Rigos’s production of La Traviata starring soprano Nadine Sierra at the Odeon of Herodes Atticus as part of the Athens Epidaurus Festival

The third edition of The Artist on the Composer program in collaboration with NEON

ATHENS, GREECE (May 16, 2023) — The Greek National Opera’s 2023-24 season, curated by GNO Artistic Director Giorgos Koumendakis, features seven new opera and ballet productions including the first Wagner production to be staged at the Stavros Niarchos Cultural Center, two co-productions, and one newly commissioned opera, as well as four revivals of past productions, tribute celebrations for Maria Callas’s centennial anniversary, and the third Artist on the Composer program. The season’s programming is presented at Stavros Niarchos Hall at the Stavros Niarchos Foundation Cultural Center and in the outdoor amphitheater, the Odeon of Herodes Atticus. With the new season program, GNO—the only opera company in Greece—continues to forge important international partnerships with international opera houses, leading conductors, directors, set designers, and world-famous soloists, while also showcasing Greek artists. 

The new season, which runs from September 2023 through July 2024, is made possible by a grant from the Stavros Niarchos Foundation (SNF) [www.SNF.org] to enhance the GNO’s artistic outreach.

GNO’s tribute celebrating the 100th anniversary of Maria Callas’s birth will reach its peak September through December with several events. These include an opera gala entitled Callas at the Herodium at the Odeon of Herodes Atticus, the exhibit UNBOXING CALLAS: An Archival Exploration of the Dimitris Pyromallis Collection and the GNO Archive which explores the Dimitris Pyromallis Collection and GNO Archive at the National Library of Greece, and a documentary entitled Mary, Mariana, Maria – The Unsung Greek Years of Callas on Maria Callas’ lesser-known Greek years.

New productions this season include Hersant’s Les Éclairs directed by Clément Hervieu-Léger, a double bill of Mascagni’s Cavalleria Rusticana and Leoncavallo’s Pagliacci directed by Nikos Karathanos; Weill’s Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny directed by Yannis Houvardas; Wagner’s Die Walküre directed by John Fulljames; the ballets Carmen and Coppélia choreographed by Johan Inger and Edward Clug respectively, and Puccini’s Turandot directed by Andrei Șerban.

GNO presents co-productions this season with the Opéra Comique on Les Éclairs, the Royal Danish Opera on Die Walküre, and NEON for the third edition of The Artist on the Composer program. 

Revivals of past productions include Verdi’s La Traviata directed by Konstantinos Rigos, Shostakovich’s Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk directed by Fanny Ardant, and Tchaikovsky’s The Nutcracker choreographed by Konstantinos Rigos. GNO is additionally reviving director Graham VIck’s production of Puccini’s La Bohème presented in honor of Vick who recently passed away in 2021.

Regarding the upcoming season, GNO’s Artistic Director Giorgos Koumendakis notes: 

“With the Greek National Opera’s 2023/24 season, our aim was to tackle new artistic challenges. Through our arts programming, we wish to pose questions about, and seek answers to issues that are timeless and universal. This season, having pondered the significance and sway that art holds over our lives, we will be underlining the importance of eradicating inequality and gendered violence, and we call on all friends of the GNO to see classic works of the repertoire as an opportunity to reflect upon issues of women’s empowerment, grounded in the progressive achievements made by 21st-century society.”

This season’s productions will be conducted by Paolo Carignani, Pier Giorgio Morandi, Philippe Auguin, Ondrej Olos, Fabrizio Ventura, Miltos Logiadis, and Yorgos Ziavras. Soloists performing this season include Nadine Sierra, Ekaterina Gubanova, Catherine Foster, Freddie De Tommaso, Dimitri Platanias, Svetlana Sozdateleva, Cellia Costea, Sergey Semishkur, Vassiliki Karayanni, Dionysios Sourbis, Yannis Christopoulos, Tassos Apostolou, Arsen Soghomonyan, Tommi Hakala, Allison Oakes, Stefan Vinke, Marina Prudenskaya, and Petros Magoulas. 

Additional programming includes a tribute concert to Greek composer Manolis Kalomiris in June 2024 highlighting the composer’s connection to GNO; and the Second Sacred Music Festival during Orthodox Easter Holy Week (April 2024) held in Athens’s Plaka neighborhood. 

The 2023-24 season is a continuation of the work that began six years ago when the company—founded in Athens in 1939—relocated to the Stavros Niarchos Foundation Cultural Center that includes its main stage venue, the custom-built Renzo Piano-designed 1,400-seat Stavros Niarchos Hall. Supported by a grant from the Stavros Niarchos Foundation (SNF) [www.SNF.org], the GNO’s vision is to be one of Europe’s most innovative opera houses with a unique artistic identity that engages global talent and inspires large and diverse audiences.

Tickets for the September–December 2023 productions go on sale July 31, 2023, and can be purchased from the GNO Box Office and online via ticketservices.gr/en.

GREEK NATIONAL OPERA
2023-24 SEASON CALENDAR

Opera gala
Callas at the Herodium
16 September 2023
Starts at: 21.00
Odeon of Herodes Atticus

Conductor: TBA
Soloists: TBA

With the GNO Orchestra

Maria Callas’ legacy in Greece is deeply rooted in her performances at the iconic Odeon of Herodes Atticus. In 1944, before she left Athens for New York, she played Smaragda in The Masterbuilder by Manolis Kalomiris, and Leonora in Beethoven’s Fidelio, both under the baton of acclaimed conductors and directors. Thirteen years later, in 1957, Maria Meneghini-Callas returned to the same venue to give a legendary recital as part of the Athens Festival, showcasing her vocal range and virtuosity in arias from iconic operas such as Tristan und Isolde, La forza del destino, Il Trovatore, Lucia di Lammermoor, and Hamlet.

The Greek National Opera will present Callas at the Herodium in September 2023. The program will feature the same repertoire that Callas performed at the Odeon of Herodes Atticus, with internationally-renowned opera singers paying tribute to her remarkable talent and leaving their own mark on the iconic venue. The audience will be treated to a journey through the works of Kalomiris, Beethoven, Wagner, Verdi, Donizetti, and Thomas, celebrating the timeless legacy of Maria Callas at the historic venue that she helped make famous.

Photo of the Odeon of Herodes Atticus by M. Asthenidis

Callas Tribute Sponsor: PPC (Public Power Company)
Lead Donor of the GNO & Callas Tribute Donor:
THE STAVROS NIARCHOS FOUNDATION

Visual arts program • New production
Music and Visual Arts Cycle, in partnership with NEON
The Artist on the Composer
22, 23, 24 September 2023
Starts at: 19.30, 21.00
Stavros Niarchos Hall of the Greek National Opera – SNFCC

Commission Three: Ioanna Pantazopoulou
The Artist on the Composer program curators: Giorgos Koumendakis (GNO Artistic Director) – Elina Kountouri (ΝΕΟΝ Director)

This production is made possible by a grant from the Stavros Niarchos Foundation (SNF) to enhance the GNO’s artistic outreach.

The Artist on the Composer, a pioneering program led by GNO in collaboration with the NEON Organization for Culture and Development, brings together contemporary artists and classical music to create a unique synergy of different artistic forms. In its highly anticipated third edition, the program has commissioned the artist Ioanna Pantazopoulou to craft an immersive installation that transports audiences into a mesmerizing fairy tale realm through a harmonious blend of visuals and music.

Born in Athens in 1984 and currently residing in New York City, Ioanna Pantazopoulou is renowned for her remarkable ability to construct ephemeral sculptural monuments using unconventional materials. Her sculptures defy traditional architectural constraints, inviting viewers to explore new dimensions of experience and participation. Through unexpected collisions of elements, Pantazopoulou forges connections between the past and present, between what is lost and what is found.

The Artist on the Composer program made its debut in 2019 with a captivating commission by artist Nikos Navridis. The resulting installation, titled “Noli me tangere,” skillfully deconstructed the operatic conventions of a classic music spectacle, incorporating musicians, choreographers, and performers. In 2022, the program continued its success with its second commission, a short film entitled “Bleat,” directed by Academy Award nominated Greek filmmaker Yorgos Lanthimos. 

Portrait of Ioanna Pantazopoulou by George Lycoudis

Lead Donor of the GNO & GNO’s participation supported by Stavros Niarchos Foundation

Opera • Revival
Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk
Dmitri Shostakovich
21, 24, 27, 31 October & 5, 9 November 2023
Starts at: 19.30 (Sunday at 18:30)
Stavros Niarchos Hall of the Greek National Opera – SNFCC

Conductor: Fabrizio Ventura
Director: Fanny Ardant
Sets: Tobias Hoheisel
Costumes: Milena Canonero, Petra Reinhardt
Movement: Collectif LA(HORDE) – Marine Brutti, Jonathan Debrouwer, Arthur Harel
Lighting: Luca Bigazzi
Chorus master: Agathangelos Georgakatos

In the lead roles: Svetlana Sozdateleva, Sergey Semishkur, Yanni Yannissis, Yannis Christopoulos
With Soloists of the Greek National Opera, and the GNO Orchestra and Chorus

GNO revives Fanny Ardant’s highly acclaimed production of Shostakovich’s Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk featuring an all-star international creative team. Internationally renowned soprano Svetlana Sozdateleva, who played the title role in 2019 and then subsequently at The Metropolitan Opera in 2022, returns to perform alongside a cast featuring Sergey Semishkur, Yanni Yannissis, and Yannis Christopoulos. Fabrizio Ventura conducts the opera. 

Regarding her vision for the production, Ardent notes: 

“Lady Macbeth sets a mirror before us. And in it, we see our own selves. Lady Macbeth is our wild reflection, restless and free. How can the part of ourselves that fights back against the law survive within conventional, homogenized society? To love criminals is a risk. And it is one I take. I love Katerina Ismailova. She is not only one of Leskov’s characters in an opera by Shostakovich – no, she is also an ever-present individual, even in our own time. And if we pay close enough attention, we may well encounter her.”

Photo by D. Sakalakis

GNO lead donor Stavros Niarchos Foundation

Opera • New production
Les Éclairs
Philippe Hersant
Libretto: Jean Echenoz
16, 19, 21 November 2023
Starts at: 19.30 (Sunday at: 18.30)
Stavros Niarchos Hall of the Greek National Opera – SNFCC
In co-production with the Opéra Comique 

Conductor: Elias Voudouris
Director: Clément Hervieu-Léger
Artistic collaboration: Frédérique Plain
Sets: Aurélie Maestre
Costumes: Caroline de Vivaise
Lighting: Bertrand Couderc
Sound design: Jean-Luc Ristord
Chorus master: Agathangelos Georgakatos
With Soloists of the Greek National Opera and GNO Orchestra and Chorus

This production is made possible by a grant from the Stavros Niarchos Foundation (SNF) to enhance the GNO’s artistic outreach.

GNO presents its second co-production with the Opéra Comique of the opera Les Éclairs composed by French composer Philippe Hersant. The opera features a libretto written by author Jean Echenoz which draws inspiration from the remarkable life story of Nikola Tesla.

Nikola Tesla, an ethnic Serb cosmopolitan and scientist, was born in 1856 in what was then the Austrian Empire. Until his passing in New York in 1943, Tesla’s inventions stirred controversy, with corporations and the public alike divided on their usage. However, Tesla’s ultimate goal was to utilize his discoveries for the betterment of humanity. In recognition of his significant contributions, Tesla’s archive and patents were included in the UNESCO Memory of the World Register in 2010.

In 2016, Jean Echenoz published a biography of Tesla titled “Des Éclairs” (“Lightning”). The Opéra Comique subsequently commissioned Echenoz to adapt his book into a libretto, making it a unique instance where an opera libretto existed before the music and even before a composer was selected. Three years later, the Opéra Comique entrusted the task of composing the opera to Philippe Hersant.

The premiere of “Les Éclairs” took place in 2021, with the opera conducted by Ariane Matiakh and directed by Clément Hervieu-Léger.  

Photo by S. Brion courtesy of the Opéra Comique 

Sponsor PPC (Public Power Company)
GNO lead donor & production donor Stavros Niarchos Foundation

Exhibition
UNBOXING CALLAS:
An Archival Exploration of the Dimitris Pyromallis Collection and the GNO Archive
26 November 2023 – January 2024
Second floor of the National Library of Greece – SNFCC

Curator: Vassilis Zidianakis / ATOPOS cvc
Curatorial associate: Steffi Stouri
Consultant: Dimitris Pyromallis
Research associate: Sophia Kompotiati
With the artists: Aggeliki Bozou, Petros Efstathiadis, Panagiotis Evangelidis, Alexis Fidetzis, Eleftheria Kotzaki, Chrysanthi Koumianaki, Aristeidis Lappas, Lykourgos Porfyris, Antigoni Tsagkaropoulou, Maria Varela
Appearing in the parallel events program: Yannis Belonis, Alexandros Efklidis, Fatma Fayade, Giorgos Koumendakis, Stella Kourmpana, Helena Matheopoulos, Panaghis Pagoulatos, Tota Pritsa, Zoi Tzamtzi

To mark the centennial of Maria Callas’ birth, the Greek National Opera is presenting the second part of the UNBOXING CALLAS arts program, curated by Vassilis Zidianakis. Inspired by the ritual of unboxing popularized by online communities, the UNBOXING CALLAS: An Archival Exploration of the Dimitris Pyromallis Collection and the GNO Archive exhibition is a performative showcase of the private stories, memories, and archival effects of the legendary opera singer, chronicling her career through collectivist artistic means.

Exhibited objects are drawn from various archives, including the Greek National Opera’s own collections and those recently acquired from collectors such as Dimitris Pyromallis and the photographic archive of Kleisthenes. Original works by contemporary artists, inspired by this newly-assembled archive, will also be presented. All content will be presented on large worktops, as if in a lab, where researchers and artists will be classifying, conserving, recording, cataloging, and reinterpreting artifacts.

This exhibition is a corrective curatorial practice, showcasing narratives and viewpoints that have been silenced or overlooked by dominant narratives, providing an opportunity for a re-examination of the legend surrounding Callas while ensuring her artistic achievements remain unadulterated. The exhibition design is sustainable, using archival boxes and existing GNO structures that are suitable for reuse.

Maria Callas 100 Illustration by Yannis Kouroudis

Free admission 
Callas Tribute Sponsor: PPC (Public Power Company) 
Lead Donor of the GNO & Callas Tribute Donor:
THE STAVROS NIARCHOS FOUNDATION

Screening
Mary, Mariana, Maria – The Unsung Greek Years of Callas
A documentary by Vasilis Louras
2 December 2023
Stavros Niarchos Hall of the Greek National Opera – SNFCC

Concept, research, script: Vasilis Louras
Direction: Michalis Asthenidis, Vasilis Louras
Cinematography: Fotis Zygouris
Producer: Stella Angeletou
Production management artistic associate: Io Calochristos

Research consultants: Aris Christofellis, Sophia Kompotiati
A GNO co-production with ESCAPE Productions

Premiering on December 2, 2023, at the Stavros Niarchos Hall, exactly 100 years after the birth of Maria Callas, is a new documentary film that explores the life of the greatest soprano of the 20th century. Maria Callas began her career in Greece, and this documentary, by Vasilis Louras co-produced by the Greek National Opera with ESCAPE Productions, focuses on her early years of arts training and performances at the Greek National Opera (1937-1945). Additionally, the documentary covers her three later appearances in Greece: at the Odeon of Herodes Atticus (1957) as part of the Athens Festival, and at the Ancient Theatre of Epidaurus (1960 and 1961) with the Greek National Opera.

The documentary explores the difficulties Callas faced, including her strained relationship with her mother, the hostility she faced from some of her peers, and the injustices she suffered following the German withdrawal. Despite these challenges, Callas left Greece in September 1945 as a fully-primed prima donna, widely known among devotees of the Greek National Opera in Athens, with sound training and a great deal of experience performing on stage. Just a few months later, after an audition, The Metropolitan Opera offered her a contract, which marked the beginning of her international career.

Using archival materials, interviews with peers and individuals who experienced the events firsthand, and interviews with Callas herself, this documentary provides a comprehensive insight into a pivotal yet overlooked period of Callas’ life. The film gathers snippets of information from every possible source and details that record, recount, and shed light on Callas’ life and evolution.

Callas Tribute Sponsor: PPC (Public Power Company)
Lead Donor of the GNO & Callas Tribute Donor:
THE STAVROS NIARCHOS FOUNDATION

Opera • Revival
La Bohème
Giacomo Puccini
9, 12, 17, 27, 29, 31 December 2023 & 2 January 2024
Starts at: 19.30 (Sunday at: 18.30)
Stavros Niarchos Hall of the Greek National Opera – SNFCC

Conductor: Ondrej Olos
Director: Graham Vick
Revival director: Katerina Petsatodi
Sets, costumes: Richard Hudson
Lighting: Giuseppe di Iorio
Chorus master: Agathangelos Georgakatos
Children’s chorus mistress: Konstantina Pitsiakou
In the lead roles: Yannis Christopoulos, Vassiliki Karayanni, Cellia Costea, Dionysios Sourbis, Nikos Kotenidis, Tassos Apostolou, and others
With Soloists of the Greek National Opera, and the GNO Orchestra, Chorus, and Children’s Chorus

Seven years since its last performance, GNO is reviving Graham Vick’s production of Giacomo Puccini’s La Bohème. This revival is in tribute to Vick, a renowned opera director who passed away in 2021. The story follows the romance between the poet Rodolfo and seamstress Mimì amidst the wintry streets of Paris, from their first encounter in a freezing garret to Mimì’s tragic death. 

Vick’s production moves the action from 19th-century Paris to 21st-century Athens, marking a landmark production for the Greek opera scene. In his director’s note, Vick explained that he aimed to reveal the work’s essence in a way that would resonate universally, emphasizing that humanity’s struggles with death, poverty, and youth remain constant across time and space. Throughout his career, Vick was known for his bold approach to opera, experimenting with and subverting the art form’s traditional conventions and clichés. In addition to La Bohème, Vick collaborated with GNO on productions of Tannhäuser (2009) and a Cavalleria Rusticana – Pagliacci double bill (2011). The production features sets and costumes by Richard Hudson and lighting by Giuseppe di Iorio.

Photo by Dimitris Sakalakis

Sponsor PPC (Public Power Company)
GNO lead donor Stavros Niarchos Foundation

Ballet • Revival
The Nutcracker
Konstantinos Rigos / Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky
23, 24, 28, 30 December 2023 & 3, 4, 5 January 2024
Starts at: 19.30 (Sunday at: 18.30)
Stavros Niarchos Hall of the Greek National Opera – SNFCC

Conductor: Yorgos Ziavras
Choreographer, director, sets: Konstantinos Rigos
Costumes: Deux Hommes
Lighting: Perikles Mathiellis
Associate architect: Mary Tsagari
Video design: Vasilis Kehagias
Children’s chorus mistress: Konstantina Pitsiakou
With the Orchestra, Principal Dancers, Soloists, Demi-Soloists, Corps de ballet, and Children’s Chorus of the GNO (as part of its educational mission)
Featuring students of the GNO Professional Dance School

GNO’s Ballet Director Konstantinos Rigos revisits The Nutcracker and will revise the choreography he first presented in 2022. Rigos is known for his deep passion for Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky and has created many renditions of his works throughout his artistic career.

In this new version of The Nutcracker, Rigos portrays the story from the perspective of children who are pushed to the fringes of society and have to create their own dreams in a world dominated by adults. The production is set in a glass room, where Marie-Clara dreams and embarks on an imaginative journey. The Christmas tree in this production is a small plastic model inside the glass room, and Marie-Clara only sees the real tree on a screen. This “Gen Z” Nutcracker combines contemporary visuals with classical dance traditions, and the costumes by Deux Hommes are a mix of colorful and impressive pop and glam couture pieces, national costumes, and fabrics inspired by past GNO productions.

Regarding this production, Rigos says:

“The GNO Ballet’s Nutcracker highlights the dark and bright aspects of this famous fairy tale, creating a strange new world on stage where Marie-Clara’s glass room meets colorful objects that hover over the stage, baroque portals that lead down into the subterranean depths of the Mouse Kingdom, and the brilliantly-lit Christmas tree.”

Photo by Valeria Isaeva

GNO lead donor Stavros Niarchos Foundation

Opera double bill • New production
Cavalleria Rusticana – Pietro Mascagni & Pagliacci – Ruggero Leoncavallo
25, 28 January & 1, 4, 8, 11 February 2024
Starts at: 19.30 (Sunday at: 18.30)
Stavros Niarchos Hall of the Greek National Opera – SNFCC

Conductor: Paolo Carignani
Director: Nikos Karathanos
Sets, costumes: Leslie Travers
Chorus master: Agathangelos Georgakatos
Children’s chorus mistress: Konstantina Pitsiakou
In the main roles: Arsen Soghomonyan, Dimitri Platanias, Ekaterina Gubanova, Cellia Costea, Dionysios Sourbis, Yannis Kalyvas, and others
With Soloists, the Orchestra, the Chorus and the Children Chorus of the Greek National Opera

GNO showcases a new production of the most popular opera double bill, Cavalleria Rusticana and Pagliacci, directed by Nikos Karathanos, a renowned theater director in Greece making his opera debut. The set and costumes are designed by the famous British artist, Leslie Travers, who previously designed GNO’s production of Bluebeard’s Castle. This double bill stars acclaimed mezzo-soprano Ekaterina Gubanova, tenor Arsen Soghomonyan, baritone Dimitri Platanias, as well as soprano Cellia Costea, Dionysios Sourbis, Yannis Kalyvas, and others.

Regarding the double bill, Karathanos says: 

“Never has such music drawn so much applause, and never has so much blood borne such music. The legendary Caruso couldn’t escape this music, nor could Coppola and his Godfather, Scorsese, or even the Mafia itself. It has slipped into our kitchens, and follows us throughout the evening. No one could ever resist singing those arias heard in Cavalleria Rusticana and Pagliacci, while cooking or flirting ferociously. In such moments, an audience is not merely watching a performance; our very youth bleeds.”

GNO lead donor Stavros Niarchos Foundation

Ballet • New production
Carmen
Johan Inger / Rodion Shchedrin – Georges Bizet
7, 10, 14, 15, 18, 25 February 2024
Starts at: 19.30 (Sunday at: 18.30)
Stavros Niarchos Hall of the Greek National Opera – SNFCC

Conductor: TBC
Choreographer: Johan Inger
Dramaturg: Gregor Acuña-Pohl
Music: Rodion Shchedrin – Georges Bizet
Reorchestration of the music by Bizet: Álvaro Domínguez Vázquez
Music composition: Marc Álvarez
Sets: Curt Allen Wilmer and Leticia Gañán (AAPEE) with studio deDos
Costumes: David Delfín
Lighting: Tom Visser
With the Orchestra, Principal Dancers, Soloists, Demi-Soloists, and Corps de Ballet of the Greek National Opera 

This production is made possible by a grant from the Stavros Niarchos Foundation (SNF) to enhance the GNO’s artistic outreach.

The GNO Ballet presents a new version of the ballet Carmen choreographed by Swedish choreographer Johan Inger. In 2015, the Compañía Nacional de Danza, Madrid premiered this ballet, which has now been brought to the stage by the Greek National Opera Ballet. Inger, who has had a long and successful career at Nederlands Dans Theater and other major European dance companies, took on the challenge of creating a new interpretation of Bizet’s Carmen, which is known for being a symbol of love and freedom. Inger’s main focus was to explore the issue of violence through the eyes of a child, offering audiences a new perspective on this famous story.

The choreographer notes:

“My Carmen is not only based on the female protagonist of the story; like Mérimée’s original, my ballet also focuses on Don José’s lovesickness – on a man who, unable to accept the freedom of his beloved, sets forth on a path down to hell, driven by his primal instincts: passion and revenge. There is an element of mystery in this character: it could be a child, it could be Don José. It could even be us, with our primeval goodness lacerated by the experience of violence which, though short-lived, may have negatively influenced our lives and our ability to relate to others forever.”

This production combines the famous music by Georges Bizet with music written by Rodion Shchedrin and Marc Álvarez. The sets are designed by Curt Allen Wilmer and Leticia Gañán, with costumes by David Delfín, and lighting by Tom Visser. Gregor Acuña-Pohl has provided the dramaturgy for this production.

Photo by Valeria Isaeva

GNO lead donor & production donor Stavros Niarchos Foundation

Opera • New production
First staging by the Greek National Opera
Die Walküre
Richard Wagner
10, 13, 16, 19, 24, 31 March 2024
Starts at: 17.30
Stavros Niarchos Hall of the Greek National Opera – SNFCC
In co-production with the Royal Danish Opera

Conductor: Philippe Auguin
Director: John Fulljames
Sets, costumes: Tom Scutt | Lighting: D. M. Wood
In the lead roles: Catherine Foster, Tommi Hakala, Stefan Vinke, Marina Prudenskaya, Petros Magoulas, and others
With Soloists of the Greek National Opera, and the GNO Orchestra 

This production is made possible by a grant from the Stavros Niarchos Foundation (SNF) to enhance the GNO’s artistic outreach. 

The first presentation of a work by Richard Wagner at the new home of the Greek National Opera is finally here: Die Walküre –an international GNO co-production with the Royal Danish Opera– is coming to the Stavros Niarchos Hall. Conducting is the internationally renowned Philippe Auguin, a maestro eminently versed in the work of Wagner, while acclaimed British director John Fulljames is staging the production.

This production stars a cast of experienced Wagnerians with Catherine Foster in the title role, Tommi Hakala as Wotan, Stefan Vinke as Siegmund, Allison Oakes as Sieglinde, as well as Marina Prudenskaya, Petros Magoulas, and others.

Regarding the production, director John Fulljames notes: 

“We set the opera in a fictional universe which holds in balance the mythic and the real. This world resonates with today without being tied down to a time and place. The central character of this opera is really Wotan – as he comes to terms with the consequences of his choices, realizing his grand scheme will collapse and that he must abandon first his son and then his daughter, and face forward to his death. The death though is not just his own – there is also a broader ecological context as the world he has exploited faces a death. We see him as holding 21st-century power – so not a 19th-century industrialist, as he has so often been seen, but instead a creative entrepreneur; perhaps an architect or the leader of a vast media empire.” 

Photo by Camilla Winther courtesy of the Royal Danish Theater 

Sponsor Piraeus Bank
GNO lead donor & production donor Stavros Niarchos Foundation

Opera • New production
Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny
Kurt Weill / Bertolt Brecht
12, 14, 17, 19, 21, 25 April 2024
Starts at: 19.30 (Sunday at: 18.30)
Stavros Niarchos Hall of the Greek National Opera – SNFCC

Conductor: Miltos Logiadis
Director: Yannis Houvardas
Sets: Eva Manidaki
Costumes: Ioanna Tsami
Lighting: Reinhard Traub
Chorus master: Agathangelos Georgakatos
In the lead roles: Anna Agathonos, Christos Kechris, Tassos Apostolou, Marissia Papalexiou, Yannis Kalyvas, Haris Andrianos, Yanni Yannissis, and others
With Soloists of the Greek National Opera, and the GNO Orchestra and Chorus

Following his 2018 production of Janáček’s The Makropulos Affair, Greek theater director Yannis Houvardas directs a new production of Brecht and Weill’s 20th-century masterpiece Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny. The former Artistic Director of the National Theatre of Greece, Houvardas returns to the GNO to stage a political take on the work, which depicts the rise and fall of a city built for profit and pleasure, and critiques the capitalist system within the ideological framework of inter-war Germany’s Weimar Republic. 

Regarding this production, Yannis Houvardas notes:

“Let us set off at last for Mahagonny, the golden city of our dreams that lies along the Shores of Solace, far from the bustle of the world.
Here, in Mahagonny, life is glorious.
But even here, in Mahagonny, there are moments of exasperation and despair.
The time has come to crushingly answer God’s questions about our sinful lives.
Glorious Mahagonny crumbles to dust and is effaced before our very eyes.
Inside the epic, spectacular, and resolutely artificial world forged by Brecht and Weill, global capitalism dances in the spurred boots of Texan pioneers while holding the long-barrelled pistols of Wild West gunfighters. And when it sings, it takes on the macho voice of John Wayne and the delicate breathiness of girls whiling away all their time –day and night– inside the drunken saloons.” 

GNO lead donor Stavros Niarchos Foundation

Ballet • New production
Coppélia
Edward Clug / Léo Delibes, Milko Lazar
11, 12, 15, 17, 18 May 2024
Starts at: 19.30 (Sunday at: 18.30)
Stavros Niarchos Hall of the Greek National Opera – SNFCC

Concept, libretto, choreography: Edward Clug
Sets: Marko Japelj, Nika Zupanc
Costumes: Leo Kulaš
Lighting: Tomaž Premzl
Dramaturgy: Sarah Brusis, Maximilian Schaffenberger
With the Principal Dancers, Soloists, Demi-Soloists, and Corps de Ballet of the Greek National Opera

The GNO Ballet presents a new production of the ballet Coppélia choreographed by acclaimed Slovenian choreographer Edward Clug, who is one of the most important European artists active in the dance scene today.

Edward Clug brings contemporary dance movement vocabulary to the classic ballet, complementing the lively original music by Léo Delibes with new pieces by Milko Lazar. The enchanting sets created by designer Nika Zupanc bring Coppélia to life on stage, creating a mysterious and strange world through the magic of beauty.

The choreographer notes: 

“Coppélia is one of the oldest and most beloved classical ballets. It is loosely adapted from a story found in the E. T. A. Hoffmann book Die Nachtstücke (“The Night Pieces”), using elements of its plot. From the very start, I knew that I needed to strengthen this plot that was originally designed to ‘entertain’ a 19th-century audience – my intent was to make it more appealing in order to engage today’s audiences. To this end, I began work on a new libretto, and also decided to work with my long standing collaborator Milko Lazar on a supplemental score that would emphasize the dark, Romantic atmosphere of the original Sandman story and stand in contrast to Delibes’ more delightful Romanticism, while retaining the charms of the original ballet.” 

Photo by Gregory Batardon

GNO lead donor Stavros Niarchos Foundation

Opera • New production
Turandot
Giacomo Puccini
2, 5, 8, 11 June 2024
Starts at: 21.00
Odeon of Herodes Atticus
As part of the Athens Epidaurus Festival

Conductor: Philippe Auguin
Director: Andrei Șerban
Sets, costumes: Chloé Obolensky
Lighting: Jean Kalman
Chorus master: Agathangelos Georgakatos
Children’s chorus mistress: Konstantina Pitsiakou
In the lead roles: Catherine Foster, Cellia Costea, Petros Magoulas, Yannis Christopoulos, Yannis Kalyvas and others
With Soloists, the Orchestra, the Chorus and the Children Chorus of the Greek National Opera 

To honor the 100th anniversary of Giacomo Puccini’s death, GNO presents a new production of his final work Turandot directed by internationally renowned theater and opera director Andrei Șerban. 

The sets and costumes for the production will be designed by Chloé Obolensky, a globally recognized Greek designer with a long history of designing for theater and opera. Her work has been praised in major festivals and houses around the world, including Teatro alla Scala, the English National Opera, and The Metropolitan Opera.

Dramatic soprano Catherine Foster performs the title role of the princess Turandot, which she has recently performed at the Royal Opera House Covent Garden to great acclaim.

Photo of the Odeon of Herodes Atticus by H. Akriviadis

Sponsors Mytilineos & Eurobank
GNO lead donor Stavros Niarchos Foundation

Concert
A Tribute to Manolis Kalomiris
June 2024
Starts at: 19.30
Stavros Niarchos Hall of the Greek National Opera – SNFCC

Curation of program and music materials: Hellenic Music Centre
Conductor: TBA
Soloists: TBA
With the Orchestra and Chorus of the Greek National Opera

GNO honors the great Greek composer Manolis Kalomiris with a tribute that highlights his connections to music drama and the Greek National Opera, as well as presents two previously unknown works. 

The event will start with performances of Kalomiris’s Symphonic Fantasy from The Master Builder, his Suite from The Mother’s Ring, and the symphonic poem Minas the Rebel, Corsair of the Aegean, based on the novel of the same name by Costis Bastias, who was the founding director of GNO. 

The second part of the tribute will feature world-first performances of To the Freedom of Crete, a work for choir and orchestra, and The Marble King, an iconic cantata that was inspired by the Balkan Wars and was written in 1914 for two voices, choir, and orchestra, featuring poems by Myrtiotissa. 

Manolis Kalomiris was born in Smyrna and was of Samian descent. He took his first music lessons in Smyrna, continued his studies in Athens and Istanbul, and went on to study piano, music theory, and composition at the Vienna Conservatory. Kalomiris is considered the founder of the “national school” of Greek music. He drew inspiration from Greek traditions, songs, and the poetry and literature of his time. He composed over 220 works, including five operas, three symphonies, symphonic poems, a piano concerto, a violin concertino, song cycles for solo voice with both orchestral and piano accompaniments, works for the piano, chamber music, choral music, and pieces for children. His operas have been performed numerous times by Greek National Opera.

GNO lead donor Stavros Niarchos Foundation

Opera • Revival
La Traviata
Giuseppe Verdi
27, 28, 30, 31 July 2024
Starts at: 21.00
Odeon of Herodes Atticus
As part of the Athens Epidaurus Festival

Conductor: Pier Giorgio Morandi
Director, choreography, sets: Κonstantinos Rigos
Costumes: Ioanna Tsami
Lighting: Christos Tziogkas
Associate architect: Mary Tsagari
Chorus master: Agathangelos Georgakatos
In the lead roles: Nadine Sierra, Freddie De Tommaso, Dimitri Platanias, Vassiliki Karayanni, and others
With Soloists of the Greek National Opera, and the GNO Orchestra and Chorus 

GNO concludes the 2023-24 season with Konstantinos Rigos’s production of Giuseppe Verdi’s La Traviata at the Odeon of Herodes Atticus, following its successful premiere in 2019. The production stars American opera superstar Nadine Sierra as Violetta Valéry alongside fast-rising British tenor Freddie De Tommaso as Alfredo Germοnt as well as the acclaimed baritone Dimitri Platanias as Giorgio Germοnt. Distinguished GNO soprano Vassiliki Karayanni performs Violetta Valéry in the second cast.

Regarding this production, Konstantinos Rigos notes:

“Presenting La Traviata inside the historic Odeon of Herodes Atticus places the work within a challenging yet interesting context: one must find a balance between the overtly exuberant scenes and the private moments. The walls of this ancient odeon impose a sense of timelessness, and inescapably induct the narrative into deep time. In this intermediary space, between past and future, Violetta seems suspended within an era left in limbo, offering her story up to audiences as yet another product for consumption, as she was herself. The Herodium stage space is divided into two distinct realms: closed rooms (that represent the heroine’s psyche) and a scenic world of contrived pleasures dominated by a huge table. These two worlds unfold in parallel, with the heroine reflected in her alter ego, thus giving the conflict inside her tangible form – this is arguably the production’s most significant narrative feature. La Traviata is Violetta herself, which explains the focus on capturing her emotions and projecting them –enlarged– upon the time-worn walls of the Odeon of Herodes Atticus.”

Photo by Andreas Simopoulos 

Sponsor ALPHA BANK
GNO lead donor Stavros Niarchos Foundation