Greek National Opera

Six chapters describe the lives and perils of Thessaloniki’s Jewish community which was almost entirely exterminated by the Nazis in 1943. Past and present become an echo chamber in which the viewer experiences, aghast, the madness of humanity.

Graham Vick devises a version of La Bohème set in modern-day Athens, transporting Puccini’s beloved opera from 19th century Paris to 21st century Exarchia. The faces of the four ambitious young artists and their camaraderie are known to all. Their problems, concerns, jokes were run of the mill back then; they remain so even today. Rodolfo’s ill-fated love for Mimi assumes an unexpected tragic dimension given that their tale could be played out in the apartment right next door; right among us.

Antonio Vivaldi’s baroque music masterpiece Juditha triumphans is presented by the Greek National Opera for the first time, as part of the celebration of the 200th anniversary of the Greek Revolution. The work is about the victory of the Venetians at the siege of Corfu, which acted as a catalyst in stopping the Ottoman advance into the Christian West. Juditha triumphans is the only extant oratorio of the four Vivaldi is known to have composed. The intense war atmosphere is portrayed through the dynamic choral parts, while Juditha’s faith and honesty through the lyric and tender writing. Remarkable is the use of many different and relatively rare instruments, such as the viola d’amore, the chalumeaux (early clarinets) and theorboes, with which Vivaldi brings out the work’s highlights.