Konstantinos Chatzis’ Pilgrimages come to three historical sites of Athens

Constantinos Hatzis
Pilgrimages
Three musical narratives of foreign travellers through the Greek War of Independence

 To Glory: French Philhellene Serviceman
Numismatic Museum of Athens
6 July 2021 / Starts at: 19.30

To Death: American Philhellene Physician
Athens City Museum – Dekozis Vouros Mansion
8 July 2021 / Starts at: 19.30

 To Division: French, American, English Philhellene Diplomats
Courtyard of the Palace of the Duchess of Plaisance at the Byzantine and Christian Museum
13 July 2021 / Starts at: 19.30

Free admission upon vouchers that will be distributed one day prior to the start of each performance via ticket services

Constantinos Hatzis’ Pilgrimages presents three musical narratives of foreign travellers through the Greek War of Independence at three historically important outdoor venues of Athens on 6,8 and 13 July. The production was commissioned by the GNO Alternative Stage and features in the thematic cycle “The Revolution Through the Eyes of the Other”, which forms part of the tribute to the 2021 bicentennial of the Greek Revolution.

These three music theatre works invite audiences to wander, in turn, across the stories of volunteers who played an invaluable role during and after the Greek War of Independence. The first musical narrative, “To Glory: French Philhellene Serviceman” will be held at the Numismatic Museum of Athens (6/7), the second “To Death: American Philhellene Physician”, at the garden of the Athens City Museum where the restaurant Black Duck is housed (8/7), and the third “To Division: French, American, English Philhellene Diplomats”, at the Courtyard of the Palace of the Duchess of Plaisance at the Byzantine and Christian Museum (13/7). Admission for the public is free upon vouchers that will be distributed one day before the start of each performance via ticket services.

 This production, part of a tribute to the 2021 bicentennial of the Greek Revolution, is made possible by a grant from the Stavros Niarchos Foundation (SNF) [www.SNF.org].

Ideologically rooted, on the one hand, in the Western interest in the legacy of Classical antiquity and, on the other, in the universal liberal demand for insurrection against all kinds of absolutism running through the “Age of Revolution”, the Philhellenic movement marked the early 19th century, decisively contributing to the successful outcome of the struggle for the establishment of the Modern Greek state.

A tribute by the Alternative Stage of the GNO to that special category of philhellenes who travelled from Europe and America to support and fight alongside the insurgent Greeks of 1821, the new, three-part performance by Konstantinos Chatzis takes place in three historical extra-theatrical spaces in Athens, focusing on three kinds of volunteers who played an invaluable role during the course and aftermath of the Greek War of Independence: military servicemen, physicians and diplomats. Rich archival material (letters, chronicles and memoirs) and historical fiction combine on the musical background of Greek folk songs and classical music of the era, in order to assemble a multi-person narrative attempting to illuminate both the public and human sides of the Philhellenic contribution to the Greek liberation movement

To Glory
French Philhellene Serviceman
Numismatic Museum of Athens
6 July 2021 / Starts at: 19.30

A French philhellene serviceman’s poetic and transregional perspective on war. Through the landscape of war, he sees “the nightmare of human fate”. War dominates human existence, forces it to dance through a storm of deaths, tortures and misfortunes. Women, men, and children all whirl through this eternal storm of destiny. What is war, then, in the eyes of a man who has known a different perspective of the Revolution? Does what we call hope really exist?

To Death
American Philhellene Physician
Athens City Museum – Dekozis Vouros Mansion
8 July 2021 / Starts at: 19.30

American, doctor and human. He meets head-on the true hardships of a revolution. Servant of the sacred vocation of medicine, he is faced with a rather unfamiliar situation. The realisation comes from where he least expects it. The vocation conflicts with the instinct of human survival. The big picture changes and the doctor is forced to experience extreme emotions, unknown in times of piece. Under the pressure of war, many people break and think differently. Τhe how is not an issue of logic or emotion, but rather a practical issue.

To Division
French, American, English Philhellene Diplomats
Courtyard of the Palace of the Duchess of Plaisance at the Byzantine and Christian Museum
13 July 2021 / Starts at: 19.30

 Everyone becomes numb in the face of human suffering. There certainly are people who rush to help, save others, but there are also those who want to take advantage of  them. There is compassion – but which side does it come from and from which position?  A lot of talking, but zero results. People who, for their own reasons, just stand and smile in a world that is desperately asking for help. It’s not a problem that concerns the individual but the whole world. The Revolution is here to set people free, not to spread death and slavery. After all this, Europe remains silent!

 About the music

The plays’ musical accompaniment was composed based on references to folk songs (thus conserving the Greek element) as well as classical works, contemporaneous with or predating the characters’ narratives. Regarding the music for each particular play: in the first narrative, “To Glory”, the pieces used were the traditional “Dance of Zalongo” and the “Lacrimosa” from W.A. Mozart’s Requiem. In the narrative “To Death”, the public will hear excerpts from Antonio Bartolomeo Bruni’s Viola Sonata No. 1 as well as the folk song “Xenos edo, xenos ekei” (“A Stranger Here, a Stranger There”), tweaked through customary classical practices of the era. Finally, in the third narrative, “To Division”, the folk song “Korasin etragoudage” (“A Girl Was Singing”) meets the overture of the opera La neige by Daniel Auber.

Text, director: Constantinos Hatzis
Original idea, research: Stella Papakonstantinou
Dramaturgy: Antigone Karali
Original score – Music adaptation: Yorgos Tamiolakis
Costumes: Ifigeneia Daoudaki

To Glory: French Philhellene Serviceman
Featuring Aglaia Pappa

To Death: American Philhellene Physician
Featuring Roubini Vasilakopoulou

To Division: French, American, English Philhellene Diplomats
Featuring Aglaia Pappa, Antigone Karali, Christos Doulas, Stella Papakonstantinou

Musical ensemble Sibílima: Christos Kalkanis (clarinet), Lefteris Andriotis (Cretan lyre), Stelios Papanastasis (viola), Yorgos Tamiolakis (violoncello)

Free admission upon vouchers that will be distributed one day prior to the start of each performance via ticket services.

 Each voucher will be valid until half an hour before the start of each performance.

Lead donor to the GNO & the 2021 bicentennial of the Greek Revolution
Stavros Niarchos Foundation (SNF) [www.SNF.org]