Artistic programme 2022/23

The Greek National Opera’s ambitious season programme for 2022/23, curated by GNO Artistic Director Giorgos Koumendakis, features ten new opera and ballet productions, one new work of opera, five revivals of past productions, music concerts, major co-productions with some of the world’s foremost opera houses, collaborations with leading directors and acclaimed conductors, and the highly anticipated debuts of top-tier opera singers in new roles. This programme is made possible by a grant from the Stavros Niarchos Foundation (SNF) [www.SNF.org] to enhance the GNO’s artistic outreach.

With its new programme for 2022/23, the Greek National Opera is forging creative partnerships with a global network of major opera houses to present co-productions with the Metropolitan Opera in New York City, the Canadian Opera Company in Toronto, the Lyric Opera of Chicago, the Opéra Comique in Paris, La Monnaie in Brussels, the Göteborg Opera, and the Royal Danish Opera in Copenhagen.

From September 2022 through to July 2023, at the Stavros Niarchos Hall and the Odeon of Herodes Atticus, Greek audiences will have the chance to encounter the artistic visions of some of the world’s greatest and most sought-after opera directors –the likes of Krzysztof Warlikowski, Olivier Py, David McVicar, Laurent Pelly, Stephen Langridge, and John Fulljames, among others– alongside the work of important Greek directors such as Natasha Triantafylli and Themelis Glynatsis.

This season’s productions will be conducted by such major Greek and international maestros as Vassilis Christopoulos, Lukas Karytinos, Paolo Carignani, Pier Giorgio Morandi, Philippe Auguin, Jacques Lacombe, Ondrej Olos, Elias Voudouris, Nicolas Vassiliou and Stathis Soulis.

The lead roles in our new season productions will be giving us all the opportunity to see and hear such acclaimed Greek, and eminent international soloists as Dionysios Sourbis, Cellia Costea, Vassilis Kavayas, Petros Magoulas, Adam Smith, Yannis Christopoulos, Nicole Chevalier, Vassiliki Karayanni, Michèle Lozier, Marisia Papalexiou, Christophoros Stamboglis, Dimitri Platanias, Tassis Christoyannis, Tassos Apostolou, and Francesco Demuro, among others. Athens will also see two major opera singers perform iconic roles for the first time: the leading mezzo-soprano of our times, Anita Rachvelishvili, as Charlotte in Werther, and celebrated soprano Anna Pirozzi as the title character in Medea.

This year’s new opera productions include a series of masterpieces: Cherubini’s Medea (directed by David McVicar), Offenbach’s Les Contes d’Hoffmann (directed by Krzysztof Warlikowski) and Le Voyage dans la Lune (directed by Laurent Pelly), Verdi’s Falstaff (directed by Stephen Langridge), Bartók’s Bluebeard’s Castle (directed by Themelis Glynatsis), Mozart’s Don Giovanni (directed by John Fulljames), and Puccini’s Madama Butterfly (directed by Olivier Py). The GNO Ballet is presenting two new productions: the classic ballet Don Quixote, and another to be announced shortly.

A new work, commissioned by the GNO, will also be having its world premiere as part of the 2022/23 season: Andrei, an original opera by Dimitra Trypani on the singular filmmaker that was Andrei Tarkovsky.

Standouts among the revivals of past productions include Massenet’s Werther (in honour of the late great director, and former GNO Artistic Director and President Spyros Evangelatos), Verdi’s Nabucco directed by Leo Muscato, The Magic Pillows by George Dousis and Eugene Trivizas, the 3 ROOMS dance triptych comprising choreographies by Jiří Kylián, Ohad Naharin and Konstantinos Rigos, and Puccini’s Gianni Schicchi directed by John Fulljames.

The Mikis Theodorakis tribute cycle is also continuing as part of our 2022/23 season, with the performance of his Symphony No. 2, as well his March of the Spirit set alongside a selection of the composer’s songs.

Tickets for our September–December 2022 productions go on sale 29 July 2022, and can be bought from the GNO Box Office and online via ticketservices.gr/en.

Foreword by the GNO Artistic Director Giorgos Koumendakis for the Programme 2022-23

Foreword by the Greek Minister of Culture and Sports, Lina Mendoni, for the GNO’s season programme 2022-23

Quote from the Stavros Niarchos Foundation (SNF) Co-President Andreas Dracopoulos