ADAGIO – MUSIC FOR EASTER
Co-production:
Megaron – The Athens Concert Hall
Athens State Orchestra
100th Birthday of Leonard Bernstein
A top 20th-century musician—conductor, pianist, and composer. His music combines the light character of jazz with a spontaneous melodic quality and the more elaborate, avant-garde idiom of 20th-century serious music. In his Symphony No. 3, the word ‘death’ is not mentioned, despite the fact that the title Kaddish refers to the Jewish prayer chanted at the service for the dead. The dramatic monologue written by the composer himself expresses agony before pain, doubt about the human existence, and a longing for a return to faith. In the Chichester Psalms, Bernstein deployed Jewish religious tradition as well as Christian choral practice, as a gesture of peace and reconciliation, composing a work that he described as ‘popular in feeling’, with ‘an old-fashioned sweetness along with its more violent moments’. Celebrated Israeli conductor and composer Yoav Talmi drew inspiration from a visit to the Dachau concentration camp for a musical collage of fleeting images of the past and present.
– Yoav Talmi: Elegy for Strings, Timpani and Accordion (‘Dachau Reflections’)
– Leonard Bernstein: Chichester Psalms
– Leonard Bernstein: Symphony No. 3 (‘Kaddish’)
With Greek surtitles
Sophia Kyanidou soprano
George Gallos narrator
George Kosmas-Petrantis boy soprano
The Rosarte Children’s Choir
Choirmaster: Rosie Mastrosavva
The ERT [National Broadcasting Corporation] Chorus
Chorus master: Dimitris Ktistakis
The Athens Municipality Chorus
Chorus master: Stavros Beris
The Athens State Orchestra
Conductor: Miltos Logiadis
Free introductory talk by Nikos Laaris for ticket-holders at 19:45