Tracing the woes of immigration in twofold concert, ‘Uprooting Elegy’
Acclaimed Greek composer Eleni Karaindrou is currently preparing for the concerts she will soon perform at the Athens Concert Hall. She is working feverishly on the program she is to present the following Sunday, Monday and Tuesday (March 27 to 29); she may not be writing any new compositions, but as she admitted, she never goes into a concert with what she calls «ready-made» material. Karaindrou has titled her upcoming concerts «Uprooting Elegy» and we asked her why she chose that title. «I had just finished writing the music for Antonis Antypas’s performance of Euripides’ ‘Trojans’ for the Epidaurus Theater in the summer of 2001, when Theodoros Angelopoulos came up to me and spoke to me about the script of his new film, ‘The Weeping Meadow.’ It was an incredible coincidence, it was as if the film was a continuation of the ancient tragedy: 2,500 years later, we are again and always talking about people uprooted from their land, about immigration. I instantly felt that I was facing a twofold composition, from ‘Trojans’ and ”Meadow,’ which I would call the ‘Uprooting Elegy.’ That is the basis of this concert.» Karaindrou pointed out that she wouldn’t want to present the two works as they already exist and listeners can already enjoy them on the two albums she has produced with Manfred Eicher’s company ECM. «A live concert is entirely different from an album; it has a different meaning, a different function and demands different answers. You have to come up with the means to make an appealing concert, hopefully even a magical one. To be honest, I am hoping that this is what I am about to do here. These two works will form the basis of the performance, but they will mingle with each other and also with other compositions from other works of mine. I chose themes and entities from my work that can fit into this elegy of uprooting, both regarding the theme but also the music and aesthetics: the rhythm, the colors, the sounds, the alternations. I had to do a lot of weaving at this point and Manfred contributed a great deal with his useful observations.» When asked about some details of the concert’s program, Karaindrou obliged: «We will start off with the ‘Prayer’ from ‘Meadow,’ which is a choral part. I will then play the ‘Migrant’s Theme’ on the piano, the composition playing at the end of the film. Then there will be some lines without any break for applause. That will be followed by a small part from the ‘Gaze of Ulysses’ followed by the film’s ‘Dance,’ but using an oboe and a lyre, not a viola as it is on the album. I want there to be a conversation between the pieces and, as you know, the lyre features prominently in ‘Trojans.’ Then Maria Farandouri and the choir will interpret the first part of the chorus from ‘Trojans.’ That is more or less how the concert’s five entities are structured. They alternate harmoniously, in a constant flow. The concert is built like a new, autonomous work and I hope it will succeed in creating a dialogue, a warm communication between us and the audience. We will all be on stage during the entire concert, no one will be getting on and off the stage. The entire performance will last about an hour and a half.» Almost 110 people will be on stage: the Camerata Orchestra, under the baton of Alexandre Myrat, and the mixed ERT Greek Radio & TV Choir, conducted by Antonis Kontogeorgiou, reinforced with additional vocalists and strings musicians, many soloists of entechno and traditional music – acquaintances and friends of Karaindrou – the composer herself on the piano and top vocalist Maria Farandouri. «I have dreamed about working with her for years and I can assure you, I shiver when I hear her sing parts of ‘Trojans’ now at rehearsals,» said Karaindrou. Close collaborators have undertaken the audiovisual part of the performance: Giorgos Karyiotis is responsible for the sound, Andreas Sinianos for the lights, Giorgos Patsas for the colorful transformation of the stage, and Vouvoula Skoura has created a tasteful and plain video projection that will act as a background, where she was aided by her director husband Antonis Antypas. Eicher also gave her his opinion on the composition of the concert. «We identify with each other, but I always feel safer when he has given his opinion as well,» said the composer. The concert will also be released as an album by ECM worldwide – her works so far are doing very well in sales. The Athens Concert Hall is situated at 1 Kokkali & Vas. Sofias, tel 210.728.2333. The Sunday (March 27) performance is sold out, but there are still tickets for March 28 and 29. Ticket prices range from 15 euros to 60 euros, 10 euros for students.
