ergon ensemble
contemporary music, athens
zminas borboudakis
2 MARCH 2018
2, 3, 8, 10, 11, 15, 17, 18 March 2018
14, 15, 17, 18 April 2018
Premiere / Commissioned by the GNO Alternative Stage
Conductor:
Minas Borboudakis - Nikos Vasiliou
Libretto: Vangelis Hatzigiannidis, based on Vassilis Vassilikos novel of the same title
Director: Katerina Evangelatos
Greek National Opera Alternative Stage
Stavros Niarchos Foundation Cultural Center
Starts at: 20.30
Set: Eva Manidaki
Costumes: Vasiliki Sirma
Lighting: Simos Sarketzis
Ζ: Dimitris Papanikolaou
Woman/Soul: Gina Fotinopoulou
Dinosaurus Magnus: Yiannis Yiannisis
Crab: Arkadios Rakopoulos
Cricket: Christos Kechris
Investigator: Vangelis Maniatis
Tiger: Dionysos Tsantinis
Nikitas: Georgios Papadimitriou
Reporter: Vasilis Dimakopoulos
Tailor/Pathologist: Michalis Katsoulis
Pterodactyl: Ioannis Kavouras
Nikitas’ sister: Diamanti Kritsotaki - Anastasia Kotsali
Nikitas’ mother: Vasiliki Katsoupaki - Olga Balomenou
ERGON ENSEMBLE
Angela Giannaki (viola)
Nikos Nikopoulos (flute)
Kostas Tzekos (clarinet)
Babis Taliadouros (percussion)
Kostas Panagiotidis (violin)
Stefanos Nasos (piano)
Christos Sakellaridis (piano)
Nikos Tsoukalas (double bass)
Andreas Rolandos Theodorou (trombone)
additional musicians
Dionisis Vervitsiotis (violin)
Eleftheria Togia (viola)
Alexandros Botinis (Cello)
Spyros Tzekos (clarinet)
Mislav Rezic (guitar)
Alexandros Drimonitis (guitar)
Dimitris Gogas (trumpet)
Production coordinator:
Alexandros Mouzas
Production Assistant:
Marina Mpairaktari
For the second collaboration with the Alternative Stage of the Greek National, Ergon Ensemble performs the Opera ''Z'' by acclaimed Greek Composer Minas Borboudakis.
Based on the book Z by Vassilis Vassilikos a real hit in its day, "an imaginary documentary of a crime” according to its author it is based on one of the most important moments in Greece’s modern political history, the murder of EDA (Left-wing party) parliamentary deputy, Grigoris Lambrakis.
Borboudakis has composed a chamber opera which explores the soundscape of the turbulent 1960s, based on a libretto by the writer Vangelis Hatzigiannidis. Referring to the work’s soundscape the composer said, “Motorbike engines, whispering women, distorted voices coming from megaphones, rocks banging against locked shutters, internal voices and rhythmic noise of train tracks take us back to soundscapes that unfold on two levels: the world of thought, and reality, raising the unanswerable question, Why?”.
The composer who worked closely with Ergon created a virtuoso score, almost a chamber concerto supporting the voices, pushing the instruments beyond their limits by employing a string of extended techniques.
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