Presentation of the programme of artistic season 2021-2022 by the Artistic Director of the Athens State Orchestra Lukas Karytinos

Over the last year and a half, the Athens State Orchestra, our Orchestra, has largely been deprived of contact with the audience, its primary touchstone. But that doesn't mean we didn't stay active. In fact, given the testing conditions, we set out to test new ways of communicating with friends old and new. And because every cloud does indeed have a silver lining, the tens of thousands of views our online activities received actually made the multifaceted work of the nation's Premier Orchestra, the Athens State Orchestra, more accessible. But--and this is important--I have to say that we didn't view innovations like this as something we could do in those dark times, but rather as something we had to do.

 

Highlights

We hope that this season will be as close to normal as the circumstances permit, and we have prepared for normality. So, despite the restrictions that unfortunately remain part of our lives, the programme for the 2021-2022 season will feature masterpieces like Beethoven's 9th and 6th Symphonies, Bruckner’s Sixth and Eighth, works by prominent Greek composers, and celebratory concerts like those to mark the bicentenary of the birth of César Franck, the 50th anniversary of Igor Stravinsky’s death, Saint-Saëns Year and the tribute to Nikolaos Mantzaros. The Greek Revolution Cycle honouring 200 years of freedom will continue. On the podium, big names including Leonidas Kavakos, Christoph Eschenbach, Vyacheslav Volich, Mihkel Kütson and Pier Carlo Orizio. Outstanding soloists this season will include Elisabeth Leonskaja, Cyprien Katsaris, Christa Mayer and Stefan Dohr.

Given our desire to initiate as many of our fellow citizens as possible into the stirring world of symphonic music, we will be staging three innovative concerts this year under the umbrella title “Journey into the heart of Music”. The concerts will seek to shed light on its precious hidden treasures through the Orchestra's live performance with a little help from technology (lectures, audio-visual material). Our institutional initiatives include a collaboration with the National Centre for Audiovisual Media and Communication (EKOME), which we hope will bear multiple fruit with the creation of HD videos which we will promote and market internationally.

The season will end with a major Chinese tour in June as part of the cultural exchange and dialogue between our two countries in the light of a half century of diplomatic relations between Greece and China.

 

A Summing Up

Before I present the programme in more detail, I should like to report on everything we achieved in the year of adversity that preceded it. A year in which we, like most organizations, had to radically and repeatedly modify our schedule of activities. This was how our “Athens State Orchestra Soloists” cycle was born, to replace the live concerts that had to be cancelled due to the pandemic with an entirely online series which has included 7 concerts to date. The Cycle's success wasn't just down to the palpable chemistry between our musicians; it was also due to needs which the pandemic and the lockdowns created. Thus, the concerts gave the public the opportunity to ‘attend’ for free a series of works both popular and less well-known from the solo repertoires of the instruments in a symphony orchestra, and they also allowed the instrumentalists to stay active and gave them a chance to showcase their abilities as soloists. The fact that the much-anticipated concert which the internationally acclaimed Leonidas Kavakos was due to conduct for our “An offering of music and a Musical Offering” philanthropic programme also took place as a free online event is indicative of the climate at the time.

All of this provided a way for the Orchestra to deal with its discomfort at the lack of face-to-face contact with music-lovers.

For the circumstances only permitted a bare minimum of concerts with a live audience to take place. Starting with the most recent concert, we certainly couldn't fail to mention the moving summer concert in honour of Mikis Theodorakis on his 96th birthday, which was held in the Megaron Athens Concert Hall's Garden. This was our way of thanking the legendary composer for his decades of support for the Orchestra, just a few months before he passed for ever into history.

This was preceded, on 24 June, by our Orchestra's triumphal return to live performing with a concert in a packed Odeon of Herodes Atticus for which we joined forces with the Grammy Award winner Daniel Trifonov, the most astonishing pianist of our era, as the Times has called him, in his first ever appearance in Greece.

We were also delighted to welcome the 2nd Athens State Orchestra CD of works by Nikos Skalkottas on the well-known Naxos label.

Our two previous seasons were very much in the spirit of celebrations for the bicentenary of the Greek Revolution. Their title is indicative: Heroes: Yesterday, Today, Tomorrow. A title which is less of a slogan for us than a reality. Indeed, the recent pandemic revealed that heroes aren't just the dusty busts on forgotten shelves; they live among us and take effective and immediate action in times of crisis. Automatically, without thinking, and without fuss.

 

Journey into the heart of Music

This year, we are making it a priority to spotlight the liberating power of music. In difficult times, symphonic music reminds us why it's always relevant. As Greece's premier orchestra, the Athens State Orchestra wants to initiate more and more people into the delicately-hued idiom of the main symphonic genres. We believe in a symphonic music that provides enjoyment to all, and isn't restricted to a specialized audience.

Which is why we are launching this year a series of interactive concerts we have called "Journey into the heart of Music", with the help of the charismatic composer and pianist Christos Papageorgiou and the distinguished historian Maria Efthymiou. These are innovative concerts in which different media (lectures, video, music) are combined to showcase a different symphonic genre each time. They are aimed at the broadest possible audience, irrespective of prior exposure to symphonic music. And their goal is clear: highlighting the timeless value of symphonic music through the directed interpretation of works, the opportunity for audiences to acquaint themselves with the instruments and musicians of the symphony orchestra, illuminating lectures, and the use of technology. We are determined to initiate as many new listeners as possible into this stirring universe of sound. Anyone who hasn't had much prior contact with the genre will see for themselves that the path to knowledge they are being invited to walk is anything but inaccessible. The Journey into the heart of Music cycle begins on 28 January; the first concert is dedicated to the tone poem.

This is followed on 18 March with a concert given over to the concerto, the genre which showcases more than any other the capabilities of virtuoso musicians. What do we expect to hear when the soloist comes out on stage? This and many other questions will be answered in the course of the concert. The core session, dedicated to the symphony itself, is left until the final concert in the cycle, which will take place on 13 May.

 

Season Opening Concert

Our inaugural concert is entitled “Stepping out into the light”, which is very much the spirit in which we are entering into this new season. Music, without becoming didactic, is brilliant at revealing just how close mourning is to the triumph of a life that's approaching its end. On 8 October, we will embark on our 2021-2022 season with a tribute to the Greek composer and former Artistic Director of the Athens State Orchestra, the outstanding Yannis Ioannidis, with a performance of his work Metaplasis II.

This is followed by the devastating Kindertotenlieder, the “Songs on the deaths of children” for which Gustav Mahler drew on his own experiences. The concert ends with Brahms’ monumental First Symphony, which will mark the start--we hope--of a dynamic, inspired and inspirational artistic year.

 

Collaborations with conductors and performers from abroad

There are no shortage of collaborations in this year's programme with internationally renowned, indeed legendary, performers and conductors. Some of them are old friends who enthusiastically accept our invitation to return to the Athens State Orchestra podium, revealing not only the mutual admiration, but also the bonds of friendship, that unite us. On 15 October, in a co-production with the Athens Concert Hall Organization, we will have the pleasure of joining forces with the chief conductor of the Odessa National Opera, Vyacheslav Volich. The concert marks the centenary of the death of the French composer Camille Saint-Saëns. A child prodigy who remained faithful to the Romantic idiom all his life, he actually conducted the Athens Conservatory Orchestra, the precursor of the Athens State Orchestra. At the same concert, one of the 100 finest pianists of the 20th century, Cyprien Katsaris, will give virtuoso performances of two spectacular works by Franz Liszt.

On 4 February, the Orchestra and the Megaron Athens Concert Hall will have the honour of collaborating with the internationally acclaimed Brazilian pianist Jean Louis Steuerman in a performance of the emotional roller-coaster that is Schumann's Piano Concerto.

On 11 February, the Orchestra will perform once again with the legendary pianist and maestro Christoph Eschenbach, the German conductor who impressed audiences and critics alike on 29 January 2020 with his interpretation of works by Beethoven and Mahler in a concert that can only be described as a triumph. This time, he will be conducting Mozart's atmospheric 20^th concerto for piano and orchestra in D minor, with the impressive Nefeli Mousoura playing the solo part. In keeping with the wishes of the Maestro, who has waived his fee, the proceeds from the concert will be donated to charity.

The inspired conducted Marcus Bosch will also be returning to Athens. Our Orchestra collaborated with the German conductor in both 2014, in the context of its Brahms Cycle, and again in 2016 at our Easter concert. On this occasion, on 27 May, we will get to enjoy him in Mozart's imposing 35th Symphony in D major.

The dynamic Italian conductor Pier Carlo Orizio will lead the Orchestra in a performance of Tchaikovsky's tempestuous Francesca da Rimini (5.11), commemorating the 700th anniversary of Dante's death.

Then the leading cornist, Stefan Dohr (First Horn of the Berlin Philharmonic) will play Richard Strauss's cheerful 2nd Concerto for French Horn and orchestra in E flat major with us. Frank Beermann, an old favourite with Greek audiences, will be on the podium. And, of course, the legendary Elisabeth Leonskaja is returning to treat us to a sensational performance of Brahms’ delightful 2nd piano concerto (01.04).

 

200 years since the Greek Revolution

By the end of the year, we hope it will have been possible to complete the major programme we had prepared to mark the bicentenary of the outbreak of the Greek Revolution of 1821.

15 October will see the première of The dance of Zalongo, a work commissioned by the Athens State Orchestra from the internationally acclaimed composer Dimitrios Skyllas. Then, on 5 November, we will be premièring another much-anticipated work, Christos Samaras’ Freedom or death, which was also commissioned by the Athens State Orchestra for the bicentenary. The concert will coincide with another important anniversary: half a century since the death of the pioneering Igor Stravinsky (05/11).

The Greek Revolution IV concert which could not take place last year due to COVID-19 will be performed this year instead, on 12 November. Four works by Greek composers will be featured, including Palingenesis, which the Athens State Orchestra commissioned from the award-winning Euripides Bekos. The remaining compositions, indicative of our musical history, shine a light on our national identity over time: Suite No. 1 by Mikis Theodorakis, Variations and Fugue on a folk song by Antiochos Evangelatos, and the Introduction and Fugue on two Greek themes by Dionysios Lavragas. Conducted by the up-and-coming maestro Dionysis Grammenos. At the piano, the distinguished soloist Tatiana Papageorgiou (12.11).

The opera Elpis Patridos [Hope of a Homeland] by George Kouroupos with a libretto by the poet Ioulita Iliopoulou will receive its première on 8 & 10 December. The work highlights the timeless nature of the principles that fuelled the Greek Revolution. The opera was produced by the Athens Concert Hall Organization with the participation of the ERT Choir.

 

An offering of music and a Musical Offering

Given that the concerts in Patras and Athens on November 26 & 28 respectively go ahead as planned, this year will mark the successful completion of six years of "An offering of music and a Musical Offering", our charity programme. The leading violinist and conductor Leonidas Kavakos will conduct Joseph Haydn’s Cello Concerto in C major along with Sergei Prokofiev’s pensive Sixth Symphony. On the cello, the rising star Timotheos Petrin. As always, Leonidas Kavakos will be waiving his fee to help the Orchestra meet its many financial obligations, while the proceeds from the concert will be donated to charity. Our collaborations have become something of an institution, and one we are especially honoured to continue.

 

Anniversaries

2022 will kick off with a concert dedicated to the bicentenary of the birth of the master César Franck (21.1). For the first time in many years, the Orchestra will perform his tense tone poem The accursed huntsman This will be followed by the Concerto for flute and orchestra by Michalis Travlos, performed by a soloist with a profound knowledge of the instrument, Ivona Glinka. The concert will conclude with Tchaikovsky’s emotionally charged 4th Symphony.

This season’s programme will also seek to honour the 150th anniversary of the death of the pioneering composer Nikolaos Mantzaros. A number of works which shed light on his oeuvre will receive their premières in a concert in which they engage from a distance with The Chairman Dances by the minimalist composer John Adams under the baton of Spyros Prosoparis. It was the least we could do to honour the composer of our national anthem, and founder of the Ionian School of composition.

Of course, the Athens State Orchestra will also be commemorating the 50th anniversary of the death of Igor Stravinsky, one of the most important exponents of musical modernism. On 5 November, we will be performing his Concerto for violin and orchestra in D, followed in the spring by Dumbarton Oaks (11/03) and the breath-taking The Firebird (27.05).

 

Choral works - Opera

In addition to our symphonic concerts, this year's programme also includes numerous excerpts from famous operas. Indeed, our Orchestra often performs opera concertante, which is to say in a concert format, and takes part in opera galas in which the focus is on the music and performance. This year’s Festive Christmas Concert will be the first such concert of the season, including as it does Beethoven’s 9th Symphony (18.12). This will be followed by our annual New Year’s Eve Gala (30.12) and the Opera Gala featuring the celebrated Dimitris Platanias and the award-winning Dinara Alieva produced by the Athens Concert Hall Organization (03.03). Finally, on Holy Wednesday, our programme will include Mozart's ever-popular Requiem, under the baton of the internationally aknowledged Myron Mihailidis, General Director of the Erfurt Opera and Philharmonic Orchestra (20.04, co-produced with the Athens Concert Hall Organization).

 

Appearances abroad 

We recently returned excited but proud from the historic Enescu Festival where we shared the programme with major symphony orchestras including the LSO, the Orchestra National de France, and the Concertgebouw. This year, if the pandemic allows it, we will be visiting China once again in the context of events to mark a half century of Greek-Chinese diplomatic relations. Honouring this country with which we enjoy ties of friendships based on our shared love for culture. There, we will perform works by Skalkottas, Grieg and Dvořák in collaboration with the internationally renowned pianist Theodosia Ntokou under the baton of the acclaimed Stefanos Tsialis. We hope this tour will allow us to embark on a dialogue with the Asian nation with the world's largest population.

 

Greek Flavour

Notwithstanding the above, the 2021-22 season will have a very Greek flavour. A series of exceptional Greek performers of international renown will be raising the bar with their virtuosity. In the Dark Currents - Saint-Saëns Year concert, Thodoris Tzovanakis will play the Third Concerto for piano and orchestra in E flat major by Camille Saint-Saëns in the Athens State Orchestra’s first ever performance of the work. (22.10). In early November, Antonis Sousamoglou will acquaint us anew with Stravinsky's Concerto for violin and orchestra in D (05.11). The prolific Miltos Logiadis will be conducting Beethoven’s Pastoral Symphony, but also the Opera Gala on 03.03. A host of distinguished performers will be participating in this year’s New Year Gala: Myrtò Papatanasiu, Marissia Papalexiou Mario Zeffiri and Dimitris Tiliakos, under the experienced baton of Byron Fidetzis (30.12). Other outstanding Greek musicians will include the world-famous composer Christos Hatzis, who will be presenting a composition for marimba inspired by the phenomenon of the vernal equinox. The work is dedicated to our very own Theodor Milkov (29.04). In May, the internationally acclaimed Vassilis Christopoulos will ascend to the podium to conduct Anton Bruckner's ‘apocalyptic’ Eighth Symphony in C Minor (06.05). A few days later, the explosive Vassilis Varvaresos will take on Edvard Grieg's Concerto for piano and orchestra in A minor. The concert is entitled Appassionato Con Fuoco (or just ConFuoco?), which is certainly no coincidence as passion is also a distinguishing feature of its conductor, George Balatsinos (20.05).

 

Ongoing activities…

The coming season will also see us continue our wide-ranging educational work. Our Young Musicians’ Academy continues to prepare young performers for the particular demands made by a symphony orchestra. The popular educational activities Right to Music and In(sisting on) the Aegean continue to introduce children of different ages to the sounds, repertoire and instruments of an orchestra.

Our Open Rehearsals continue, too, giving pre-schoolers and elementary school students the opportunity to attend rehearsals for free with their schools. And this year, for a token sum, students can also join our beloved With My Class at our Orchestra programme.

Needless to say, our extremely popular Introductory Talks will be returning along with our live performances to further enrich the concert ritual. The Talks are now into their second decade and have proved very popular with audiences, whose knowledge of the history and significance of the works they enhance in a straightforward and unpretentious way. Symphonic Music for Everyone.

Every year, there is a special place in our Programme for concerts by our many and varied Chamber Music ensembles. Their repertoire is wide-ranging, bold and imaginative. This is our way of being flexible and meeting our audience in places where we share common cultural sensibilities.

Finally, a heartfelt thank-you to the organizations whose friendship and support we have enjoyed for many years: the German embassy in Athens, the Italian Cultural Institute, the Canada Council for the Arts, Air Canada. Of course, we could not fail to thank the communication sponsors who promote and spotlight our work: ERT, STA.SY SA, Voulí Tileórasi,Lifo, ελ culture, and sto kokkino 105.5

Athens, 5 October 2021

Lukas Karytinos

Artistic Director of the Athens State Orchestra