Musical promenades at the Museums - Romantic pages for violin and piano
The distinguished violinist Dimitris Semsis, the Athens State Orchestra's concertmaster, joins the pianist Dimitra Mantzouratou for a demanding and intensely romantic program. The two main features—Brahms' Second Sonata and the Frank sonata—are both works of their respective composers' maturity which, thanks to their inestimable beauty, now enjoy pride of place in the repertoire for violin and piano.
Musical promenades at the Museums - Three Trios... differently
The concert programme consists of three very well-known works for clarinet, cello and piano with the unique sound of the French horn substituted for that of the clarinet. The transcriptions of Beethoven’s highly expressive Trio, Glinka's lyrical and operatic Trio Pathetique, and Brahms' romantic Trio were made by the French hornist Maria French for the needs of her doctoral thesis.
Tosca
However faithful we may be in our love for the symphonic repertoire, it is hard to resist the larger-than-life allure of Italian opera –so why resist!? Joined by a select group of singers and performing under the baton of Stefanos Tsialis, the Athens State Orchestra takes on the immortal Tosca, Puccini's lyric masterpiece and a work which certainly needs no further introductions.
The classical magic
If we accept that, in music, the classical is associated with clarity of form, intellectual depth and an aversion to expressive excess, then all three works in this concert clearly reflect classical beauty at its most elevated, embodying the above qualities equally despite having been composed in different eras. The soloist is the ASO's lead and leading bassoonist, Alexandros Oikonomou.
The Four Seasons
Vivaldi's Four Seasons belong to that special category of works which, however often you hear them, lose none of their power to delight. And when the music is delivered by a musician with the powers of Simos Papanas, the results will never be less than arresting. The programme also features the young and talented maestro Ektoras Tartanis making his ASO debut conducting another work inspired by the changing seasons: Glazunov's ballet The Seasons.
Leonidas Kavakos with the A.S.O – Offer of Music and Musical Offer
The institution of a wide-ranging, large-scale collaboration with Leonidas Kavakos returning to the ASO podium for five concerts this season—four of which will take place in Athens—was always going to be big news. Because our recent experience of working with the Greek musician who has carved out an important international career showed us that, as a conductor, Kavakos has the power to conjure up a mysterious, wordless, sincere and interactive communication with the audience, the musicians in the Orchestra, and with High Art. That Kavakos is providing his services free of charge, with the proceeds from the concerts going partly towards the purchase of new instruments for the Orchestra and partly to charity, makes him one of our most valued allies in these difficult times.
Musical promenades at the museums - Myths
Where, or rather how, do unruly romantic passion, level-headed Apollonian lyricism and dazzling musical virtuosity exist side by side? However mutually contradictory the above may seem, in the hands of the great composers they can coexist and interact in the most unexpected places, riveting audiences in the process. But I'm sure you'll experience that for yourselves in this concert featuring the violinist Phaedon Miliadis and the pianist Thodoris Iosifidis.
The free man
Anyone who fell in love with Richard Bach's novel Jonathan Livingston Seagull would be well advised to listen to the new work by Christos Papageorgiou which was inspired by it. Another free and revolutionary hero of world literature, Nietzsche's Zarathustra, provided the imaginative spark Richard Strauss needed to compose one of the most important symphonic works of Late Romanticism. The former artistic director of the ASO, Vasilis Christopoulos, returns to the podium to conduct the rapidly up-and-coming Czech violinist Jan Mráček in Brahms' Concerto.
Richard Galliano with the A.S.O.
We associate the sweet, sensual sound of the bandoneon with the music of Latin America and the work of Piazzolla, in particular. Richard Galliano, for many the world's finest virtuoso on the accordion and the bandoneon, joins the Athens State Orchestra in his dual capacity as composer and soloist to provide Athenian music-lovers with a unique opportunity to enjoy the singular timbre of the accordion and the bandoneon live and in a solo role.
Tribute to Skalkottas’ Year
Another little-known symphonic masterpiece wrought by the musical genius of Nikos Skalkottas, another priceless musical gem of Greek music put back in the spotlight. The Athens State Orchestra is delighted and honoured to welcome our beloved, internationally acknowledged Greek pianist Dimitris Toufexis, interpreting the Rachmaninoff's Piano Concerto no. 2, one of the most popular pieces of all times.