30 + Must See Highlights at the Athens Festival
[Lead]
The 2022 Athens Festival’s programme line-up promises a provocative dialogue between art and social reality, underpinning the intractable role of artistic creativity in political engagement. From jazz diva Diana Krall to rock legend Patti Smith and techno whiz Jeff Mills, contemporary interpretations of Greek tragedies (German director Ulrich Rasche revisits Agammemnon with a fresh take on the nihilistic classic) and new operatic sounds (Puccini’s Tosca under Phillippe Arguin’s baton is an aural masterpiece), here is a round-up of the most thought-provoking highlights of this festival season.
IN JUNE
Beaver Dam Company – Edouard Hue
All I Need
Edouard Hue’s Beaver Dam Company poses a question for our post-Covid dystopian times: Is there any hope for society’s self-destructive downward spiral to be halted? A fascinating ballet, the dancers immerse in delicate balances, retreats, advances, in a bid to contort their way out of this hostile world. With allusions to the strategy board game go, Edouard Hue’s politically charged choreography urges empathy over polarization. A reminder we all need!
Duration 60
When: 01/06 until 02/06/2022 at 21:00
Where: Peiraios 260 (H)
Greek National Opera – Lukas Karytinos – Katerina Evangelatos, Rigoletto by Giuseppe Verdi
The Greek National Opera’s mega production of Rigoletto, Giuseppe Verdi’s dark masterpiece, conducted by Lukas Karytinos and directed by the Athens Epidaurus Festival Artistic Director Katerina Evangelatos, will premiere this June at the Festival. Since its premiere in Venice in 1851, Rigoletto has been applauded by thousands of opera lovers around the world and is rightly considered one of the most popular operas of all time. The court jester Rigoletto, a man in the fringes of society, takes centre stage, as Verdi employs his music to explore all the aspects of this character’s complex personality. Katerina Evangelatos will give her own spin on this beloved work, marking her second collaboration with the GNO.
Where: Odeon of Herodes Atticus
Ermira Goro, THIRST
Renowned choreographer Ermira Goro, a familiar name to Festival audiences, returns with her new piece: a spellbinding performance, a true experience on the primeval and ever-cherished concept of rituals. Via six dancers and Stavros Gasparatos’ original musical composition, this work explores how contemporary art may be part of the quest for, or better put, the invention of “new” rituals necessary for our survival.
When: 03/06 until 05/06/2022 at 21:00
Where: Peiraios 260 (E)
Mini Festival of Electronic and Experimental Music
Following last year’s exciting collaboration between the Athens Epidaurus Festival, the world-famous festival of electronic and experimental music CTM Festival, and the Goethe Institut, this successful project resumes at the former Tsaousoglou factory at Peiraios 260, recognized as a meeting hub for groundbreaking sound performances and electrifying artists. Nene H, “one of the most exciting new faces on Berlin’s ever-expanding experimental club circuit” will be the headliner, joining forces with the internationally acclaimed Ensemble Basiani, the Georgian choir that has contributed immensely to the revival of traditional polyphonic music of Georgia.
When: 10/06/2022 at 20:00
Where: Peiraios 260 (Η)
Works by Bach, Schütz, Schein, Εnglish Baroque Soloists – Monteverdi Choir – John Eliot Gardiner
Renowned conductor Sir John Eliot Gardiner, founder and artistic director of the Monteverdi Choir and the English Baroque Soloists, is a pioneer in early music revival and historically informed performances. His recent work with the Monteverdi Choir includes award-winning interpretations of Bach, Berlioz, and Verdi, among others, in concerts around the world. In the Odeon, he will direct the choir and the orchestra in these monumental works by Bach and his predecessors, Schütz and Schein, which draw inspiration from their composers’ experiences of grief and its cathartic power. The choir will be accompanied by the rich sound of early brass instruments in the works of Schütz and Schein.
Where: Odeon of Herodes Atticus
Nature Theater of Oklahoma, Burt Turrido: An Opera
The subversive duo of Nature Theater of Oklahoma (Kelly Copper and Pavol Liška) returns to the Athens Epidaurus Festival to present an international co-production of prestigious organizations, including the Festival, four years after The Pursuit of Happiness (2018) that introduced them to the Greek audiences. Their new performance, presented at Peiraios 260, is a country opera that hilariously deconstructs contemporary American pop culture.
Burt Turrido: An Opera is set in a post-apocalyptic world. Very few people have survived due to a series of climate disasters and genocides. Borrowing references from iconic works of the opera world repertoire such as The Flying Dutchman, this Kafkaesque, dystopian, and hysterically funny tragicomedy of Nature Theater of Oklahoma, which premiered in 2021, effortlessly fuses highbrow and lowbrow elements, eschewing strict genre conventions.
With Greek and English surtitles
Duration 3 hours 30 minutes (with interval
When: 15/06 until 16/06/2022 at 19:00
Where: Peiraios 260 (Η)
Dimitris Papadimitriou, Beyond the Frame
Dimitris Papadimitriou, arguably one of the greatest contemporary Greek composers, presents a representative selection of songs from his rich body of work, both big hits and hidden gems waiting to be discovered. A beautiful, mesmerizing concert, full of indelible melodies, great poetry, and wonderful performances, encapsulating the prestige of one our most accomplished composers.
When: 16/06/2022 at 21:00
Where: Odeon of Herodes Atticus
Martin Zimmermann, Danse Macabre
Can anything other than humour save us in our struggle for survival? After last year’s delightful performance Eins Zwei Drei, warmly received by the Peiraios 260 audience, Martin Zimmermann (Swiss Grand Award for the Performing Arts / Hans Reinhart Ring 2021) returns to the Athens Epidaurus Festival with his newest production, alongside his team of virtuoso performers. The equally hilarious Danse Macabre once again defies categorizations. In a scenery alluding to a deserted garbage dump, three tragicomic characters, three social outcasts, struggle to rebuild their lives. However, a strange figure hovers over this fragile community: the figure of Death, portrayed by Zimmermann himself, intervening in the plot as a mischievous puppet master pulling the strings of the characters’ bodies.
When: 21/06 until 22/06/2022 at 21:00
Where: Peiraios 260 (H)
ERT National Symphony Orchestra – Michalis Economou – Guy BraunsteinFête de la Musique (World Music Day)
Works by Dvořák, Brahms
Every year, on 21 June, the ERT National Symphony Orchestra celebrates the Fête de la Musique (World Music Day), inviting audiences to a big, free concert at the Odeon of Herodes Atticus. The glamorous orchestra will participate in this established tradition under the baton of conductor Michalis Economou, presenting two highly beloved, melodic symphonic works: Antonín Dvořák’s Symphony No. 8 and Johannes Brahms’ Violin Concerto. Special guest Guy Braunstein, former concertmaster of Berliner Philarmoniker for ten years, will serve as violin soloist.
Where: Odeon of Herodes Atticus
SANTIAGO (CHILE) 2022. Ensayo de La Compañía de Teatro La Resentida , Director Marco Layera . foto Maglio Pérez
Teatro La Re-Sentida – Marco Layera, Oasis de la Impunidad
SANTIAGO (CHILE) 2022. Ensayo de La Compañía de Teatro La Resentida , Director Marco Layera . foto Maglio Pérez[/caption]
Eight bodies twitching on stage. Are they suffering or having fun? Is there pride or fear in their movements? All together they form a police body, strictly disciplined. To keep order, they must exercise violence against which there is reaction: their victims threaten to overflow the space and cause a social explosion! Teatro La Re-Sentida, which enchanted audiences at Peiraios 260 with the explosive energy of teenage girls from Chile last year, once again merges provocative and reflective elements approaching theatrical creativity as a laboratory for criticism, reflection, and social visioning. Marco Layera and Teatro La Re-Sentida draw inspiration from the social uprising in October 2019 in Chile and stage a choreographic reflection on the dialectics of violence that transcends the borders of their country addressing every citizen of our contemporary world.
With Greek and English surtitles
Where: Peiraios 260 (D)
Jan Garbarek Group, featuring Trilok Gurtu
Norwegian saxophonist Jan Garbarek’s name is almost synonymous to European jazz music and the signature sound of ECM, the recording company that has released almost all his albums. His music is noted for his lyrical and poetic qualities. For the last fifty years or so, his rich body of work covers a wide musical range, from jazz to world and classical music. The Jan Garbarek Group, an important chapter in his career, also consists of Garbarek’s longtime main collaborator, German pianist Rainer Brüninghaus, Brazilian bassist Yuri Daniel, and the Indian master of the drums Trilok Gurtu.
Where: Odeon of Herodes Atticus
Eleana Tsichli, The Seven Madmen, Based on the novel by Roberto Arlt
A secret organization of “Seven Madmen” comes together under the guidance of an “Astrologer”: a grotesque conspiracy of world domination, rife with extreme ideological views and delusions. Written in 1929, shortly before the Wall Street Crash and the Argentine coup d’état, Arlt’s novel introduces us to a world of violence and terrorism, dominated by dystopian machines, the fantasy of easy money, and a proclivity for illegal activities and crime. With the shadow of totalitarianism looming large, amid revolutionary theories seething at the time, the “Madmen”, directly alluding to Dostoevsky’s characters, paint a grim picture of humanity against the background of a vast metropolis; humanity as a disposable component in automated production lines, crushed beneath an explosive mixture of ennui and despair.Seven actors build a community on stage, shedding light to a timely story that foregrounds the philosophical implications of Arlt’s novel, while also highlighting the theatre stage as the birthplace of a timeless “we”; a new kind of Chorus.
With English surtitles / Greek surtitles on opening night for persons with hearing impairment
Where: Peiraios 260 (E)
Patti Smith
The high priestess of punk rock, New York City’s eternally romantic artist, spiritual heir to Rimbaud, Bolaño, Ginsberg, and the Beat generation, will merge music and poetry in her own unparalleled way for a dazzling concert at the Odeon. Having made her mark on the global music scene with anthems such as “Because the Night” and having received literary accolades (National Book Award winner for her memoir Just Kids), the distinguished visual artist and tireless activist will inspire us, move us, and make us believe once again that we have the power to change the world: “People have the power!”
Where: Odeon of Herodes Atticus
Filarmonica della Scala – Myung-Whun Chung, Works by Rossini, Beethoven, Dvořák
The Megaron – The Athens Concert Hall presents the Filarmonica della Scala at the Odeon of Herodes Atticus, under the baton of famed conductor Myung-Whun Chung. The programme includes the overture of Rossini’s opera L’italiana in Algeri, Beethoven’s Symphony No. 2 and Dvořák’s Symphony No. 9 (“From the New World”). World-renowned conductor Myung-Whun Chung has previously served as musical director of the Opéra national de Paris (Bastille), chief conductor of the Orchestra dell’Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia in Rome and the main guest conductor of the Staatskapelle Dresden. Chung has performed at the most prestigious concert halls in the world alongside famous orchestras, including Amsterdam’s Royal Concertgebouw, Berliner Philarmoniker, Wiener Philharmoniker, and the Tokyo Philharmonic Orchestra.
Where: Odeon of Herodes Atticus
Christiane Jatahy, Dusk
Based on the film Dogville by Lars von Trier
In an attempt to escape the oppressive, quasi-fascist regime of her country, the young Brazilian woman Graça flees her homeland. She finds refuge in a community of theatre artists staging Lars von Trier’s Dogville and tackling the following question: to what extent is our society tolerant of the Other? In the beginning, Graça is enthusiastically welcomed by the group. However, she later falls victim to exploitation and experiences all sorts of racist and xenophobic attitudes.Racism, in all its forms, is a recurring theme in the work of internationally acclaimed artist Christiane Jatahy (Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement in Theatre, Biennale di Venezia 2022). In Dusk, performers film each other live on stage, offering many different perspectives over one absolute and final “truth”.With Greek and English surtitles
When: 27/06 until 28/06/2022 at 20:00
Where: Peiraios 260 (H)
Athens Epidaurus Festival Urban Dance Contest, Hip Hop Battle
Following its dynamic dynamic at the Athens Epidaurus Festival 2021, where it introduced the Peiraios 260 audiences to the world of hip hop and street dance, the Athens Epidaurus Festival Urban Dance Contest returns this year with fresh dance “battles”, promising to dazzle us with even more electrifying showdowns.This year, the contest includes two categories: on Day 1, sixteen of the best dancers working in Greece today will compete 1vs1 in hip hop. On Day 2, audiences will hold their breath watching an All Styles Break, as 32 powerful dancers from around the country will compete in pairs (2vs2) in a variety of styles, including break, hip hop, popping, locking, house, krump, waacking, voguing, and dancehall.The panel of judges is comprised of highly acclaimed hip hop and street dance performers from Greece and abroad. Once again this year, they will be joined by Dj AmazeMe on the decks, with Sifu Versus serving as the host.
When: 28/06/2022 at 22:00
Where: Peiraios 260 (Platea)
Athens Epidaurus Festival Urban Dance Contest, All Styles Battle
Following its dynamic dynamic at the Athens Epidaurus Festival 2021, where it introduced the Peiraios 260 audiences to the world of hip hop and street dance, the Athens Epidaurus Festival Urban Dance Contest returns this year with fresh dance “battles”, promising to dazzle us with even more electrifying showdowns! This year, the contest includes two categories: on Day 1, sixteen of the best dancers working in Greece today will compete 1vs1 in hip hop. On Day 2, audiences will hold their breath watching an All Styles Break, as 32 powerful dancers from around the country will compete in pairs (2vs2) in a variety of styles, including break, hip hop, popping, locking, house, krump, waacking, voguing, and dancehall. The panel of judges is comprised of highly acclaimed hip hop and street dance performers from Greece and abroad. Once again this year, they will be joined by Dj AmazeMe on the decks, with Sifu Versus serving as the host.
Where: Peiraios 260 (Platea)
Ibrahim Maalouf
With 15 years of active presence in the international music scene and concerts in over 40 countries under his belt, multi-award-winning French Lebanese trumpeter Ibrahim Maalouf is hailed, both in France and worldwide, as one of the greatest trumpeters of his generation. Maalouf transcends boundaries of time and space, presenting a fusion of his unique signature sound with tradition. His repertoire, notable for its idiosyncratic improvisations, encompasses diverse musical genres and traditions of world music: jazz arrangements go hand in hand with Arabic maqam, pop melodies, and covers, or are woven together with Latin and Afro-Cuban grooves
Where: Odeon of Herodes Atticus
Max Richter
Award-winning composer Max Richter, one of the most celebrated European composers of the last twenty years, makes his Odeon of Herodes Atticus debut. Boasting a large fanbase from diverse music genres, Richter is considered a pioneer of contemporary orchestral neo-classical music. He has worked with important artistic organizations and some of his best-known and most beloved compositions have been included in numerous film soundtracks.At the Roman Odeon, Richter presents two of his recorded albums: Infra (2010) and The Blue Notebooks (2004). According to The Guardian, both are considered instant classics of the 21st century. Infra is an ambitious endeavour that came about through Richter’s collaboration with choreographer Wayne McGregor and visual artist Julian Opie, rendered timeless thanks to T.S. Eliot’s poetry and Schubert’s influences. The Blue Notebooks is a musical meditation on violence and war, composed in 2003 against the backdrop of the invasion in Iraq. A capstone of Richter’s minimalistic mastery, this work invites us into a well-orchestrated chamber music ambience, punctuated with excerpts by Kafka, originally recorded with Tilda Swinton’s voice.
Where: Odeon of Herodes Atticus
Marlene Monteiro Freitas, Mal – Embriaguez divina
Having previously taken the Athens Epidaurus Festival audiences by storm with her performances Bacchae and of ivory and flesh – statues also suffer, unconventional choreographer Marlene Monteiro Freitas (Silver Lion, Biennale di Venezia 2018) returns with her latest production: yet another wild performance brimming with demonic elements, transformation, surrealism, and copious amounts of humour. Serving as a choir on a podium, her company of dancers, explores Evil as “divine drunkenness”, as suggested by the title of the piece, as well as a prerequisite for ecstasy, artistic creativity, and social upheaval, with theatre stage serving as the space wherein this force is unleashed.
When: 30/06 until 01/07/2022 at 21:00
Where: Peiraios 260 (D)
Diana Krall
Beloved jazz singer and pianist Diana Krall, a recipient of numerous Grammy Awards for her performances and rich discography, returns to the Athens Epidaurus Festival for a single concert at the Odeon of Herodes Atticus. Encouraged by her husband, Elvis Costello, Krall writes her own lyrics and has also been incorporating musical influences from Brazil and pop references. Her concert at the 2022 Festival is organized by the charity Aurora – Together Against Hematological Diseases.
Where: Odeon of Herodes Atticus
IN JULY
Schauspielhaus Bochum – Johan Simons, Alkistis by Euripides
A weird play: the story of a woman who sacrifices her life to save that of her dying husband. Mourning; negotiations; arguments; who is not afraid of dying; who has more of a right to live. Finally, Heracles descends to the Underworld to bring Alcestis back: by now, though, she is a stranger to her family.
The Epidaurus debut of Dutch director Johan Simons, founder of the famous Theater Holandia (1985) and one of the pioneers of European avant-garde theatre, is a world-class event. Previously featured in the Festival, initally in 2002 with Euripides’ Bacchae and subsequently in 2009 with Horváth’s Kasimir and Karoline, co-produced with his collaborator Paul Koek, Simons is noted for his musical approach on texts and his impressively minimalist aesthetics. In this new work, Simons attempts a contemporary take on Euripides’ Alcestis, drawing on the music of Gluck’s eponymous opera and placing four singers and an organ in lieu of the Chorus.
With Greek and English surtitle
Where: Ancient Theatre of Epidaurus
Maria Farantouri – A Tribute to Mikis Theodorakis
The Athens Epidaurus Festival and Maria Farantouri invite Festival audiences to a magical evening in memory of the late Mikis Theodorakis as a tribute to his invaluable legacy. Farantouri is joined by brilliant baritone Tassis Christoyannis under the baton of renowned conductor Miltos Logiadis. Having performed some of the composer’s greatest works across the globe, Mikis Theodorakis’ favourite singer has been inextricably bound with him, as she familiarized international audiences with several poems by contemporary Greek poets (Seferis, Elytis, Ritsos, Kambanellis, et al) that were set to music by Theodorakis.
In the first part, Farantouri will perform pieces from the iconic Canto General, a poem by Pablo Neruda, which was performed for the very first time by Farantouri and Petros Pandis, and has been praised by audiences at the greatest theatre venues around the globe. At the Roman Odeon, we will rediscover it in its original arrangement for a musical ensemble of 15 performers and two choirs (the ERT National Choir and the City of Athens Choir). In the second part, Maria Farantouri and Tassis Christoyannis, always under the baton of Miltos Logiadis, will perform seminal songs that have left a profound mark on half a century of Greek musical history, orchestrated by pianist Achilleas Wastor.
Where: Odeon of Herodes Atticus
Leonidas Kavakos
Following the magical, uplifting experience he provided to the Ancient Theatre of Epidaurus audience in the challenging summer of 2020, the world-class Greek violinist returns, this time at the Odeon of Herodes Atticus. At the Roman Odeon, Kavakos, both as a soloist and as a conductor, will conduct a small group of six distinguished Greek musicians (two violins, one viola, one cello, one double bass, one harpsichord), presenting Bach’s Violin Concertos.
Caroline Guiela Nguyen, FRATERNITY, a Fantastic Tale
When a part of humanity disappears in outer space due to a bizarre accident, The Great Eclipse, the remaining people on earth seek refuge to the so-called “care and consolation centres”, which allow them to send short messages to their missing ones. These centres quickly become places of utmost importance, where this community of emotional amputees come to reflect and heal. One day, a new Eclipse is announced. Following the seductive performance SAIGON, which received a standing ovation at the Athens Epidaurus Festival 2019, French-Vietnamese artist Caroline Guiela Nguyen returns with a science fiction fairytale and a diverse, multilingual ensemble of professional and non-professional actors, highlighting the most invaluable resource for the future of our planet: the notion of Fraternity.
With Greek and English surtitles
Where: Peiraios 260 (D)
Philippe Quesne, Farm Fatale
A post-apocalyptic scenario in the not-so-distant future: five scarecrows, who have lost their original jobs due to climate change, come together in a commune. These disarmingly funny characters, though, are undeterred by the difficult conditions: the dying sounds of nature are meticulously recorded for posterity; demonstration signs and slogans are prepared; pop music is blown into the airwaves via pirate radio; insect deaths and pesticides are discussed. With Farm Fatale, world-renowned French director Philippe Quesne, celebrated for his hybrid, strikingly visual performances, envisions an absurdly charming universe, inhabited by gentle dreamers and activists with a penchant for laconic commentary.
With Greek and English surtitles
Where: Peiraios 260 (H)
Katerina Andreou, Mourn Baby Mourn
What remains today of the visions and promises of the 1960s and 1970s? How do we cope with the melancholy and frustration resulting from seeing our promised future being dashed? Previously featured in the Athens Epidaurus Festival with the international co-production A Kind of Fierce, Greek choreographer Katerina Andreou, a major presence of the European dance scene and recipient of the Prix Jardin d’Europe 2016, once again arrests our attention with a new, exciting, French-Swiss production resonating with the challenges of present life. Utilizing the concept of mourning as a springboard, the artist will explore her own, quintessentially female and political voice, in a choreographic solo seeking to address the depression that marked an entire era. Mourn baby mourn.
Where: Peiraios 260 (E)
Laurie Anderson
Avant-garde performer, poet, singer, and musician, Laurie Anderson remains elusive to any classification as her effusive energy and whimsically imaginative mix of speech and multimedia on stage manages to artfully slide in-between genres. Molded in New York’s art scene in the 1970s and its unconventional personae – from Andy Warhol to William Burroughs and Philip Glass, and from Lou Reed to Allen Ginsberg – she brings together protest and poetry, the demand for emancipation by breaking any rule and the quest for absolute freedom in the arts. Armed with rhythm, her storytelling, and her charismatic voice, she remains always at the forefront. “This multimedia assault of loops, and text, and voice, and images”, as Iggy Pop had once described her, will enter into a unique conversation with our soul once more in an unforgettable performance at the Odeon of Herodes Atticus.
Where: Odeon of Herodes Atticus
Jeff Mills, Tomorrow Comes the Harvest
Jeff Mills, the seminal artist of the American techno scene, presents live – for the first time before the Athenian audience – his ground-breaking project Tomorrow Comes the Harvest, an improvisational concept he created in 2018 with Afrojazz legend and Fela Kuti’s drummer, Tony Allen. It is not an overstatement to say that without Jeff Mills, electronic music would have been very different today. With a career span from the 1980s Detroit underground clubs to global avant-garde venues, including collaborations with symphony orchestras, and performances in art fairs and fashion shows, Mills has undeniably built a much sought-after and idiosyncratic artistic path.At the Roman Odeon, he will perform a new take on the project alongside his long-time partner, keyboardist Jean-Phi Dary. On this occasion, he is joined by bass player Divinity Roxx and flautist Rasheeda Ali.
Where: Odeon of Herodes Atticus
Godspeed You! Black Emperor
Godspeed You! Black Emperor, the phenomenal artistic collective of the global post-rock scene, will offer a transcendental live experience to Greek audiences. Since their founding in Montreal in 1994 by Efrim Menuck, Mauro Pezzente and Mike Moya and to this day, the band constantly seeks new musical forms, spectacularly reinventing the post-rock scene. Through experimentations beyond boundaries or labels, great orchestrations, and dreamlike ambient soundscapes, Godspeed You! Black Emperor conjure a novel musical universe that has been bewitching their fanbase on both sides of the Atlantic.
Where: Odeon of Herodes Atticus
Moderat
After a six-year hiatus, the legendary Moderat make a comeback to recordings and concerts with the album More D4ta. It all began in 2002, when established artists Aparrat and Modeselektor decided to join forces at the apex of their creativity. The result was three albums that defined electronic music thanks to a unique recipe consisting of intelligent lyrics, cinematic aesthetics, and epic dance beats. Nowadays, the German superstars are widely considered the foremost artists of the 21st century Berlin school of electronic music. Athens will be a stop in their much-anticipated world tour, where they are expected to wow audiences with their greatest hits and a state-of-the-art spectacle, offering a comprehensive artistic experience.
Where: Odeon of Herodes Atticus
Athens State Orchestra – Lukas Karytinos, Gioconda’s Smile – The Birds
The year 2022 marks the 80th anniversary since the founding of the Athens State Orchestra, the oldest Greek symphonic ensemble. In the context of this celebration, the Orchestra pays tribute to the late and great Manos Hadjidakis, presenting two of his most famous works. In addition to the great value of Hadjidakis’ symphonic work that left its mark on post-WWII music, it bears mentioning that the composer had close ties with the Athens State Orchestra, having served as its director in the period 1976-1982.
Where: Odeon of Herodes Atticu
Lia Rodrigues, Fúria
When in a state of mania or “fury”, the human body can become ecstatic, wildly celebrate, but also be driven to the most violent rebellion imaginable. Lia Rodrigues’ nine dancers explore fundamental human needs in a highly precise choreography where contemporary dance meets Brazilian tradition. Based in Brazil for the last several years, Lia Rodrigues, originally renowned as a dancer in Maguy Marin’s company, has founded a school for young dancers in the largest favela of Rio de Janeiro. Her “militant” pieces, at the crossroads of performance, plastic arts, and dance, employ a choreographic style charged with the energy and urgency of a true manifesto.
When: 20/07 until 21/07/2022 at 21:00
Where: Peiraios 260 (D)
Agamemnon by Aeschylus
In the first chapter of Aeschylus’ Oresteia trilogy, Agamemnon’s homecoming signals a new, bloody chapter of violence when he is murdered by his wife, Clytemnestra. Ulrich Rasche, one of the most exciting new German directors, is noted for his unusual and impressive scenic language. His actors are often driven towards a deeply existential and “manic” style of performance, combining text, movement, and rhythm. Audiences will be captivated by a breathtaking production, a well-orchestrated choreography performed on mechanical revolving stages to the sounds of live contemporary music. The event forms part of the “70 Years of the Goethe-Institut Athen” programme.
With Greek and English surtitles
When: 22/07 until 23/07/2022 at 21:00
Where: Ancient Theatre of Epidaurus
Greek National Opera – Pier Giorgio Morandi – Hugo de Ana, Toscaby Giacomo Puccini
Tosca: an opera diva, insanely jealous of her lover. Scarpia: a powerful man taking pleasure in the pain of his victims. Noble patriot Mario Cavaradossi is caught in the middle and led to his death: not on account of his ideas, but because he has won the heart of Tosca, the woman Scarpia lusts after.In Giacomo Puccini’s extremely popular operatic thriller, the exceptionally suggestive music accentuates the mad passions. Audiences will enjoy a thrilling and highly dramatic version of Tosca, faithful to the composer’s spirit; the revival of the successful production originally presented in 2012 under the helm of famous Argentinean director Hugo de Ana. Acclaimed chief conductor Philippe Auguin serves as conductor, with the participation of world-renowned opera singers.
When: 28/07 until 31/07/2022 at 21:00
Where: Odeon of Herodes Atticus
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