2024 04 11 Christoph Eschenbach conducts the Athens State Orchestra
Mahler's magnificent Second Symphony fully justifies the dictum that the Austrian composer's symphonies are "operas without words". Its five movements constitute a multifaceted musical meditation on life and death, the essence and the tragedy of human existence, but also assert faith in God's infinite mercy. The great and highly experienced conductor Christoph Eschenbach brings out all the heart-breaking and febrile thoughts, recreating one of the greatest symphonic edifices of all time with his baton.
2024 04 06 Journey to the centre of Music - Ballet music
A series of interactive concerts which seeks to shed light on everything that connects contemporary audiences with symphonic music, making its timeless repertoire more approachable to everyone, whether they are newcomers to the form or music lovers who are already fans. Video, Talks and Music are combined to provide a dramatized portrait of a different symphonic genre each time. Historical facts both well-known and unfamiliar, personal stories, hidden symbolisms and motifs, and the structural magic of the works are presented in an entertaining way.
2024 04 05 Journey to the centre of Music - Ballet music
A series of interactive concerts which seeks to shed light on everything that connects contemporary audiences with symphonic music, making its timeless repertoire more approachable to everyone, whether they are newcomers to the form or music lovers who are already fans. Video, Talks and Music are combined to provide a dramatized portrait of a different symphonic genre each time. Historical facts both well-known and unfamiliar, personal stories, hidden symbolisms and motifs, and the structural magic of the works are presented in an entertaining way.
2024 03 29 Music – Poetry II
The relationship between poetry and music has always been a close one, and vital for both art forms. Music's limitless emotional depth gives poetry a goal to aim for, while poetry's clarity of meaning is something music has always sought to emulate. Great poems make great music, and the concert to be conducted by the multifaceted Levi Hammer brings together two works born of such fortunate comings-together. The programme also includes the Concerto for two pianos by the Czech composer Bohuslav Martinů, a work as little known as it is scintillating, performed by the distinguished soloists Panagiotis Trochopoulos and Apostolos Palios.
2024 03 08 Fairy tale movements
German musical Romanticism often drew on the realm of myth for its themes, imbuing Apollonian narratives and images with a Dionysian dimension through its highly emotive music. We will be enjoying three milestones in the history of music and the Romantic movement. Under the baton of the Athens State Orchestra's artistic director, Lukas Karytinos, the leading baritone Dimitris Tiliakos and two fine members of our Orchestra will sing the two main roles from Cervantes' masterpiece: the visionary Don Quixote and his faithful servant, Sancho Panza.
2024 03 01 Some prefer it blue - 200 years since the birth of Édouard Lalo
Two seminal works of American serious music: the mysterious Unanswered Question by the pioneering Charles Ives and George Gershwin's jazz-inspired Rhapsody in Blue, are juxtaposed against two European masterpieces: Arnold Schoenberg’s expressionistically passionate Transfigured Night and French Romantic composer Édouard Lalo's virtuosic Spanish Symphony for violin and orchestra. The performances will be led by maestro Kornilios Michailidis, a conductor known for interpretations that reach deep, while the Athens State Orchestra will also be joined by two equally distinguished Greek soloists.
2024 02 17 Journey to the centre of Music - the overture
A series of interactive concerts which seeks to shed light on everything that connects contemporary audiences with symphonic music, making its timeless repertoire more approachable to everyone, whether they are newcomers to the form or music lovers who are already fans. Video, Talks and Music are combined to provide a dramatized portrait of a different symphonic genre each time. Historical facts both well-known and unfamiliar, personal stories, hidden symbolisms and motifs, and the structural magic of the works are presented in an entertaining way.
2024 02 16 Journey to the centre of Music - the overture
A series of interactive concerts which seeks to shed light on everything that connects contemporary audiences with symphonic music, making its timeless repertoire more approachable to everyone, whether they are newcomers to the form or music lovers who are already fans. Video, Talks and Music are combined to provide a dramatized portrait of a different symphonic genre each time. Historical facts both well-known and unfamiliar, personal stories, hidden symbolisms and motifs, and the structural magic of the works are presented in an entertaining way.
2023 12 29 New Year's Eve in Paris
The appointment of the Athens State Orchestra with the audience of the Megaron on New Year’s Eve is an established musical institution, inextricably linked to the festive Christmas season and the joyful welcoming of the New Year. This year, the subject of the long-awaited New Year’s gala is the French opera. Although less famous and widespread compared to the Italian opera, French opera is today widely recognised, with many enchanting arias and brilliant orchestral excerpts being particularly popular and loved by the general public. Many of them, among the most recognizable and entertaining, will be heard at tonight’s gala, performed by four eminent lyrical singers under the guidance of seasoned conductor Myron Michaelides.
2024 01 19 Liszt and Greek Mythology
The Georgian pianist Eliso Virsaladze has been a major player on the international music scene for decades and has been called one of the greatest pianists of our era. The great Sviatoslav Richter made no secret of the fact that he considered her an ideal interpreter of Schumann, and this certainly adds still greater import to her performance of the great German Romantic's concerto with the Athens State Orchestra. On the podium for the concert will be the young Lithuanian conductor, Izabelė Jankauskaitė, who, though still at the start of her career, already has significant distinctions and performances to her credit.