The lyrical images of the timeless songs of Mikis Theodorakis come to the Alternative Stage of the National Opera in a unique concert, as part of the three-year cycle “Mikis Theodorakis”. The concert entitled “Mikis Theodorakis: Lyrical Icons”, curated and orchestrated by Giannis Belonis, conducted by Ilias Voudouris and performed by Giannis Kotsiras, will be presented at the Alternative Stage of ELS at the Stavros Niarchos Foundation Cultural Center on 12, 13, 14 and 15 May 2022, as part of the celebration of the 200th anniversary of the beginning of the Greek Revolution.
The program of the concert includes snapshots from the forty-year course of Mikis Theodorakis in song, but also in theater and cinema, which reveal another face of the great composer: more lyrical, more introverted and sensitive, beyond the stereotype of robust “theodorakism”. The concert also features the singer Nefeli Fasouli, the female vocal ensemble chórеs and a ten-member ensemble.
The production is implemented with the support of the donation of the Stavros Niarchos Foundation (ISN) for the creation of the anniversary program of the National Opera for the 200 years of the Greek Revolution of 1821.
Despite the invaluable diversity of the fierce catalog of works by Mikis Theodorakis, there is no doubt that the song was, from the late 50’s onwards, the hegemonic form through which the composer influenced the musical (and political) things of the times that he went through, always in the spirit of his visionary communication with a certain (peculiar and seasonal, as he himself first admitted) perception of the concept of the people. An important part of his songs is inextricably linked in the common consciousness with the struggles of the Greek nation in difficult periods of its history, with great cinematic successes such as Zorbas, but also with the internationally unprecedented project of osmosis of the people with the learned element that Theodorakis sought through the coupling of modern poetry with the living tradition of folk music – an endeavor that stigmatized and, in part, determined the course of what is still called “Greek song”.
There is, however, a series of music pages of the composer that are recalled and played less often and reveal another face of Mikis Theodorakis, more lyrical, more introverted and sensitive. In these pages, the composer praises love, affection, nature, the child and the dream, and is confronted with the emotional impact of alienation, death and frustration, always based on texts by important poets and lyricists (such as Manolis Anagnostakis, Costas Virvos, Michalis Ghanas, Nikos Gatsos, Manos Eleftheriou, Odysseas Elytis, Giannis Theodorakis, Iakovos Kampanellis, Tassos Livaditis, Lefteris Papadopoulos, George Seferis, between Costos Tripolis) And “lyricism”, as well as that between “composition” and “songwriting”, should never be stronger than in the theodoric work.
This aspect of the artistic personality of the great composer is revealed by the concert entitled “Mikis Theodorakis: Lyrical Icons”whose program includes snapshots from its forty-year course in song coming from the circles State State, Epiphany, Lipotaktes, Small Cyclades, Farantouri Circle, Sea Moons, The Folk, Night of Death, Ballads, The Lyrics, Ta night, Greetings, Radar, Asikiko Poulaki and Serenades, the movies “Phaedra” and “The Incompatibility”, as well as the theatrical performances “The song of the dead brother”, “Magic city” and “The neighborhood of angels”.
Companions to this exploration: the orchestrator Giannis Belonis, a great connoisseur of Theodorakis’s work, for a number of years pianist of the Orchestra Mikis Theodorakis and a close collaborator of the composer during the last 15 years of his life; of the symphonic and lyrical work of Mikis Theodorakis; and Giannis Kotsiras, a personal choice of the composer for various of his prominent works and an outstanding member of the conspiracy of those popular performers for whom the concept of populism was historically determined by the catalytic influence of theodora.
Ticket prices: 15, 20 euros (general admission). 10 euros (Student, children).
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