From opera and baroque to ballet and string quartets- there are so many fabulous performances to catch this week in Athens, and we’ve rounded up a selection of the best ones that are not to be missed.
Les Éclairs – Philippe Hersant
The contemporary opera “Les Éclairs” is the Greek National Opera’s second co-production with the Opéra Comique (Paris), one of Europe’s most important opera houses. At this national premiere, and for three performances only –inside the Stavros Niarchos Hall at the Stavros Niarchos Foundation Cultural Center– Greek audiences will get the chance to discover the third opera to be written by the multi-award winning French composer Philippe Hersant, with a libretto by the internationally acclaimed French author Jean Echenoz. The opera is a musical journey through New York during the Industrial Revolution that traces the turbulent life of the ethnic Serb cosmopolitan dandy and “mad” scientist Nikola Tesla.
Entry: Ticket prices €10- €60
Date & Time: 16,19,21 November, 7.30 pm (Sunday 6.30 pm)
Αddress: Stavros Niarchos Hall of the Greek National Opera
Stavros Niarchos Foundation Cultural Center
Syggrou Avenue 364, Kallithea
Website: nationalopera.gr
Tickets ticketservices.gr
Quatuor Ébène
With their fresh approach to tradition and open engagement with new forms, the renowned French string quartet Quatuor Ébène has successfully reached a wide audience of young listeners and conveyed their talent in regular master classes at the Paris Conservatoire. Their global tour is now coming to Athens where guests can enjoy jazz improvisation, Bartók, and Haydn. The foursome is a hit with both young and old audiences because of the energy in their performances and the spirit of tradition renewal that sets them apart.
Entry: €12 – €30
Date & Time: 16 November 2023, 8.30 pm
Address: The Athens Concert Hall (Megaron), 115 Vasilissis Sofias Avenue, Athens
Tickets: webtics.megaron.gr
Χ: The Life and Times of Malcolm X
Anthony Davis’ ground-breaking opera “X: The Life and Times of Malcolm X” will be presented at the Met and broadcast as part of the MET HD LIVE program, live at the Concert Hall Athens. The new staging of Davis’ play, which premiered in 1986, is directed by the famous Tony nominee director Robert O’Hara. In this production, Malcolm ‒ one of the most important figures of the African-American civil rights movement, is presented as an everyday man whose story transcends space and time. In the lead role is baritone Will Liverman.
Entry: €8-€25
Date & Time: 18 November 2023, 7:55 pm
Address: The Athens Concert Hall (Megaron), 115 Vasilissis Sofias Avenue, Athens
Buy Tickets: webtics.megaron.gr
6th Baroque Music Festival
The Baroque Music Festival returns to the GNO Alternative Stage and the historical hall of the Parnassos Literary Society – and is set to take audiences on a journey through the enchanting world of Baroque music. This year’s festival, curated by the prolific cellist Dimos Goudaroulis, includes four singular concerts revolving around the year 1723. It will feature concerts by distinguished artists (Lucile Boulanger, Dimos Gourdaroulis) who will enrich the colourful palette of baroque music with sonatas for violin, cello, basso, and gamba choosing sonatas by famous composers such as Tartini, Bach, and Caporale.
Entry: Ticket prices: €10-€15
Date & Time: 13,15,18, November, 8.30 at Parnassos Philological Association & 19 November, 7.30 pm at Alternative Stage of the National Opera – SNFCC
Address: Parnassos Philological Association (8 Agios Georgios Karytsis Square, Athens) & Alternative Stage of the National Opera – SNFCC, Syggrou Avenue 364, Kallithea
Website: megaron.gr
Tickets: ticketservices.gr
Molly Nillson Concert
Swedish singer and producer, Molly Nillson is known for her magical melodies and touchingly clever lyrics that bring nostalgic pop, on a journey through life and death, with love and trouble. And now her stately approach to synth pop is coming to Athens where audiences can enjoy her swooping synth melodies and the grace of her vocals.
Entry: €20
Date & Time: 18 November, 9 pm
Address: 16 Ogigou, Psirri, 10654 Athens
Tickets: tickets.public.gr
Colors
The Greek National Opera Ballet presents the modern dance triptych titled Colors – choreographed by Diego Tortelli, Eva Georgitsopoulou and Konstantinos Rigos. The performance follows the successful presentation of the triptychs Human Behaviour and Human Nature on the GNO Alternative Stage and brings the ensemble’s dancers face to face with modern dance forms, mixed with the musical sensualism of late Romanticism.
Entry: €15- €20
Date 12,16,17,18 November 2023
Tickets: ticketservice.gr
Αddress: Stavros Niarchos Foundation Cultural Center, Syggrou Avenue 364, Kallithea
Website: nationalopera.gr
