For the 80th anniversary of the end of the Second World War, the Philharmonia Orchestra of Athens, led by conductor Vyronas Fidetzis, performs works that were born during the dramatic years of the struggle and are moving with their universal messages, expressing mourning for the victims of the war and the universal desire for peace. In 1944, Theodoros Karyotakis dedicated the symphonic picture Epic Song to the “memory of the heroic dead of the Greek people”. In 1943 Bohuslav Martinů commemorates in his symphonic poem Monument to Lidice the resistance fighters who died when the Nazis razed the village of Lidice in Czechoslovakia in his symphonic poem. During the Occupation, Manolis Kalomiris set poems by Kostis Palamas to music, which were presented in the song cycle State and Solitude on 27 February 1944, exactly one year after the poet’s death. In 1960, Dmitri Shostakovich dedicated the heartbreaking String Quartet in C minor to the ‘memory of the victims of fascism and war’. Kostas Nikitas transcribed the Quartet for small orchestral ensemble, and this is the version we will hear in the concert. The program concludes with Variations and Fugue on a theme by Purcell. Written in 1945, Britten’s masterpiece went far beyond its original purpose ̶ to introduce young people to orchestral instruments ̶ , introducing listeners of all ages to a world where there is hope.
CO-PRODUCTION
Philharmonia Orchestra of Athens
Megaron the Athens Concert Hall
