The program of the National Opera Artistic Season (ELS) 2023/24, signed by the Artistic Director, is multifaceted and interesting. Giorgos Koumendakis which was announced today.

It includes the conclusion of the tribute to the memory of Maria Callas with three events – a gala concert of the opera in Irodeo (September 16), a major exhibition (“Unpacking Callas”, November 26) and a screening of a new documentary film about the diva’s Greek period (12.02) – a revival of the very successful Shostakovich’s operas Lady Macbeth of the Mtsensk District (premiere 21.10) staged by Fanny Ardant and La bohèmes by Puccini (premiere 12.09) staged by Graham Vick, a new production – the opera Les Éclairs, a joint production of ELLS with the Opéra-Comique de Paris (premiere 16.11) – and , of course, the popular “The Nutcracker” by Tchaikovsky (premiere 23.12) for the Christmas holidays, the choreography of the premiere took place in 2022, staged by ELS Ballet director Konstantinos Rigos.

We will also see a new production in the visual installation program “The Artist about the Composer” (22-24/9) co-produced with NEON. This time, the commission goes to artist Joanna Pantazopoulou, who will create an immersive installation in which visual effects and music invite the public to discover a magical, subversive world.

As well as a new production of The Artist about a Composer commissioned by a Greek artist of a new generation living and working in New York, the opera Eclairs is the third work of the multi-awarded French composer Philippe Ershan. libretto by acclaimed French writer Jean Esnoz, based on a fictional biography of Nikola Tesla, to fulfill the desire of ELLS Artistic Director for a broad, multi-collective program based on Greek strengths, but at the same time reaching out to the international world of opera. with strong extraversion – with the support of the SNS endowment. “Les Éclairs” is a musical journey through the Industrial Revolution in New York City, chronicling the hectic life of Serbian-born cosmopolitan dandy and “mad” scientist Nikola Tesla.

Also in line with the announcements of his new term, Mr. Koumendakis introduces the first Wagner to the SNFCC. The Valkyrie comes to the Stavros Niarchos Hall (premiere 10/3/24) in an international co-production by ELLS with the Royal Danish Opera under the baton of Wagner’s conductor Philip Augen, staged by the eminent British director John Fuljames.

But also two Greek directors Nikos Karatanos and Yiannis Houvardas will be tested in 2024 at the Lyric Theatre. The first one makes its debut in the operatic repertoire, giving a new interpretation to the two leading operas of verismo – “Rural Cavalry” and “Paliatsusu” (premiere 01/25/24). The sets and costumes for the performance will be signed by British set and costume designer Leslie Travers, known to us for the beautiful installation he created for the recent ELLS Cyanopogon Tower. The second, already tested in Janáček’s The Makropoulos Affair in 2018, returns to ELLS with a new production of contemporary opera. Kurt Weill and Bertolt Brecht’s satirical novel The Rise and Fall of the Redwood City, which premiered in Leipzig in 1930 but was banned by the Nazis a few years later, depicts “the golden city of our dreams, turning to dust and disappearing before our eyes “. in a political reading with moments of “indignation and despair”.

Opera women

In the 23/24 season, ELLS takes a critical but sensitive look at female images in opera and dance, from the emancipated Katerina Ismailova, the sick seamstress Mimi, the deceived peasant woman Saduza, the indomitable Carmen and the courageous warrior Brunnhilde, to the unconventional whore Jenny Hill, the mysterious Coppelia, the recluse Princess Turado and courtesan Violetta Valerie. The dynamic Carmen and the enigmatic Coppelia will come to Athens and the stage of the Stavros Niarchos Hall with two new ballet performances – in February and May respectively – and the opera Turanto will open the Epidaurus Athens Festival in June 2024. a new production by ELLS in honor of the 100th anniversary of the death of Giacomo Puccini, and it will be directed by Andrey Shcherban, one of the world’s leading theater and opera directors, known for his innovative and iconoclastic productions. A dedication to Manolis Kalomiris has also been announced for next June, which, on the one hand, emphasizes the connection of the Greek composer with melodrama, and on the other hand, reveals two of his completely unknown works.

The pre-sale of products from September to December 2023 starts on July 31st.