Benefit concert for the victims of wildfires
The unspeakable tragedy the relentless forest fire left behind in its wake in Attica this summer shook us all. Acting on our clear moral obligation to provide practical assistance to those fellow citizens whose lives were turned upside-down by this summer's wild fires, the Athens State Orchestra, thanks to the unselfish collaboration of eminent lyric singers, is organizing a gala with some of the most famous arias, duetti and orchestral excerpts. We hope that the concert, whose proceeds will go to the victims of the blaze, will serve as an opportunity for raising our collective awareness and for remembrance.
Vladimir Ashkenazy conducts the Athens State Orchestra
That conductors with the highest of international profiles should enjoy and seek out their regular collaborations with the Athens State Orchestra is a great honour—and a huge responsibility—for us all. One such conductor, the great Vladimir Ashkenazy, will be joining us in Athens once again this year. His Art and his choice of works for the concert will guarantee music-lovers a glorious finale to the season.
Musical promenades at the Museums - Academy of Young Musicians of the A.S.O.
The training our young colleagues receive at the Athens State Orchestra Young Musicians' Academy could hardly fail to include chamber music, which provides musicians with an indispensable schooling in listening to, understanding, and responding to one another. We are certain that our students in the strings and brass classes will give of their best and move everyone who places themselves in their hands for the duration of the concert!
Musical promenades at the museums - Bassoon... con brio
Bassoonists unite—all of the ASO's permanent bassoonists, along with students studying the bassoon (and contrabassoon) at the Athens State Orchestra Young Musicians’ Academy will come together to perform a selection of works dating from the Baroque to the present day. In so doing, they will spotlight the unique baritone timbre and possibilities offered up by these, the lowest-sounding instruments in the woodwind family.
Skalkottas and his contemporaries IV
The tribute to Skalkottas and his era ends with Schoenberg’s Five pieces for orchestra, a radical work and a milestone in the history of German musical expressionism. Still, however ground-breaking that movement may seem, it actually served as a continuation of the great German symphonic tradition. Weber and Brahms are both central to this tradition, and we will be hearing two of their best-loved works in thoughtful interpretations from the Israeli conductor, Yoav Talmi.
Skalkottas and his contemporaries III
One of Skalkottas' most famous classmates in Arnold Schoenberg's composition group was Alban Berg, whose intricate and atmospheric Violin Concerto will be performed by Tianwa Yan, the Chinese soloist who is now a familiar figure on the Athens concert scene. The concert programme also includes the world première of a symphonic work by the multiple award-winning young composer, Orestes Papaioannou, a tribute to Skalkottas commissioned by the ASO.
Easter concert 2019
Michael Sanderling, son of the great maestro Kurt Sanderling, has followed faithfully in his father's footsteps and carved out a dazzling international career for himself. His visit to Athens is much anticipated. Bruckner's monumental Mass No. 3, the fruit of the composer's profound and heartfelt faith but also of an equally profound and emotionally-fraught musical sensibility, will surely imbue Holy Week with due solemnity this year.
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.