La Boheme, Giacomo Puccini’s evergreen opera, has become something of a traditional Christmas spectacle. This year, the Greek National Opera will be staged the work from 21 December at the Stavros Niarchos Hall. This production is a revival of Graham Vick’s triumphant interpretation which transports the action from the frozen Paris of a 19th-century Christmas to 21st-century Athens. The plot revolves around the love shared by Rodolfo the poet and Mimi the seamstress, with the main roles sung by Ivan Magrì / Yannis Christopoulos and Anna Sohn/ Vassiliki Karayanni.
Die Fledermaus
Remaining true to its tradition of presenting operettas for the festive season, the Olympia Municipal Music Theater “Maria Callas” this year proposes Johann Strauss’s Die Fledermaus from 19 December. A musical work in three acts, its plot—which revolves around a prank from the past, a secret meeting and a well-planned revenge plot—is adorned with numerous Viennese waltzes. Directed by Yannis Skourletis, the production transports the story into the present day. From the podium, Miltos Logiadis conducts a well-known Greek cast including Dimitris Paksoglou, Anna Stylianaki, Dimitra Kotidou, Georgios Iatrou, Marita Paparizou and Antonis Koroneos.
Christmas Concert
The Stavros Niarchos Foundation Cultural Center joins forces with the ERT National Symphony Orchestra to presents its “Cosmos” festive program at the Stavros Niarchos Hall on Monday 23 December. The concert will include three classical works: Camille Saint-Saëns’ grand zoological fantasy “Carnival of the Animals”, Christos Papageorgiou’s “Triptych for two pianos”, and the suite from Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov’s opera Christmas Eve.
French Baroque
The Camerata Orchestra of the Friends of Music under the baton of the great George Petrou bid 2024 farewell at the Athens Megaron Concert Hall on Friday 27 December with a performance entitled “Music from the court of the Sun King”. The ensemble will present two of the most representative works of the French Baroque—the two Te Deum by, respectively, Jean Baptiste Lully and Marc-Antoine Charpentier—performed on period instruments. The musicians will perform alongside the soloists Myrsini Margariti, Francesca Lombardi Mazzulli, Juan Sancho, Yannis Filias and Tassis Christoyannis.
