2025 05 16 Vasilis Christopoulos in "Pictures at an exhibition"
The Athens State Orchestra welcomes the exceptionally talented Pavel Kolesnikov, the Russian pianist, whose triumphant performances in the world's greatest halls and recordings have earned him accolades from critics and the adoration of audiences, as well as keeping him at the very apex of the serious music scene for over a decade. Intensely expressive and graced with supreme virtuosity and a profound vision for every work he chooses to perform, his interpretations of Shostakovitch's two piano concertos are sure to be nothing short of scintillating. The interpretations of the acclaimed maestro Vassilis Christopoulos are equally fascinating, informed as they are by his ability to see to the very heart of the music and bring to life the smallest details of a score —even in a work of the Russian Romantic school as monumental as Mussorgsky's Pictures at an Exhibition", as re-envisioned by Maurice Ravel in his version for orchestra.
The Polar Express in Concert
Get up, get on, and get ready for the ride of your life! It’s Christmas Eve, and you’re about to roller-coaster up and down mountains, slip-slide over ice fields, teeter across mile-high bridges, and be served hot chocolate by singing waiters more astonishing than any you can imagine. You’re on The Polar Express!
Tom Hanks stars in and Robert Zemeckis directs this instant holiday classic filmed in dazzling performance-capture animation that makes every moment magical. “Seeing is believing,” says a mysterious hobo who rides the rails with you. You’ll see wonders. And you’ll believe. All aboooooard!
THE POLAR EXPRESS and all related characters and elements © & ™ Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (s24)
Alan Silvestri (b. 1950)
The Polar Express in Concert
audio in English
subtitled in Greek
2025 04 25 Edgar Moreau & Mihkel Kütson
The internationally acknowledged Maestro Mihkel Kütson returns to the podium conducting the Athens State Orchestra in two enormously affecting works by the great Finnish composer, Jean Sibelius —in particular, his Seventh Symphony which, though not heard anything like as frequently as it deserves, is undoubtedly one of the most spiritual and simultaneously brilliant symphonies of the 20th century; a true hidden treasure of the symphonic repertoire! Together with Edgar Moreau, the French cellist who, through still very young, already has several major international competitions under his belt, they commemorate the anniversary of Shostakovitch's death with a performance of the composer's devastatingly virtuoso and eloquent first cello concerto.
2025 04 16 Easter Concert
Serious music today is both entirely open to influences from other musical genres and constantly in search of new forms of expression and aspects that will appeal to the broadest possible audience. The prominent Greek composer Dimitrios Skyllas draws his inspiration from the austere beauty of the Greek folk tradition, and from Epirote laments, in particular. In his Requiem (1985), Andrew Lloyd Webber, the British composer who has given the world such celebrated musicals as The Phantom of the Opera and Cats, achieves a singular but highly successful tonal blend of the lyrical style of the musical and the contemporary musical avant-garde. Under the baton of Giorgos Vranos, the magnificent symphonic sound the work demands will shine forth as it simultaneously plays on our heartstrings.
2025 04 11 Nikolai Lugansky in Beethoven's 4th piano concerto
There are some works that went beyond simply expressing their era and actually changed the course of musical history; without them, music would not only be poorer, it would be different, too. Without a shadow of a doubt, both works on the programme tonight belong to this category. The Rite of Spring marked the (scandalous!) birth of modernism, while Beethoven created a model in his Fourth Piano Concerto that later Romantic composers would follow—almost without exception—in works on a similarly grandiose scale. Nikolai Lugansky returns to Athens after his recent triumphant appearance with the Athens State Orchestra, promising moments of magic of the sort Loukas Karytinos has been treating audience to for decades with his electrifying interpretations.
2025 03 31 Classical meets modern I
Konstantinos Terzakis, one of our most active and popular young Greek conductors, has already distinguished himself in demanding international competitions and appeared on the podium of important European orchestras. For this, his Athens State Orchestra debut, he will be conducting Mendelssohn's Scottish Symphony, a piece which starkly captures Scotland's grey, melancholy and often wild landscape and the range of emotions it gives rise to. We look forward with especial interest to the performance of the outstanding trumpet soloist Dimitris Gogas in the Divertimento by Charalambos Kanas, one of the finest Greek composers of our era, whose music combines the cerebral with the emotional in a clear and consistent way.
The winner of the Tchaikovsky Prize performs Dvořák's Cello Concerto
When the cellist Narek Hakhnazaryan took the first prize and gold medal at the 14th Tchaikovsky Competition at the tender age of 22, it opened the doors wide for an international career as a soloist. Since then, the Armenian musician has truly excelled in collaborations with the world's greatest orchestras and musicians. The Athens State Orchestra is delighted to welcome him to Athens, and to accompany him in the most popular concerto for his instrument, the cello concerto by the Czech composer, Antonín Dvořák. The acclaimed conductor Miltos Logiadis marshals his long experience and profound knowledge to inform his interpretation of Mozart's celebrated 40th Symphony, a work that never gets old and remains a perfect model of classical balance and proportion, no matter how many times we hear it.
In memoriam
Soloist's participation to the concert has been provided with the kind grant of Alexandros Sofianos in memoriam of his father, Kostis Sofianos. Part of the revenue of the concert will be granted to the Kouloureion Philanthropic and Hospital "Παναγία Φανερωμένη" Foundation of Hydra.
19:30, free introductory speech for ticket holders
Julian Rachlin plays Dimitri Papadimitriou
Dimitris Papadimitriou is a composer who has been proven to move beyond and above stereotypes and all kinds of aesthetic categorizations. Multifaceted and restless, sensitive and visionary, he feels equally at home in the field of art lyrical singing, in film music and in spoken symphonic music; and it is precisely this breadth and his ability to creatively assimilate elements from different styles in his works that makes his music so interesting, original and above all sincere, with a captivating immediacy. Our very own esteemed conductor Georgios Balatsinos and Lithuanian violinist Julian Rachlin, musicians of international renown and deeply familiar with the music of today, promise dynamic readings of his works.
2025 03 08 Journey to the centre of Music - March
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 symbolism and motifs, and the structural magic of the works are presented in an entertaining way.