Sunday 8 March 2020

Today : world première of 'The Papess Joanne' by Yiorgos Vassilandonakis in Athens


Today, the Greek National Opera presents the world première of The Papess Joanne, an opera composed by Yiorgos Vassilandonakis, with a libretto by Vangelis Hadjiyannidis after Emmanuel Roidis' novel.


It is the composer's second opera after Dance with Me (Athens, 2008).
My goal was to portray a restless and unconventional spirit, a tragic and at the same time romantic figure, that is constantly transforming itself, destroying and reorienting itself against everything, to the very end. (reproduced from the Greek National Opera website)
The cast includes soprano Chrissa Maliamani (Papess Joanne), mezzo Margarita Syngeniotou (Santa Liova), baritone Dionysios Sourbis (Frumentius / Floros), baritone Kostis Rasidakis (Corvinus), tenor Yannis Christopoulos (Nikitas) and countertenor Nikos Spanatis (Pope Leo IV). Stathis Soulis conducts the GNO Orchestra and Chorus. Dimitris Karantzas directs.

The venue is the Stavros Niarchos Hall.

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