Konstantinos Chatzis' new work "Haiti / Greece / 1821" comes exclusively to GNO TV

Music Theatre
World premiere • Commissioned by the GNO Alternative Stage

 Konstantinos Chatzis
Such A Beautiful and Just Case:
Haiti / Greece / 1821

Free streaming via nationalopera.gr/GNOTV
from 24 November to 31 December 2021

As part of the tribute to the 2021 bicentennial of the Greek Revolution
Cycle: “The Revolution Through the Eyes of the Other”

The new production Such A Beautiful and Just Case: Haiti / Greece / 1821 by Konstantinos Chatzis premieres on GNO TV, as part of the tribute to the 2021 bicentennial of the Greek Revolution. The work, which was filmed last spring without the presence of a live audience, will now be available to stream for free, exclusively via nationalopera.gr/GNO TV from 24 November to 31 December 2021, with Greek and English subtitles.

Konstantinos Chatzis stamps his mark on an evocative, atmospheric and poetic performance inspired by historical events that occurred 200 years ago, when one hundred Haitian volunteers set out on a long journey to fight on the side of the Greeks, bringing along five tonnes of coffee as economic support for the Struggle. Words and phrases from important texts are uniquely blended with compositions by Franz Liszt and Giorgos Koumendakis, traditional folk songs of Haiti, and vocal improvisations into a complete music theatre work of high aesthetic value, starring Lydia Koniordou in the extremely demanding role of the Black Angel.

The work was commissioned by the Alternative Stage of the Greek National Opera and forms part of the thematic cycle “The Revolution Through the Eyes of the Other”.

GNO TV is part of a new strand of programming of the Greek National Opera made possible by a grant from the Stavros Niarchos Foundation (SNF) [www.SNF.org] to enhance the Greek National Opera’s artistic outreach.

The Haitian Revolution, the biggest slave uprising since the age of Spartacus and the only one to lead to the foundation of an independent state as early as 1804, remains one of the most influential pages of world history: it dealt a decisive blow to colonialism, effectively radicalised the ideals of the Enlightenment and the French Revolution for enslaved populations and people of colour and made the leading figure of Toussaint Louverture into a global, timeless symbol of emancipation.

In one of the most moving, though less well-known episodes of the Greek War of Independence, Haiti became the first state to recognise the right of the Greek Revolution just a few months after its outbreak, through the correspondence of Haiti’s president Jean-Pierre Boyer with Greek scholar and activist Adamantios Korais – going as far as to send 25 tonnes of coffee and 120 Haitian volunteers for the support of the Greek struggle.

Based on this episode as well as on Franz Liszt’s groundbreaking Romantic composition Totentanz (Dance of the Dead), the new play by Konstantinos Chatzis deals with the urgent issue of multiculturalism in tandem with universal notions such as solidarity, liberation and self-determination of persons and peoples, charting, at the same time, an experimental soundscape of osmosis between song and speech via the techniques of vocal improvisation.

Music theatre
World premiere • Commissioned by the GNO Alternative Stge
Konstantinos Chatzis
Such A Beautiful and Just Case:
Haiti / Greece / 1821
As part of the tribute to the 2021 bicentennial of the Greek Revolution
Cycle: “The Revolution Through the Eyes of the Other”

 Free streaming via nationalopera.gr/GNOTV from 24 November to 31 December 2021

 The production was filmed without the presence of a live audience, taking all the necessary measures against COVID-19, on the Alternative Stage of the GNO at the Stavros Niarchos Foundation Cultural Center on 9 and 10 April 2021.
 With Greek and English subtitles.

Text - Director: Konstantinos Chatzis
Dramaturgical work on the text: Antigoni Karali
Original idea, research, dramaturgy: Stella Papakonstantinou
Set designer: Artemis Flessa
Costume designer: Ioanna Tsami
Butoh coach: Ioanna Garagouni
Lighting designer: Stella Kaltsou
Filming, film editing: Konstantinos Arvanitakis

Death / Black Angel: Lydia Koniordou

Haitian Α΄: Vasilis Milionis
Haitian Β΄: Dimitris Tsiklis
Frenchman: Alexandros Psychramis
Greek: Mariam Rukhadze

Fotis Lamaris musician on stage
Theodore Tzovanakis piano

GNO TV launches new subscription packages. Watch all GNO TV productions and discover the new premieres at an even lower cost. Get to know the Golden Pass, the Monthly Pass, the Family Pass, and the Opera Pass on nationalopera.gr/GNOTV.

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