Christus Symphony – TSSO Easter Concert

This year's Easter Concert by the Thessaloniki State Symphony Orchestra is presented for the first time in both Thessaloniki and Athens. The programme includes sublime works by Charilaos Perpessas, Dimitri Mitropoulos and Richard Strauss, with the famous Greek soprano Aphrodite Patoulidou, who excels at home and abroad, as soloist, and the principal conductor of the orchestra, Leo McFall, on the podium.

The symphonic poem Burial (1915) is the first compositional attempt by the young Dimitri Mitropoulos to write a major orchestral work. In fact, Mitropoulos began to write a Christus Symphony, of which "Burial" was intended to form the second part, but his endeavour was never completed, leaving behind this specific composition as a moving manifestation of the great Greek musician's religiosity and deep faith.

Charilaos Perpessas, on the contrary, completed his own Christus Symphony (1948-50), which premiered in 1950 at Carnegie Hall in New York, under the musical direction of Dimitri Mitropoulos. The work's programmatic associations extend to every movement, with titles or extended passages from the Book of Revelation: the "Christ" of the overall title is the Jesus of the Second Coming.

Between these two masterpieces of Greek music we find Richard Strauss' haunting musical testament, the Four Last Songs (1947-49), which exude tenderness and deal with the subject of death without fear or self-pity, but with the solace and emotional fulfillment of a life rich in experience, with hints of longing for something higher after death.

BRIEF BIOGRAPHICAL NOTES

Thessaloniki State Symphony Orchestra

The Thessaloniki State Symphony Orchestra is one of the major cultural organisations in Greece and the most historic symphonic ensemble in Northern Greece. It was founded in 1959, by the Greek-Cypriot composer Solon Michaelides and it currently comprises 112 musicians.

The TSSO honors its role as a public organization by creating music at the highest calibre in an accessible way, and with a range of activities which include collaborations with highly acclaimed Greek and international artists, the dissemination of Greek musical works, the fostering of talented young Greek artists, as well as a variety of educational and social projects. 

When it comes to international discographic prowess, the TSSO is the most notable symphonic ensemble in the country, as it records regularly under world leading recording labels, such as EMI, BIS, Naxos and Deutsche Grammophon.

Following TSSO's founder and first Director, Solon Michaelides, a succession of eminent Greek musicians have served as its Directors: Giorgos Thymis, Alkis Baltas, Karolos Trikolidis, Kosmas Galileas, Konstantinos Patsalides, Leonidas Kavakos, Mikis Michaelides, Myron Michailidis, Alexandre Myrat, Giorgos Vranos, and Zoi Tsokanou. Τhe current director of the TSSO is Simos Papanas, while Leo McFall is its Principal Conductor.

https://www.tsso.gr/default.aspx?lang=en-GB&page=7 

Aphrodite Patoulidou

Hailed as "utterly mesmerising" (The Guardian), the Thessaloniki-born soprano Aphrodite Patoulidou leads an international career in theatres such as Teatro Real Madrid, La Monnaie, Berlin State Opera, performing roles such as Anne Trulove (The Rake's Progress), La Voix humaine, Belinda (Dido and Aeneas), Susanna (Le nozze di Figaro). She has performed Verdi's Requiem, Strauss' Four Last Songs, Britten's Les Illuminations, Mahler's Symphony No. 4 and Vivier's Lonely Child in venues such as the Berliner Philharmonie, the Concertgebouw Amsterdam, etc. She has collaborated with conductors such as Kirill Petrenko, Barbara Hannigan, Antonello Manacorda, Dalia Stasevska, Christian Reif, with directors such as Sasha Waltz and with orchestras such as the Cleveland Orchestra, Concertgebouw Amsterdam, Orchestre philharmonique de Radio France, Gothenburg Symphony, Munich Philharmonic, SWR Sinfonieorchester and Danish Radio Symphony among many others, while she recently toured with the London Symphony Orchestra at Barbican Centre, London, Elbphilharmonie Hamburg, Konzerthaus Dortmund, Kölner Philharmonie, Bozar Centre for Fine Arts, Brussels, etc.