Lito Messini

A digital game of identities for avatars and solitary individuals across the globe - World Premiere (March 3rd, Centre Pompidou) *NEW DATES* 2, 3, 9, 10, 16, 17, 23, 24 of April

*REGISTRATION STILL OPEN UNTIL JULY 31ST* A hilarious exotic opera by the forerunners of Monty Python and Marx Brothers, Gilbert and Sullivan’s The Mikado (1885) in a successful co-production of the GNO Alternative Stage with the Rafi music theatre company, conducted and re-orchestrated by Michalis Papapetrou and directed by Akillas Karazisis. Its creators, William Schwenck Gilbert and Arthur Sullivan, leading lights in the field of English comic opera, were inspired by the atmospheric Far East and composed this acerbic satire on the socio-political mores of the 19th century. Violence, corruption, populism, hypocrisy and puritanism are all in the firing line of this ingenious artistic duo, who satirise their times with humour and lightheartedness. Filmed at the GNO Alternative Stage at the SNFCC on 30 December 2017. Greek subtitles available.

*REGISTRATION STILL OPEN UNTON LULY 31ST* The fascinating new opera for young audiences Prince Ivan and the Firebird by the leading Greek composer and director Theo Abazis was presented with great success by the GNO Alternative Stage. Βased on a well-known traditional Russian tale which was also the inspiration for Igor Stravinsky’s famous ballet, the work is an ideal introduction to the world of opera from a composer versed in the language of modern music and theatre. Filmed at the GNO Alternative Stage at the SNFCC on 30 December 2017. Greek and English subtitles available.

Aède of the Ocean and Land A Play in Seven Acts by Noor Inayat Khan Directed by Elli Papakonstantinou*Music by Shirish Korde*Video Artistry by Stephanie Sherriff Featuring Dashon Burton, Jen Zetlan & Emily Pulley Monday, September 14, 2020 1 pm New York, 6 pm London, 7 pm Athens ***A Zoom Live Music-Cinema Event***

Η παράδοση στη λόγια μουσική. Ρεσιτάλ με τραγούδια των Γ.Κωνσταντινίδη, Ν.Λαμπελέτ, Γ.Λαμπελέτ, Μ.Καλομοίρη, Σπ.Σαμάρα, Μ.Ravel κ.ά. τραγούδι: Λητώ Μεσσήνη πιάνο: Σταύρος Διαμαντόπουλος Songs by Greek classical composers soprano: Lito Messini piano: Stavros Diamantopoulos

How does one sing about one’s desires and fears? To what extent are humans natural and to what extent are they spiritual? How does living with animals affect us? How much does it liberate us? Rafi, one of the most dynamic Greek music theatre companies, returns to the Athens & Epidaurus Festival, together with the avant-garde performance group Nova Melancholia, this time at the Little Theatre of Ancient Epidaurus, with Michelangelo Falvetti’s elegant Baroque oratorio Il diluvio universale (The Great Flood). Presented in Greece for the very first time, the oratorio of this provocative Sicilian priest caused a sensation when it was originally performed. Inspired by the Biblical story of the Great Flood, its protagonists are natural elements such as water, fire and air rather than Biblical figures. The directorial duo brings to the fore a number of current issues and causes. Audiences will be carried away by a seductive blend of period instruments, oriental maqam and animal sounds, with virtuosos Michalis Siganidis and Harris Lambrakis improvising and sweeping us off our feet as if they were modern-day troubadours. With Greek and English surtitles The performance will also be presented at the Dodoni Festival

How does one sing about one’s desires and fears? To what extent are humans natural and to what extent are they spiritual? How does living with animals affect us? How much does it liberate us? Rafi, one of the most dynamic Greek music theatre companies, returns to the Athens & Epidaurus Festival, together with the avant-garde performance group Nova Melancholia, this time at the Little Theatre of Ancient Epidaurus, with Michelangelo Falvetti’s elegant Baroque oratorio Il diluvio universale (The Great Flood). Presented in Greece for the very first time, the oratorio of this provocative Sicilian priest caused a sensation when it was originally performed. Inspired by the Biblical story of the Great Flood, its protagonists are natural elements such as water, fire and air rather than Biblical figures. The directorial duo brings to the fore a number of current issues and causes. Audiences will be carried away by a seductive blend of period instruments, oriental maqam and animal sounds, with virtuosos Michalis Siganidis and Harris Lambrakis improvising and sweeping us off our feet as if they were modern-day troubadours. With Greek and English surtitles The performance will also be presented at the Dodoni Festival

To εννοιολογικό ντουέτο ΦΥΤΑ διασκευάζει την όπερα Ορφέας του Κλάουντιο Μοντεβέρντι για την Εναλλακτική Σκηνή της ΕΛΣ. Η διασκευή ακολουθεί δοµικά αφηγηµατικά στοιχεία του αυθεντικού κειµένου, αλλά τοποθετεί τη δράση στο κοντινό µέλλον µιας χώρας σαν την Ελλάδα, ανοίγοντας θέµατα όπως οι ριζοσπαστικές πολιτικές και η έννοια της «επανάστασης» στον ύστερο καπιταλισµό, η σχέση «ανατολής» και «δύσης», οι µύθοι του ελληνισµού, καθώς και οι τρόποι που νεοσυντηρητικές πολιτικές µπορούν να οικειοποιηθούν δικαιωµατικούς λόγους των ΛΟΑΤΚΙ κοινοτήτων. - The conceptual duo FYTA reworks Claudio Monteverdi’s opera for the GNO Alternative Stage. The reworking follows structural narrative elements of the original text, but sets the action in the near future of a country like Greece, raising issues such as radical politics and the notion of “revolution” in late capitalism, East / West relations, the myths of Hellenism, as well as ways neo-conservative politics can appropriate the human rights discourse of LGBT communities.

Master Class is a 1995 play by American playwright Terrence McNally, presented as a fictional master class by opera singer Maria Callas near the end of her life, in the 1970s. As such, the play features incidental vocal music by Giuseppe Verdi, Giacomo Puccini, and Vincenzo Bellini. Alternately dismayed and impressed by the students who parade before her, she retreats into recollections about the glories of her own life and career. Included in her musings are her younger years as an ugly duckling, her fierce hatred of her rivals, the unforgiving press that savaged her early performances, her triumphs at La Scala, and her relationship with Aristotle Onassis. It culminates in a monologue about sacrifice taken in the name of art. In the leading role of Maria Callas the famous greek artist Maria Nafpliotou. Staged by Odysseas Papaspiliopoulos. SECOND SEASON

ODC ensemble-Elli Papakonstantinou-Tilemahos Mousas. An immersive opera which mixes traditional performance with cutting-edge technology and emerging neuroscience, the production draws narrative inspiration from Sophocles' classic tragedy Oedipus Rex. A 2018-19 Fulbright Artist's Award recipient and visiting scholar at Stanford University; 2018-19 "Music Theatre Now" international award recipient, Elli Papakonstantinou creates her own visually striking, lyric adaptation and explores engaging audiences in a new radical way. By using new technologies which turn the audience into the actual chorus of the opera, the piece rediscovers the community at the heart of a political performance, as it was in the ancient times.

ODC ensemble-Elli Papakonstantinou-Tilemahos Mousas. An immersive opera which mixes traditional performance with cutting-edge technology and emerging neuroscience, the production draws narrative inspiration from Sophocles' classic tragedy Oedipus Rex. A 2018-19 Fulbright Artist's Award recipient and visiting scholar at Stanford University; 2018-19 "Music Theatre Now" international award recipient, Elli Papakonstantinou creates her own visually striking, lyric adaptation and explores engaging audiences in a new radical way. By using new technologies which turn the audience into the actual chorus of the opera, the piece rediscovers the community at the heart of a political performance, as it was in the ancient times.

New Open Air Venues: Δελφοί – Λαογραφικό Μουσείο Χρισσού, Χρισσό –22 Ιουνίου 2019 Παπάγου – Κηποθέατρο Παπάγου –11 Ιουλίου 2019 Πετρούπολη – Θέατρο Πέτρας, Σκηνή «PeterBrook» –16 Ιουλίου 2019 Βριλήσσια – Θέατρο «Αλίκη Βουγιουκλάκη» – 17 Ιουλίου 2019 Αίγινα – Λαογραφικό Μουσείο – 20 Ιουλίου 2019 Χαλάνδρι –Θέατρο Ρεματιάς –27 Αυγούστου 2019 Βύρωνας –Θέατρο Βράχων, Σκηνή «Άννα Συνοδινού»– 29 Αυγούστου 2019 Κηφισιά – Αίθριο Δημαρχείου Κηφισιάς – 3 Σεπτεμβρίου 2019 Ηλιούπολη–Δημοτικό Θέατρο «Δημήτρης Κιντής»– 9 Σεπτεμβρίου 2019 Νέα Σμύρνη – Άλσος Νέας Σμύρνης – 10 Σεπτεμβρίου 2019

Master Class is a 1995 play by American playwright Terrence McNally, presented as a fictional master class by opera singer Maria Callas near the end of her life, in the 1970s. As such, the play features incidental vocal music by Giuseppe Verdi, Giacomo Puccini, and Vincenzo Bellini. Alternately dismayed and impressed by the students who parade before her, she retreats into recollections about the glories of her own life and career. Included in her musings are her younger years as an ugly duckling, her fierce hatred of her rivals, the unforgiving press that savaged her early performances, her triumphs at La Scala, and her relationship with Aristotle Onassis. It culminates in a monologue about sacrifice taken in the name of art. In the leading role of Maria Callas the famous greek artist Maria Nafpliotou. Staged by Odysseas Papaspiliopoulos.

THE FIRST LOVE Nikos Chatziapostolou 23, 24, 29, 30 May 2019 Greek National Opera Alternative Stage Stavros Niarchos Foundation Cultural Center A co-production with the "Rafi" music theater company Starts at: 20.30 |

Music Theater FROGS Opera Chaotique & Merlin Puppet Theatre 03, 04 May 2019 Starts: 20.30 The Alternative Stage of the Greek National Opera launches the 2018/19 season with a special adaptation of Aristophanes’ comedy Frogs presented from the surreal perspective and with the utterly subversive humour of an eccentric duet: the Opera Chaotique and the renowned Merlin Puppet Theatre company – which creates and animates puppet worlds in Greece and abroad since 1995.

Master Class is a 1995 play by American playwright Terrence McNally, presented as a fictional master class by opera singer Maria Callas near the end of her life, in the 1970s. As such, the play features incidental vocal music by Giuseppe Verdi, Giacomo Puccini, and Vincenzo Bellini. Alternately dismayed and impressed by the students who parade before her, she retreats into recollections about the glories of her own life and career. Included in her musings are her younger years as an ugly duckling, her fierce hatred of her rivals, the unforgiving press that savaged her early performances, her triumphs at La Scala, and her relationship with Aristotle Onassis. It culminates in a monologue about sacrifice taken in the name of art. In the leading role of Maria Callas the famous greek artist Maria Nafpliotou. Staged by Odysseas Papaspiliopoulos.

OPERA – MUSICAL THEATRE A contemporary Greek musical in three parts: The Ghost – The Woman Buried Alive – The Vampire An Athens Concert Hall commission Venue: Alexandra Trianti Hall Dates/ Time: 28 February & 1 March 2019/20:00

Opera in three acts by W. A. Mozart / Libretto by Giambattista Varesco . Following their successful presentation of the operetta Mikado at the Alternative Stage of the National Greek Opera, the Rafi Music Theatre Company, one of the most active theatre companies in Greece, collaborates with Amalia Bennett. On commission by the Company, Bennett directs Mozart’s rarely performed masterpiece Idomeneo. Visual artist Petros Touloudis will design the sets and costumes. Written in 1871, Idomeneo is Mozart’s first mature work. Inspired by Metastasio’s poetry and Gluck’s elegant classicism, the opera revolves around the fall of Troy and the travails of the eponymous young king of Crete. Idomeneo tackles the issue of generation gap and how each generation deals with history and the past. Several artists have been inspired by the opera. Richard Strauss musically adapted the opera in 1931. In 2008, the contemporary German poet Roland Schimmelpfennig wrote the performance/poem Idomeneus. Mozart’s Idomeneo has been presented in Greece twice: first, in 1955, in a Greek National Opera production, and also in 2011, in concertate form by Jérémie Rhorer’s music ensemble. With Greek surtitles

THE MIKADO Gilbert and Sullivan Comic Opera Co-production with the “Rafi” music theater company 21, 22, 23, 24, 27, 28, 29, 30 December 2017 In a co-production with the “Rafi” music theater company, one of the most active companies of its kind in recent years, the Alternative Stage presents one of the most popular music theater works of all time in a Greek premiere; the exotic comic opera The Mikado (1885).

PRINCE IVAN AND THE FIREBIRD Thodoris Abazis Children’s opera Abazis’ new opera Prince Ivan and the Firebird is based on a well-known traditional Russian tale which was also the inspiration for Igor Stravinsky’s famous ballet. The work is aimed at children aged 5 to 12, and is an ideal introduction to the world of opera from a composer versed in the language of modern music and theater. Sofianna Theofanous has penned the libretto while sets and costumes are by Kenny MacLellan.

The director and choreographer Zoe Hatziantoniou has joined forces with the ‘Rafí’ Musical Theatre Group to produce this version of the romantic melodrama by Pavlos Carrer entitled Frosyni or Ali Pasha’s Revenge. This masterpiece of the Heptanesian School is presented live for the first time since it was last staged one hundred years ago, in a production that brings together a mixture of creative and pioneering forces from the domestic art scene. Love and death, youth and old age, power and submission, the interplay between man and woman, faith and obedience: these are the themes which structure Zoe Hatziantoniou’s directorial approach in this, her first collaboration with the ‘Rafí’ Musical Theatre Group. Director: Zoe Hatziantoniou Arrangement – Musical direction: Michalis Papapetrou Set & Costume designer: Petros Touloudis Lighting designer: Alekos Yiannaros Video: Stathis Athanasiou Assistant director: Andreas Andreou Music Coaching: Thanos Marghetis Singers: Sotiris Triantis, Lito Messini, Yiannis Filias, Anastasia Kotsali, Yiannis Selitsaniotis Musicians: Guido de Flaviis, Antonis Hatzinikolaou, Charis Pazaroulas, Angela Giannaki, Giorgos Lolas

Greek Festival 2016. Kornelios Selamsis. Leonce and Lena . Büchner’s play is considered one of the most important classic comedies of German Romanticism. The satire’s protagonists are the prince of the Kingdom of Popo, Leonce, and the princess of the Kingdom of Pipi, Lena. Determined to avoid an arranged marriage, the young people resolve—independently of one another—to run away to Italy. Once there, however, unaware of one another’s identities, they fall in love and marry. Charmed by the work, Kornelios Selamsis thought it a perfect match for the operatic idiom; presented as a fully-fledged opera, it has a poetic libretto by Giannis Asteris. Libretto: Giannis Asteris Direction: Argyris Xafis Set Designers: Eleni Papanastasiou, Giannis Kitanis Costumes: Ioanna Tsami Movement: Stavroula Siamou Light Designer: Sofia Alexiadou Répétiteur: Iason Marmaras Assistant to the Director: Konstantinos Kounellas Leonce: Tassis Christoyannis Lena, Rozeta: Theodora Baka Valerio: Haris Andrianos Governess: Lito Messini 8tetto vocal ensemble: Efterpi Katsamatsa, Peny Deligianni, Christina Michalaki (sopranos) Sofia Malama, Antonia Tzitzika, Anna Filandrianou (mezzos) Stratis Stil, Kostas Zambounis (tenors) Nikos Ziaziaris, Elias Kapantais (bass-baritones) Conducted by Giorgos Ziavras