Greek National Opera to present ‘The Siege of Corinth’ on location
It is in Ancient Corinth, a city once besieged and then completely destroyed by the Romans, where a cast led by great lopera stars such as Luciana Serra, Daniela Barcelona and maestro Niels Maas, together with the Greek National Opera, will stage Gioacchino Rossini’s «Siege of Corinth.» The production, billed as part of the Cultural Olympiad, is scheduled for June. The staging of Rossini’s opera promises to be a major event and is part of a triptych of works that the National Opera got approval for by the Cultural Olympiad: The idea is that three operatic works of the international repertoire will be staged in situ, on the very same land in which their stories unfold. Therefore, following Rossini’s «Siege of Corinth» this year, Strauss’s «Ariadne auf Naxos» is scheduled for 2003, while Mozart’s «Idomeneo» is planned for staging in Knossos in 2004. According to sources, the National Opera’s director, maestro Loukas Karytinos, traveled to Corinth and chose an open area situated right next to the city’s ruins in order to construct the theater where the production will take place on June 28 and 30. This solution does not affect any of the antiquities, and has the added advantage that it does not require permission by the Central Archaeological Council. Besides securing the venue, the National Opera has also succeeded in booking high-caliber artists for the event: Director Niels Maas, followed by singers Luciana Serra (Pamira), Daniela Barcelona (Neoklis), Gregory Kunde (Kleomenis), Dimitris Kavrakos (Ieron), Kyros Patsalidis (Omar), Victoria Maifatova (Ismini) and Nikos Stefanou (Adrastou) will be accompanying the National Opera’s orchestra and choir. Nikos Petropoulos is assuming responsibility for the stage direction and set and costume design, while Fausta Mazucchelli is choreographing. Choir direction is by Fani Palamidi. A month earlier, the National Opera will be participating in another Cultural Olympiad performance, Mikis Theodorakis’s «Zorbas» ballet. This beautiful production featuring the National Opera’s orchestra, choir and ballet will travel to Australia for performances on 17, 18 and 19 in Melbourne and May 23, 24, 25 in Sydney. «Zorbas» will also travel to various cities in the United States and Canada during the fall.
