ergon ensemble
contemporary music, athens
the wax doll tasos rosopoulos
7, 8, 15, 16, 17, 21, 22, 23 March 2019
Premiere / Commissioned by the GNO Alternative Stage
Conductor:
Nikos Vasiliou
Libretto: Yannis Svolos, based on Konstantinos Christomanos' novel of the same title
Director: Simos Kakalas
Greek National Opera Alternative Stage
Stavros Niarchos Foundation Cultural Center
Starts at: 20.30
Set: Kenny Mc Lelan
Costumes: Claire Bracewell
Lighting: Simos Sarketzis
CONSTANTIN CHRISTOMANOS
Arkadios Rakopoulos
VERGINIA
Theodora Baka
NIKOS
Yannis Kalyvas
LIOLIA
Stelina Apostolopoulou
AUNTIE ELENGO
Julia Souglakou
MISSIS EVRIDIKI
Sofia Kyanidou
MISSIS DIMITRAENA
Lydia Angelopoulou
MISSIS ARISTIDAENA
Margarita Syngeniotou
BIBIKA
Lydia Zervanou
MIMIS
Dionysos Tsantinis
DINOS
Yannis Filias
DOCTOR, PRIEST
Dimitris Nalbandis
BEADLE, POLICEMAN
Kostis Mavrogenis
ERGON ENSEMBLE
Nikos Nikopoulos (flute)
Babis Taliadouros (percussion)
Kostas Panagiotidis (violin)
Christos Sakellaridis (cembalo)
Nikos Tsoukalas (double bass)
Manos Ventouras (french horn)
additional musicians
George Arnis (double bass)
Marilena Dori (flute)
Ilias Skordilis (clarinet)
Alexandros Botinis (cello)
Fabiola Ochenda (cello)
Panos Iliopoulos (cembalo)
Artemis Vavatsika (bayan)
Corina Vougiouka (guitar)
Vagelis Vavilousakis (french horn)
The famous Wax Doll, the novel with which Konstantinos Christomanos breathed new life into the early 20th-century Greek literature, is refashioned into an opera by the celebrated composer Tasos Rosopoulos, commissioned by the Alternative Stage of the Greek National Opera and based on a libretto by Yannis Svolos.
In a deceptively idyllic Athens, the lyrical and emotionally invasive words of Christomanos unfold in a pessimistic mood the usual love story of some humble people until its tragic ending. Inspired by his writing, the composer remolds the Wax Doll into a music full of symbols, lyricism and a passionate lust for life, while revealing to us the pace at which Nature alternates death with resurrection.