Symphonic Concerts Archives - Κρατική Ορχήστρα Αθηνών

Gustav Mahler: Symphony No. 8, “Symphony of a Thousand”

gpapa_koa — Tue, 07 Apr 2026 10:40:38 +0000

Even within the monumental symphonic output of Gustav Mahler, Symphony No. 8 occupies a singular place. It signals an extreme –indeed, a culmination – not only in the Mahlerian oeuvre, but in the Romantic symphonic lineage in its entirety. The epithet “Symphony of a Thousand” was not the composer’s own, but was coined by the impresario Emil Gutmann as a publicity device ahead of the premiere. It may sound like an exaggeration today, yet it is estimated that no fewer than 858 singers and 171 musicians participated in the performance. And yet, the essence of the work lies neither in its duration (Symphony No. 3 is longer) nor in the sheer scale of its performing forces (Symphony No. 2 demands similarly vast resources). The undisputed grandeur of the “Eighth” resides in its purely affirmative spirit: it is the only one of Mahler’s symphonies entirely devoid of irony, doubt, or inner conflict. Instead, it unfolds with a masterful, unyielding rhetorical force, conveying messages of profound spirituality with unflappable inner conviction and musical certainty. Its premiere on 12 September 1910 in Munich, conducted by the composer himself, was the greatest triumph of Mahler’s lifetime, just seven months before his death. Mahler himself regarded the Eighth as his supreme compositional achievement, while the great German writer Thomas Mann encapsulated the essence of this colossal work when he wrote that it “expresses the art of our time in its profoundest and most sacred form.”
Surely, practical considerations alone render performances of the Eighth a rare artistic event – and therefore one of exceptional significance. On this occasion, the internationally acclaimed Polish conductor Michał Nesterowicz leads the Athens State Orchestra, joined by an outstanding roster of vocal soloists and extensive choral forces, offering the Festival audience one of those rare opportunities to experience this epic masterwork live.

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Athens Festival – Lukas Karytinos

gpapa_koa — Tue, 07 Apr 2026 10:00:16 +0000

The 1960s find the world in constant flux: legions of young people passionately seeking new visions and meanings in life and in art – culminating in the upheaval of May 1968 – while Greece, in particular, grapples with its own native political and social turbulence, leading to the coup d’état in 1967. Manos Hadjidakis stands at a moment of maturity and recognition. He had already been awarded the Academy Award (1961) for Never on Sunday and, more importantly, has succeeded in speaking directly to the soul of Greek –and not only Greek– audiences, weaving together art music and folk legacy in a manner at once natural, profound, and deeply candid.
At this crossroads, he spreads his wings towards the United States, where he resides for several years, consciously retreating from a dire Greek reality, yet also distancing himself from his very own roots, that is, his leanings towards certain sounds, imagery, and the intimacy of his closest circle.
In America, “dancing with his own shadow,” he experiences the universality of Greek music anew, while uncovering unexpected dimensions of his deeply seated sensibility. It is there that he composes the thrilling Gioconda’s Smile (1965), a work that would come to define the artistic quests of its time and stand as a touchstone of modern Greek music. Three years later, in 1968, he composes the score for the western film Blue by the Canadian director Silvio Narizzano. Despite the film’s failure, Hadjidakis’s music emerges as a singular accomplishment, and by virtue of its intrinsic value has endured independently as one of the finest instances in his orchestral oeuvre. This summer, the Athens State Orchestra, under the direction of its artistic director Loukas Karytinos, revisits these two major works by Hadjidakis, marking the centenary of his birth with a tribute worthy of his enduring legacy.

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Musical Gala of Hope and Love

gpapa_koa — Thu, 29 Jan 2026 10:55:43 +0000

“ELPIDA-Association of Friends of Children with Cancer”, in collaboration with Megaron The Athens Concert Hall and Athens State Orchestra, are organizing the unique Musical Gala, “Hope and Love”, with the participation of the internationally renowned maestro Alvise Casellati, on Friday, February 13, 2026, at 8:30 p.m., in the Christos Lambrakis Hall.
The leading conductor and Artistic Director of Palermo’s Teatro Massimo, Alvise Casellati, in his first appearance in Greece, joins forces with the Athens State Orchestra to create an inspiring, refined program, hymn to love, with famous arias from beloved operas by Verdi, Puccini, Gounod, Wagner and Rossini. The internationally renowned Greek tenor Christina Poulitsi and the distinguished Italian tenor Giorgio Berrugi will accompany this unique musical journey in classical music with their voices. An evening where the power of music turns into an act of love for the children who are fighting childhood cancer. All the proceeds of the show will support the goals of ELPIDA-Association of Friends of Children with Cancer.

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Echoes of war: Mahler and Korngold

gpapa_koa — Mon, 13 Oct 2025 09:38:55 +0000

The young lead musician John Warner, a rising star of the British music spectrum, apart from being a conductor of the Oxford Opera, is also the founder of the “Orchestra for the Earth” which acts at a global level, combining music with ecological awareness. In his debut with the Athens State Orchestra, he shall present two works of major Austrian composers who have many and essential common features, although born with a gap of more than forty years. Mahler and Korngold are the two sides of the same musical “coin”: the former, introversive and hypersensitively psychoanalytic, the latter, extroversive and “aggressively” charming, they share the same hyperromantic language, sensual, lavish, delightful in all aspects!

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Late night with the Athens State Orchestra

gpapa_koa — Mon, 13 Oct 2025 09:27:29 +0000

The Estonian lead musician, Anu Tali is active in both Europe and America, and distinguished as one among the most active and recognized female conductors of the 21st century. It´s the third time that the Athens State Orchestra receives Anu Tali, with the certainty that she shall leave a mark of woman elegance and finesse with a purely French proramme, proving that what sounds “light” may at the same time be very serious, essential and deep. Together with Anu Tali, the dynamic Greek piano soloist, Nefeli Mousoura in one of the most famous and impressive French works for piano, Saint-Saëns’s concerto No.2

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Classic Rock IX

gpapa_koa — Mon, 15 Sep 2025 09:24:21 +0000

After last year’s unprecedented success, 9th Classic Rock returns to the Herodeion for one more meeting of SepticFlesh with the Athens State Orchestra. The Piraeus Vocal Ensemble LIBRO CORO will complement the unique spectacle. SepticFlesh symphonic/metal live was presented for one and only time in 2019 at the “Metropolitan Theater of Mexico City” with the Mexico Symphony Orchestra, featuring 140 musicians and a 40-member choir. It was a top-tier sold-out concert attended by more than 3500 spectators. Five years later, this project comes to Greece, promising a unique music experience at the world’s most emblematic concert hall, the Herodeion, under the Athens Acropolis and the Attica starry night. The world famous Dutch lead musician, Koen Schoots shall conduct the Athens State Orchestra.

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Modern antiquity

gpapa_koa — Thu, 31 Jul 2025 08:49:01 +0000

Ideas, persons, myths and incidents of the classical antiquity have never stopped, until today, to stimulate the artists’ thought and fantasy. The distinct conductor (and one of the principal violins of the Athens State Orchestra), Nikos Haliassas, recompiles and re-creates works of distinct- and less known- Greek composers of the past and the present, on a common ground inspired by the ancient world. However, the programme’s jewel is the “Corinth Concerto” for guitar of the legendary Cuban guitarist and composer, Leo Brouwer, performed by the distinct soloist, Dimitris Soukaras.

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Fazil Say: Mother Earth

gpapa_koa — Mon, 28 Jul 2025 10:31:59 +0000

Tianyi Lu, winner of the prestigious First Prize at the Sir Georg Solti International Conducting Competition (2020), was born in Shanghai, grew up and studied music in New Zealand, completed her studies in Wales, and now lives in Europe. In her debut with the Athens State Orchestra, she takes on the honor of presenting the new Piano Concerto titled “Mother Earth” by the renowned Turkish composer and pianist Fazıl Say, who will also perform the solo part. Say is a remarkable phenomenon of our time, composing and performing music “from the heart”, blending Eastern musical traditions with classical forms, jazz, and a spirit of improvisation. The concert program concludes with Jean Sibelius’s Fifth Symphony, a deeply personal work by the great Finnish composer, which also stands as a romantic expression of the relationship between humanity and nature.

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Gidon Kremer in Athens

gpapa_koa — Fri, 25 Jul 2025 09:55:31 +0000

The Russian conductor, Daniel Raiskin is famous for his original programmes and rich, dynamic interpretations of a very broad repertoire; those features, among others, have rendered him very popular between orchestras and audiences at an international level. Of course, it is with great interest that we expect the collaboration of the world famous Latvian violinist, Gidon Kremer and the Lithuanian cellist, Giedrė Dirvanauskaitė, founding member of the Kremerata Baltica and frequent collaborator of Kremer’s in chamber music concerts. The performance of Variation 21 by Konstantina Gourzi, a precious composer and tiredless conductor with a huge work and recognition within the European musical world cannot be overlooked.

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Jupiter Symphony

gpapa_koa — Fri, 25 Jul 2025 08:43:52 +0000

Loyal to its established aim, to represent literary symphonic music all over the Greek territory, the Athens State Orchestra, under the baton of the conductor Katia Molfesi, visits the always hospitable Municipal Theatre of Piraeus and then the cities of Lamia and Larissa, presenting Mozart’s supreme symphonic masterpiece, his last Symphony, named “Jupiter” due to its glory and splendor. The lovers of romanticist sentimentality shall have the opportunity to enjoy Tchaikovsky’s lyrical serenade, while all of them shall acquaint with the work of one among the most renown and active composers of our country, Spiros Mazis, as approached by the two top hornists of our Orchestra.

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