Educational and Social Activities GNO: Greek Gods, Myths and Heroes in Opera | For adults

As part of the Greek National Opera’s collaboration with the Stavros Niarchos Foundation Cultural Center's Membership Program, the GNO has reserved a limited number of seats at the Speech on Luigi Cherubini's Médée 

The art of opera has its roots in ancient Greece. It was invented as a musical/vocal idiom in Florence in 1597, when Duke Ferdinando de' Medici, a generous Maecenas of the arts, set up the committee La Camerata Fiorentina with the goal of tracing the original version of Aeschylus, Sophocles and Euripides’ works, performances of which were regularly held in the palaces of noblemen of the time. Although the originals were never found, the members of La Camerata Fiorentina, after studying Aristotle’s Poetics, discovered that the structure of ancient dramatic plays, apart from recitation, also included music and singing, and so they created a new version of the works, quite close to the original ancient one. They named it after the Greek term, “melodrama”, which is opera’s official name. The first opera, Jacopo Peri’s La Dafne, premiered in Palazzo Bardi in 1597.

The speech will highlight Greece’s influence on opera over the centuries and will be accompanied by video projections of opera excerpts. Read more.

Speaker: Elena Matthaiopoulou

Friday 28/04 | 17.00 – 18.30

GNO VIP Lounge

For the Members’ lecture, pre-registration opens on 01/04 at 12.00