Tickets for La traviata at the Odeon of Herodes Atticus go on sale on Thursday 27 June 2024 at 12.00

Tickets will be available at the GNO Box Office, Box Offices of the Athens Epidaurus Festival, aefestival.gr & www.more.com

The Greek National Opera concludes the exceptionally successful 2023/24 season with Giuseppe Verdi’s La traviata at the Odeon of Herodes Atticus, on 27, 28, 30 and 31 July 2024. The production is conducted by Pier Giorgio Morandi and directed, choreographed, and with sets designed by Konstantinos Rigos. Tickets for La traviata go on sale on Thursday 27 June 2024 at 12.00 and will be available at the Box Offices of the Athens Epidaurus Festival, GNO Box Office, www.aefestival.gr & www.more.com

The opera recounts the love of a courtesan for the son of an eminent Parisian household. Their relationship goes down badly with the young man’s family and the couple split, only meeting again a little before the young woman’s death. The ill-starred love harboured by the “Lady of the Camellias” for Alfredo Germont –as envisioned and set to music by Verdi using melodies of singular power that blazon themselves indelibly upon our hearts and minds– is being brought to life once more for four performances, as part of the Athens Epidaurus Festival.

The premiere of La traviata at Teatro La Fenice in Venice on 6 March 1853 is often described as one of the biggest failures in opera history. A century and a half later, this Verdi masterpiece stands as one of the most popular works in the repertoire, with hundreds of performances given each year at opera houses across the globe before rapt audiences in their thousands.

Konstantinos Rigos had this to note about the production that was first presented at the Roman Odeon in summer 2019 to great success: “Presenting La traviata inside the historic Odeon of Herodes Atticus places the work within a challenging yet interesting context: one must find a balance between the overtly exuberant scenes and the private moments. The walls of this ancient odeon impose a sense of timelessness, and inescapably induct the narrative into deep time. In this intermediary space, between past and future, Violetta seems suspended within an era left in limbo, offering her story up to audiences as yet another product for consumption, as she was herself. The Herodium stage space is divided into two distinct realms: closed rooms (that represent the heroine’s psyche) and a scenic world of contrived pleasures dominated by a huge table. These two worlds unfold in parallel, with the heroine reflected in her alter ego, thus giving the conflict inside her tangible form – this is arguably the production’s most significant narrative feature. La traviata is Violetta herself, which explains the focus on capturing her emotions and projecting them –enlarged– upon the time-worn walls of the Odeon of Herodes Atticus.”

In this year’s revival of La traviata, the Greek National Opera presents two unique casts, starring world-class opera protagonists.

In the first cast, the American opera superstar Nadine Sierra will be performing the role of Violetta Valéry –for the first time in Greece– alongside the vocally outstanding British-Italian tenor Freddie De Tommaso in the role of Alfredo Germοnt and the internationally acclaimed Greek baritone Dimitri Platanias in the role of Giorgio Germοnt.

In the second cast, we will have the opportunity to enjoy the distinguished soprano from the Greek National Opera Vassiliki Karayanni as Violetta Valéry, the internationally acclaimed Greek baritone Tassis Christoyannis as Giorgio Germont, and the famous Italian tenor Francesco Demuro as Alfredo.

Alongside them performing will be acclaimed Greek soloists such as Chrysanthi Spitadi, Eleni Voudouraki, Yannis Kalyvas, Nikolas Douros, Nikos Kotenidis, Georgios Papadimitriou, Nikos Katsigiannis, and Ioannis Kontellis.

Opera • Revival

La traviata

Giuseppe Verdi

27, 28, 30, 31 July 2024 • Starts at: 21.00

Odeon of Herodes Atticus

As part of the Athens Epidaurus Festival

Conductor: Pier Giorgio Morandi

Staging, sets, choreography: Κonstantinos Rigos

Costumes: Ioanna Tsami

Lighting: Christos Tziogkas

Video projections: Vassilis Kehagias

Associate architect: Mary Tsagari

Chorus master: Agathangelos Georgakatos

Violetta Valéry: Nadine Sierra (27, 30/7), Vassiliki Karayanni (28, 31/7)

Flora Bervoix: Chrysanthi Spitadi

Annina: Eleni Voudouraki

Alfredo Germοnt: Freddie De Tommaso (27, 30/7) / Francesco Demuro (28, 31/7)

Giorgio Germοnt: Dimitri Platanias (27, 30/7) / Tassis Christoyannis (28, 31/7)

Gastone: Yannis Kalyvas

Baron Douphol: Nikolas Douros

Marquis d’Obigny: Nikos Kotenidis

Doctor Grenvil: Georgios Papadimitriou

Giuseppe: Nikos Katsigiannis

Servant / Commissioner: Ioannis Kontellis

With the Orchestra, Chorus and Ballet of the Greek National Opera

Ticket prices: €25, €45, €55, €60, €85, €100

Students, children: €15 / Seats for disabled individuals: €15

Tickets are available at the GNO Box Office (9.00-21.00 daily | +30 2130885700), Athens Festival Box Offices, and online via aefestival.gr and www.more.com

Production sponsor Alpha Bank

Lead Donor of the GNO Stavros Niarchos Foundation (SNF)