Hungarian dedication to soloist
A world premiere dedicated by Hungarian composer Pal Rozsa to Greek double-bassist Vassilis Papavassiliou is on the bill for the Greek National Opera Chamber Orchestra’s concert on Sunday evening at the GNO’s Olympia Theater, as the ensemble presents a series of concerts to celebrate its 10th anniversary. For the first part of the show, which begins at 8.30 p.m., the ensemble will perform Nestor Taylor’s «Olvia Donna,» a lyrical poem written by the young Greek-Australian composer for a soprano (performed at this concert by Mina Polychronou) and a chamber orchestra, based on the poetry of Odysseas Elytis. This will be followed by Rozsa’s Concerto for Double Bass and Chamber Orchestra, Opus 429, and performed with soloist Papavassiliou, to whom the piece is dedicated. The world premiere of the piece is being held under the aegis of Hungarian Ambassador E. Csaba Korosi. In the second part of the program, Alkis Baltas begins with a composition/tribute to Dmitri Shostakovich titled «Grave Scherzo,» followed by Shostakovich’s Quartet for Strings No. 8, Opus 110, «Requiem for the Victims of Fascism and War.» The orchestration for the performance his by Rudolf Barschai and the orchestra will be conducted by Haris Hadzigeorgiou. The GNO Chamber Orchestra will perform on Sunday at the Olympia Theater, 59 Academias, tel 210.361.2461/364.3725. Tickets cost 5 euros.
