Jeans, a casual top and a plastic cup of cold frappe, the national drink of Greece’s youth. That was the attire of Michalis Katsoulis, the young baritone who strode across the minimally decorated stage of Bios, singing the opening of Verdi’s “Il Trovatore” in the role of Ferrando.

I had been very curious as to how an opera – and not just any opera, but the trademark “Trovatore” – could be given an alternative setting. As I sat watching the performance, the word that mostly came to mind was “refreshing.” From composer Haralambos Gogios’s orchestration to the minimal, almost bare, stage and of course the singers, whose voices were captivating but who also reflected the freshness of their young age, I could see that it wasn’t just me, but that the whole audience was captured in the magic of this different “Trovatore.”

The timid yet determined Leonora, soprano Marina Kolyva who was debuting, expressed her feelings while listening to her i-Pod. The wonderful mezzo-soprano Ioanna Forti unraveled all the tragic personality of Gypsy mother Azucena, especially as she span about the stage in a revolving chair along with her son Manrico, the impressive tenor Yiannis Christopoulos.

Admittedly, there are people who disagree with such a mise-en-scene for a classic opera and who even consider it to be blasphemous. Yet the real issue lies elsewhere. Art, in all its forms, is not static. It is something that has evolved over the centuries and is meant to keep evolving. It is also meant to cause controversy: How many of the operas that we so admire today flopped at their premieres? There can never be unanimous agreement regarding a piece of art – in fact there shouldn’t be – but what is even more important than the result itself is giving the opportunity to young artists to experiment and take a work further.

Greece does not lack young artists of high caliber. The performance at Bios alone revealed the potential present in the new blood of the Greek National Opera: Yiannis Christopoulos, Ioanna Forti, Manolis Papadakis (the Count of Luna) and Michalis Katsoulis collaborate with the institution, although they are not permanent members. What the country lacks is the structure that will enable these artists to explore their talents further and promote their work. What is the value of talent without the necessary means and funding to develop it?

Why should the solution still be to go abroad and, more importantly, how many people can actually afford that?

“The money that we got from ticket sales can cover only 10 percent of the production costs,” said producer Gabriella Triantafyllis, founding member of the Beggars’ Operas, the company behind this performance. Bearing in mind the number of free invitations that had to be sent out, the actual proceeds amounted to even less than that. It should also be noted that the choir, which comprised students of the Athens University Music Studies Department and others, worked on a voluntary basis.

The only option of companies and individual artists is to look for sponsors, which does not provide a permanent solution to the problem. As the Count of Luna uttered his final words, I found myself wishing that more people could enjoy the sold-out, refreshingly different take on Verdi’s much-loved masterpiece. But, of course, staging it again will depend entirely on the quite difficult task of securing sponsorship one more time...