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| Opera at the Odeon: Luciano
Pavarotti performs at the ancient theatre (summer
2004) |
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Photo courtesy Hellenic Festivals
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In the summer of 1955, an ancient
theatre in the shadow of the Parthenon came to life
once again with the sound of Handel’s Largo
floating through the air. Few in the audience could
have imagined that half a century later that same
piece would be played in the same venue as part
of the same festival to mark its anniversary.
Athens Festival will celebrate its
fiftieth birthday this August at the Odeon of Herodes
Atticus. Erected between AD 161 and 174, the theatre,
also known as the Herodeon, has hosted some of the
biggest artists in the world through some of Greece’s
most turbulent times.
Conceived of by George Rallis, then
Minister of Presidency, the festival was intended
to complement the Epidaurus Ancient Drama Festival
that began a year earlier. Rallis contacted the
acclaimed opera director Dinos Yannopoulos and convinced
him to return from the USA and aid in the realization
of the ambitious project. As the years passed by
the festival grew to become a first class European
cultural event of international acclaim.
At times the history of the festival
proved as dramatic as the performances. A military
coup in 1967 halted its progress and for seven difficult
years many Greek and foreign artists boycotted the
event in protest. While the festival decreased in
duration and variety, there were still some remarkable
performances including the Los Angeles Philharmonic
with Zubin Mehta and the American Ballet Theatre
with Carla Frucci. Emerging from this dark period,
the festival picked up the pace it had left off
seven years before and went on to secure its place
as one of the world’s most prestigious events.
Starting off with just three genres – opera,
symphonic music and ancient drama, the festival
now boasts a platform to virtually all the art forms
that can be represented. Maria Callas, Rudolf Nureyev,
Natalia Makarova, Luciano Pavarotti and the New
York Philharmonic are among the many artists and
companies to give legendary performances under the
illuminated temple of Pallas Athena.
The Epidaurus Festival is equally
impressive drawing in audiences numbering thousands
every year. Becoming a regular event from 1955,
Euripides’ Hecuba launched the festival which
focuses on the work of ancient dramatists. A 1956
performance of Sophocles’ Antigone attracted
an audience of 16,000 prompting columnist Dimitris
Psathas to write: ‘Such a huge crowd is unprecedented,
even by football or baseball standards. All of these
people came to the theatre for Sophocles, and if
this does not mean something what does?’
Despite a sharp increase in competition
in the 1990s, the Athens and Epidaurus Festivals
have managed to stand their ground and in 1998 a
new chapter in their history began as they came
under the auspices of Hellenic Festivals S.A.
Regulated by the Ministry of Tourism,
Hellenic Festivals was established to guide the
growth of the festivals. "The festival is currently
one of the biggest of its kind in Europe",
says Tourism Minister Dimitris Avramopoulos, "We
want to make it into one of the most significant
cultural events the world-over".
This summer’s Athens Festival
program has a truly international flavor. The Berliner
Symphoniker, Dario Fo, Placido Domingo and Jose
Carreras are a taster of the big names set to dazzle
audiences. The Epidaurus part of the festival features
an all-Greek program with the exception of Peter
Stein’s staging of Euripides’ Medea.
Birthday celebrations will include
performances from the Athens State Orchestra which
will play the exact same pieces as those played
at the Athens Festival opening concert fifty years
ago. Works by Handel, Petridis, Gluck, Mozart and
others will once again delight an audience of up
to 5,000. Festival dates run from May 20th until
October
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Greece 
