Two musical fairytales
How could anyone not love the fairytale Beauty and the Beast, or not to be moved by the film The Snowman? The Athens State Orchestra tell these and other charming tales as they were transformed into music by the great Maurice Ravel. Then they will use their symphonic sounds to transport us to the tender, magical world of little Charlie and his father, who comes back to life as a... snowman!
Music from science fiction films
Music is an integral part of the film experience, and some unarguably magnificent music has been written for the cinema down the decades; music that can continue to fascinate even when it is removed from its cinematic context. The Athens State Orchestra is delighted to invite its friends young and old to recall some of the music from their favourite science fiction films and enjoy it live in the concert hall.
Carnival for…Brasses
ATHENS STATE ORCHESTRA’S BRASS & PERCUSSION ENSEMBLE “METALLON”
TRUMPETS
Panagiotis Kesaris
Giannis Karabetsos
Fanis Vernikos
Apostolis Kalogiannis
HORNS
Kostas Siskos
Grigoris Asonitis
Dimitris Fronimos
TROMBONES
Kostas Avgerinos
Andreas-Rolandos Theodorou
Evangelos Karabas
Panagiotis Zafiropoulos
TUBA
Georgios-Theodoros Rarakos
PERCUSSION
Kostas Seremetis
Symphonic jazz
The classical symphony orchestra in an encounter with the dynamic rhythms, mouth-watering melodies and unbridled improvisations of jazz. With the celebrated Swedish trombonist, Nils Landgren, playing the solos, Vladimiros Symeonidis on the podium and the City of Athens Big Band at their side, the musicians of the Athens State Orchestra reveal their lighter side in a crossover concert which is guaranteed to bring a smile to your Sunday afternoon.
Sounds of passion-Slavic Soul V
The internationally-celebrated Slovenian maestro, Uroš Lajovic, conducts the Athens State Orchestra in what promises to be an exhilarating reading of Tchaikovsky’s dramatic Fourth Symphony. The violinist, Zsolt-Tihamér Visontay, the winner of numerous international competitions and concertmaster of the Philharmonia Orchestra, performs Dvorak’s virtuosic concerto, a work which marries the vivacity of Slavic dance rhythms with raw musicality and the robust architecture of the German musical tradition.
Pre-concert talk, free for ticket holders
From the Venizelos of Crete to the Crete of Venizelos
The figure of Eleftherios Venizelos towers over the history of 20th-century Greece like no other, and it was inevitable that he would provide inspiration to one of his greatest admirers, the composer Manolis Kalomiris. Of course, the statesman's Cretan homeland has also left its mark on the work of other composers including Skalkottas, Mitropoulos and Koumentakis. The distinguished maestro Byron Fidetzis conducts a programme inspired by the Cretan Muse and concluded with Dvorák's Fifth Symphony
Pre-concert talk, free for ticket holders
New Year concert
We all do our best to welcome the New Year in as optimistic, joyful and carefree a frame of mind as possible. Intent on keeping these positive feelings at our side throughout 2015, the Athens State Orchestra will deliver a New Year concert replete with much-loved melodies from popular operettas. The works will be performed by well-known opera singers under the baton of Andreas Tselikas.
Christmas Concert (2)
Christmas is a time of religious joy and family togetherness, a holiday in which we look back at our former, innocent selves. It is this, our most tender and sensitive side, that is stirred by those charming symphonic compositions of yesterday and today which have become so inseparably linked to the spirit and message of the season. Under the baton of Nikos Haliasas, the Athens State Orchestra perform much-loved works and bestow light and joy on young and old alike.
Winter dreams – Slavic Soul IV
One of the greatest pianists of our age, celebrated for his interpretations of the contemporary repertoire and beyond, France's Pierre-Laurent Aimard joins forces with the Athens State Orchestra to perform Antonín Dvorák's charming piano concerto. And while the Czech composer's fellow-countryman, Bedrich Smetana, captures the flow of the Moldau with grace and sensitivity in Vltava, the harsh imagery of Tchaikovsky's First Symphony transports us to the harsh Russian winter.
Pre-concert talk, free for ticket holders
Antipodes–German Romantics II
Capturing Scotland's grey and melancholic landscape, Mendelssohn's celebrated Third Symphony is stylistically worlds apart from the robust and high-flown overture from Wagner's Master Singers of Nuremberg. The distinguished clarinet soloist and teacher, Johannes Gmeinder, performs Weber's highly demanding, classically pellucid Second Concerto. The Athens State Orchestra is conducted by an eminent German conductor, Golo Berg.
Pre-concert talk, free for ticket holders