Music meets Greek poetry
Ilias Andriopoulos’s «Greek Trilogy» will be staged at the Herod Atticus Theater on Thursday, July 8, as part of the Hellenic Festival performances. Set to music by Andriopoulos, it consists of Odysseas Elytis’s «Orientations,» George Seferis’s «Argonauts» and Andreas Kalvos’s «Odes.» The performance of the «Odes» will be a Greek premiere. With these three works, which make use of sophisticated musical forms, the composer says he was trying to start a new cycle which will enable him to test himself in areas other than singing. Kalvos’s «Odes,» to be interpreted by Tassis Christoyiannis and arranged by Michalis Travlos, were first performed in London’s Queen Elizabeth Hall on January 28, 2002, with singer Spyros Sakkas. Seferis’s «Argonauts» will be sung by Manolis Mitsias, with readings by Ioulita Iliopoulou; the musical arrangement is by Andriopoulos and Yiannis Sambrovalakis. Finally, Elytis’s «Orientations» will be interpreted by Ioanna Forti, also with readings by Iliopoulou, and arrangement by Savvas Zannas. «I picked lyrical poems from the ‘Odes.’ Seferis gave a dramatic and tragic color to his poetry; in the ‘Argonauts,’ he depicted that aspect of Greek nationhood which has to do with historical burdens, adventure and the nation’s occasional bright periods through the centuries. (…) Elytis, with his lyrical quality, seems like a spring breeze that gives life freshness and stimulates the imagination,» said the composer. The «Greek Trilogy» will be staged on July 8 at the Herod Atticus Theater. Tickets are available from the Hellenic Festival box office (39 Panepistimiou, tel 210.928.2900) and the theater box office (Dionysiou Areopagitou, Acropolis).
