For one week during the festive period, from December 25, 2024 until January 1, 2025, the National Opera offers all the performances of GNO TV (tv.nationalopera.gr) for free.

The online platform of the National Opera, which was created and operates with the support of the donation of the Stavros Niarchos Foundation (SNF), has already completed its three years of operation with thousands of subscribers from all over the world and continues to offer new content and showcase the work of ELLS all over the world.

On Christmas Eve, on December 25 – the start of the free week – four long-awaited productions of the National Opera will premiere on GNO TV, completing its rich content.

Giuseppe Verdi’s Traviata, filmed in July 2024 at the Herodio, brings to our screens opera superstar Nadine Sierra in the role of Violetta Valery, sought-after tenor Freddy De Tommaso, international Greek baritone Dimitris Platanias and a a multitude of Greek protagonists, the Orchestra, Chorus and Ballet of the Greek Greek Orthodox Church, directed and choreographed by Constantinos Rigos and music directed by Pier Giorgio Morandi.

Alternative Stage’s “Strella”, the chamber opera by Michalis Paraskakis, based on the film of the same name by Panos X. Koutra, with a libretto by Alexandras K*, musical direction by Konstantinou Terzakis and directed by Giorgos Koutlis, brings to the screen of GNO TV a shocking story about love, acceptance and the madness of dreaming and demanding happiness at any price.

Shortly after its premiere at Teatro Colón, Argentina, at the Alternative Stage and in Thessaloniki, Pablo Ortiz’s bold contemporary chamber opera “Cassandra” with a text by Sergio Blanco brings to our screens the unique interpretation of transgender soprano María Castillo de Lima. The direction is signed by Diana Theocharidis and Alexandros Euclides. Musicians from the Ergon ensemble participate under the musical direction of Nikos Vassiliou.

The performance of the ELS Ballet “Point of No Return” brings to our screens a modern dance work with kinetic elements deeply rooted in the tradition of classical dance. To the tone of the music of Giorgos Koumentakis and through the choreography of Yiannis Mantafounis, the dancers of the ELLS Ballet focus their interpretation on the transparency and authenticity of the movement through the prism of the classical steps.

At the same time, the following shows continue to be shown on GNO TV – free of charge from 25/12 to 1/1:

-“Andrei: Requiem in eight scenes” by Dimitra Trypani

-“Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk” – Shostakovich’s opera under the musical direction of Fabrizio Ventura and directed by Fanny Ardan

-“Falstaff” – opera by Verdi, musical direction by Pier Giorgio Moradi and directed by Steven Langridge

-“Callas in Herodeion” – recital under the musical direction of Philip Ogen with soloists Anna Pirotsi, Kathryn Foster, Vasiliki Karagianni, Nina Koufochristou

-“Les Nuits d’été” – ELS Ballet

– 2022 Annual Performance of the Higher Professional School of Dance of ELLS

-Annual Performance of the Higher Professional School of Dance of ELLS 2023

– “Maria Callas: the repertoire we have never heard” – curated by Ari Christofelli

And the following projects from the ELS online festivals:

-“The assembly of animals” by Giorgos Kouroupos and Periklis Korovesis, with soloist Tasi Christogiannopoulos and Nikos Vassiliou on the piano

-“Music and Greekness”, with soloists Tassi Christogiannopoulos and Yiannis Christopoulos and Sofia Tamvakopoulou on the piano

-“The wonderful month of May”, with soloist Tselia Costea and Sofia Tamvakopoulou on the piano

-“Notes in the Mediterranean Desert” by Giorgos Koumentakis, directed by Leda Papakonstantinou and with Lorenda Ramou on the piano

-Piano recital by Stefanos Thomopoulos with works by Xenakis, Kalomiris, Konstantinidis

-Eptanisiaki School, with soloist Dimitris Platanias and Sofia Tamvakopoulou on the piano

GNO TV at a glance

GNO TV was created at the end of 2020 with the aim of spreading the artistic work of the unique Greek lyric theater to the ends of the earth, expanding the concept of artistic extroversion. It is addressed to the global audience that follows the Lyric Art, given that the artistic identity of ELLS and the quality of its productions can stand worthy in the global online market of lyrical theater.

GNO TV offers a wide variety of proposals, from opera and ballet performances from the Stavros Niarchos Hall and Herodeion, operettas, musical theater and festivals from the Alternative Stage, shows for the whole family, online festivals and educational programs.

GNO TV broadcasts the shows via the Akamai global content delivery network. It is an on-demand platform, which provides viewers with the possibility to watch ELS shows from the comfort of their homes, at any time they choose and as many times as they wish, within a month of the first screening.

GNO TV productions are filmed with a multi-camera system and special direction, while they are shown with subtitles in Greek and in foreign languages ​​(English, as well as French and German where mentioned).

The funding agency for the project is the Ministry of Culture, within the framework of the National Recovery and Resilience Plan “Greece 2.0” with funding from the European Union – NEXT GENERATION EU.