One of Beethoven’s most famous Violin Sonatas, Sonata No. 5, was posthumously titled Spring Sonata. This descriptive title was given by the publishers since this extroverted work gives off a spring mood and the joy of life through its melodic richness. The work is not only a tribute to spring but also an occasion for the celebration of the 250th anniversary of the emblematic composer’s birth.

Michael Kolokotronis, Principal Second Violin with the GNO Orchestra, meets distinguished pianist Titos Gouvelis in the mysterious world of the GNO backstage, while images of spring in the city engage in a dialogue with Beethoven’s sounds of spring.

The Greek National Opera opens a new cycle of artistic programming. The first Online Festival titled EXIT: SPRING and curated by Artistic Director Giorgos Koumendakis spreads its wings into the digital world and invites us to a new viewing and listening experience. From 17th May to 30th June 2020, eleven new music, opera, operetta and music theatre video-performances created during the pandemic, as well as one recorded dance performance, come for free to our homes via www.nationalopera.gr, GNO’s Facebook page and GNO YouTube channel. All Festival video-performances revolve around the themes of the anticipation of spring, the rebirth of nature and the coming of the new. The Festival is made possible by a grant from the Stavros Niarchos Foundation (SNF) [www.SNF.org] to enhance the Greek National Opera’s artistic outreach.

 Responding to the challenges of the time, the Greek National Opera develops new means of creation and presentation of its work beyond the ordinary. While experiencing a new reality, whose end none of us can predict, we turn the forced absence from our standard artistic activity to a new creativity beyond norms and limitations. The first Online Festival EXIT: SPRING aims at offering friends of the GNO in Greece and across the world, a “digital” exit to this year’s lost spring, through music, dance and lyric art video-performances.

The Greek National Opera would like to thank all the artists and artistic bodies, who granted their rights for free, in order to make sure that the broadcast of these video-performances of the festival will be free to the public, in this difficult time.