(Greek opera-lovers mourning over opera's dead body)Let's step back in time...
~2008~
-Opening of the Athens Festival with the (atrocious) Turandot of the Greek National Opera that took the worst of reviews and created a petit blogosphere scandale.
-Carsen's wonderful "A midsummer night's dream"
-Olivier Py's haunting "Curlew River"
-The academic Sokurov/Bolshoi "Boris Godunov"
-Pina Bausch's stunning "Orphée et Euridice" at the Epidaurus.
-The World Premiere of the Greek opera "Damage"
Let alone a Recital by Renée Fleming etc etc.
The 2009 Schedule has not been officially announced yet,
however
Parsi knows for sure that it hides a little surprise for Greek opera lovers!
This year, the number of opera performances of the Athens Festival is gonna be
0
(and for whoever didn't get it, that's a zero).
And if you wonder, what about that AIDA that is being prepared by the Greek National Opera (and the rumours have Dimitra Theodossiou debuting the role and Dolora Zajick singing Amneris next to her)......
The President of the Athens Festival decided that after last years' fiasco with Turandot, the Greek National Opera, that by tradition opens the Athens Festival the last I-don't-really-know-how-many-years, is not good enough for his Festival and so, this time the performances of Aida will take place during the last days of May.
In fact, it seems that this year, no opera is good enough for the President of the Athens Festival.
The Official schedule will be announced on Tuesday, 31/3.
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10 comments:
And apparently the festival will be shorter this year. It will close at July 15th........... It is obvious than the few foreign tourists expected this year in Greece do not count at all for our country.... so IF some came... they would have nothing to watch at Herodus, just the closed door....
yes, officially, it will close on july 15th.
It has NOTHING to do with turists coming or not, there have been TOO MANY budget/availability/scheduling problems...
More HERE, after the official announcment of the program
I agree that tourists have nothing to do with a Festival. We cannot expand a festival throughtout the whole tourist period (it's actually what used to happen before Loukos, the festival would begin end of May and would end in October)...
Sorry, I will disagree with ALL of you. Many times, people passing through Athens for holidays were looking for something good in Hellenic Festival, and it is a pitty not to have anything to present to them.....
Instead of spreading the festival throughout thousand of venues, most of them are half empty...(millions of debts...) we should concentrate in more important venues, for mlonger period. We could like or not like, but people will always be looking for something good in Herode Atticus...
This is MY opinion, but of course nobody has asked for it...
I understand what you say but I don't think that tourists should be a priority. Tourists are usually like 10% or something at the Herodion. And the venues are not that many and they re usually sold out! I mean places like Pireos 260 etc.
Furthermore, I really liked the more avant garde direction that the festival took post-Loukos than the previous mainstream "family" programming.
oh my God are you cerius?
I'm cerious and I love cereals. That's why Parsi will hit London in July...
Ι will hit Loukos in July...
Hahaha, wait till tomorrow... maybe there 'll be other surprises as well...
For example Ethan Hawke, performing at the Epidaurus...
or Helen Mirren....
just u wait....
ok I will wait till you post tomorrow :)
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