The Greek National Opera Revives Fanny Ardent's Production Of LADY MACBETH OF MTSENSK

The Greek National Opera is reviving Shostakovich's Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk at the Stavros Niarchos Hall (SNFCC) directed by renowned French actress Fanny Ardant and starring soprano Svetlana Sozdateleva returning to GNO following her performances of the title role at the Metropolitan Opera in 2022. Ardent's production premiered at the GNO in 2019, and was praised by Opera Now magazine as “not only an artistic triumph, but also a resounding commercial success, with every performance after the premiere sold out." 

 

Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk is made possible by a grant from the Stavros Niarchos Foundation (SNF) [www.SNF.org] to enhance the GNO's artistic outreach.

Shostakovich's iconic 20th-century opera Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk owes much of its power to the music composed by Dmitri Shostakovich: grittily realistic in its action and love scenes, and throughout the murder of Zinovy, the music is also intensely poetic within its ferocity. The work distinctly sets itself apart, not only through its rawness and brutality but also because it is affecting on an equally deep level – and not just in its climactic scene, which manages to capture and encapsulate centuries of pain and deprivation in Russia.

 

Regarding her operatic directorial debut, acclaimed French actress Fanny Ardant's notes:

 

“Lady Macbeth sets a mirror before us. And in it, we see our own selves. Lady Macbeth is our wild reflection, restless and free. How can the part of ourselves that fights back against the law survive within conventional, homogenized society? To love criminals is a risk. And it is one I take. I love Katerina Ismailova. She is not only one of Leskov's characters in an opera by Shostakovich – no, she is also an ever-present individual, even in our own time. And if we pay close enough attention, we may well encounter her.”

 

Internationally renowned soprano Svetlana Sozdateleva, who sang the title role at GNO in 2019 and then subsequently at The Metropolitan Opera in 2022, returns to perform alongside a cast featuring Sergey Semishkur, Yanni Yannissis, and Yannis Christopoulos. Fabrizio Ventura conducts the opera. 

 

The production features sets designed by the renowned German artist Tobias Hoheisel, costumes crafted by the four-time Oscar-winning Milena Canonero in collaboration with German costume designer Petra Reinhardt, choreography by the French artist collective LA(HORDE) consisting of Marine Brutti, Jonathan Debrouwer, and Arthur Harel, and lighting design by the award-winning Italian cinematographer Luca Bigazzi. The revival director of this production is Ion Kessoulis.

 

Performances of Lady Macbeth of the Mtsensk District will take place at Stavros Niarchos Hall on October 21, 24, 27, 31, November 5, & 9. 

 

GNO simultaneously revives Michalis Paraskakis' 2022 chamber opera Strella on the more intimate Alternative Stage at Stavros Niarchos Hall Foundation Cultural Center. With a libretto by Alexandra K*, Strella (A Woman's Way) is based on a popular 2009 Greek movie by Panos Koutras that centers on the relationship between a man recently released from prison and the transgender prostitute he falls in love with. Three of the roles in the opera: Strella, Mary, and Wilma are performed respectively by the transgender artists Letta Kappa, Ioanna Zam-Petrou, and Victoria Tsitouridou-Maya. The performances will be conducted by Konstantinos Terzakis and directed by George Koutli and the performances take place at the Alternative Stage on October 18, 20, 21, 22, 26, 27, 29 October & 1, 2, 3, 4 November 2023.

Opera • Revival

Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk

Dmitri Shostakovich

21, 24, 27, 31 October & 5, 9 November 2023

Starts at: 19.30 (Sunday at: 18.30)

Stavros Niarchos Hall of the Greek National Opera – SNFCC

 

Conductor: Fabrizio Ventura

Director: Fanny Ardant

Sets: Tobias Hoheisel

Costumes: Milena Canonero, Petra Reinhardt

Movement: Collectif LA(HORDE) – Marine Brutti, Jonathan Debrouwer, Arthur Harel

Lighting: Luca Bigazzi

Chorus master: Agathangelos Georgakatos

In the lead roles: Svetlana Sozdateleva, Sergey Semishkur, Yanni Yannissis, Yannis Christopoulos

With Soloists of the Greek National Opera, and the GNO Orchestra and Chorus

 

Ticket prices: €15, €20, €35, €40, €50, €55, €60, €90

Students, children: €15

Limited visibility seats: €10

GNO lead donor Stavros Niarchos Foundation

Opera • GNO commission • Revival

Strella

Michalis Paraskakis

18, 20, 21, 22, 26, 27, 29 October & 1, 2, 3, 4 November 2023 

Starts at 19.30 (Sunday: 19.30)

Greek National Opera Alternative Stage – SNFCC

 

Libretto: Alexandra K*, based on Panos H. Koutras' film of the same title

Conductor: Konstantinos Terzakis

Stage director: George Koutlis

Set designer: Eva Manidaki

Costume designer: Ioanna Tsami

Movement coach, choreographer: Fenia Apostolou

Lighting designer: Nikos Vlasopoulos

Music coaches: Frixos Mortzos, Maria Neofytidou

Letta Kappa (Strella), Anastasia Kotsali (Callas), Dionisos Tsantinis (Yorgos), Ioanna Zam-Petrou (Mary), Nikos Spanatis (Alex), Victoria Tsitouridou-Maya (Wilma), Nikos Ziaziaris (Antonis, 1st Cop, Yuri), Nicolas Maraziotis (Nikos, 2nd Cop), Nina Naï (Drag performer), George Roupas (Kouloukousis), Alexandros Stavropoulos (Squirrel), Christina Kyriaki / Dido Papanikolaou (Child)

 

Ana Chifu (flute), Antonis Tsachtanis (clarinet), Guido de Flaviis (saxophone), George Krimperis (trombone), Kazuyo Tsunehiro (percussion), Mislav Režić (electric guitar), Christos Sakellaridis (piano), Artemis Vavatsika (bayan), tba (violin), Charis Pazaroulas (double bass)

 

Ticket prices: €15, €20

Students, children: €10

 

Founding Donor to the Alternative Stage: Stavros Niarchos Foundation (SNF)

ABOUT GREEK NATIONAL OPERA

 

Founded in 1939, the Greek National Opera is a public body and the sole opera house in Greece. It produces and stages operas, musical theater, operettas, and ballets, and multi-disciplinary productions for its two stages at the Stavros Niarchos Foundation Cultural Center (SNFCC), the Stavros Niarchos Hall and the Alternative Stage, as well as at the Odeon of Herodes Atticus, an open-air theater in the center of Athens. The company's repertory covers four centuries of lyrical theater, from the works of Claudio Monteverdi to those of contemporary composers. The Orchestra and Chorus of the Greek National Opera were both founded in 1939 alongside the opera company, then a part of the Royal Theatre, and a Children's Chorus was founded in 2012. In addition to its opera programming, the GNO also encompasses the GNO Professional School of Dance, as well as education and community programs aimed at all age groups.

 

The GNO is one of Europe's most innovative opera houses with a unique artistic identity that engages global talent and inspires large and diverse audiences. Led by artistic director Giorgos Koumendakis and supported by the Stavros Niarchos Foundation (SNF) [www.SNF.org], its mission is to offer audiences high caliber productions by presenting operas, ballets, operettas, operas for children, and music recitals, among other events. The GNO's main source of funding is the Greek State and the Ministry of Culture and Sports. Over 60% of its annual budget is covered by state funding, with the rest coming from ticket proceeds, private sponsorship, and grants. The Stavros Niarchos Foundation (SNF) is the Greek National Opera's biggest donor and to date, its grants to the GNO amount to €27.5 million.

 

A turning point in its history came in 2017 when the GNO relocated to a new state-of-the-art building at the architecturally striking Stavros Niarchos Foundation Cultural Center (SNFCC), which was conceived, designed, constructed, and equipped with a substantial grant from the Stavros Niarchos Foundation (SNF). Following completion, the SNFCC was delivered to the Greek state and the public in February 2017 through the SNF's largest grant initiative to date, totalling €618 million. Assisted by a €5 million grant from the Stavros Niarchos Foundation (SNF), the GNO relocated from Athens' Olympia Theatre to the SNFCC and the two, purpose-built theaters designed by Renzo Piano, doubling its audience capacity to 1,400 seats in the opera hall and also doubling its ticket revenues.  

 

The hall's inaugural production in October 2017 was Strauss' Elektra, starring the celebrated Greek mezzo Agnes Baltsa as Klytaemnestra. In 2019 a major grant of €20 million was announced by the Stavros Niarchos Foundation (SNF) to support the implementation of a four-year programming and development plan that will enhance the artistic outreach of the GNO and increase the promotion of its work overseas. In 2020 the GNO celebrated its 80th anniversary, commissioning and presenting works to reintroduce itself to the Greek and global audience through its new artistic identity and mission. This programming has included, among others: Verdi's Don Carlo, a co-production of the Royal Opera House, London, the Metropolitan Opera, New York, and the Norwegian National Opera ,Oslo, directed by Sir Nicholas Hytner; Berg's Wozzeck directed by Olivier Py; Shostakovich's Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk  directed by Fanny Ardant; Marina Abramović's 7 Deaths of Maria Callas, a co-production with Opéra national de Paris, Bayerische Staatsoper, Deutsche Oper Berlin, and Teatro di San Carlo; Verdi's Otello, a co-production with Festspiel Baden-Baden directed by Robert Wilson; Mozart's Don Giovanni, a co-production with the Göteborg Opera and the Royal Danish Opera directed by John Fulljames; Offenbach's Les Contes d'Hoffmann, a co-production with La Monnaie de Munt, directed by Krzysztof Warlikowski; Verdi's Fallstaff, directed by the artistic director of the Glyndebourne Festival Stephen Langridge; Verdi's Rigoletto, directed by the artistic director of the Athens Festival Katerina Evangellatos; and Puccini's Madama Butterfly directed by director of the Théâtre du Châtelet Olivier Py.

 

For more information, visit nationalopera.gr/en.

 

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