The Greek National Opera was established in 1939. From early on, its program included operetta and dance, in addition to the opera. Inaugurating a new period in its long history, the GNO is now settled in its new home at the GNO complex. Its new facilities enable it to further develop its wide range of activities as an organization for education and the arts, including opera, ballet, experimental projects, shows for children, educational programs, as well as training the next generation of dancers and developing public benefit projects. With its wonderful acoustics, fine ambiance, and advanced specifications, the GNO Hall and the Alternative Stage – a versatile space for experimentation and research – along with state-of-the-art auxiliary spaces, enable the GNO to play an ever more important role promoting the arts in Greece.

The year 2017 was a landmark for the Greek National Opera, which relocated from the small scale Olympia Theatre in the center of Athens to its new, state-of-the-art premises at the GNO Foundation Cultural Center. It did not cease its full artistic operation during the transitional period: people living in the Athens metro area had the opportunity to watch Verdi’s Macbeth, and the dance triptych Landscapes by the GNO Ballet, at the GNO Hall (SNH). The Alternative Stage proved to be the highlight of the year: the first GNO musical commission, Erotokritos by Dimitris Maramis, premiered with great success.

The GNO opened officially at the GNO in October 2017 with the production of Elektra by Richard Strauss at the GNO Hall. An ambitious production with international impact, it was the first of several leads the GNO is proud of: it was the first time for the GNO to present this play, and it was the first time for internationally acclaimed Greek mezzo-soprano Agnes Baltsa to sing at the GNO.

With the programme of the 2024/25 season, the Greek National Opera brings the future version of 21st-century opera to the restless present, setting a bright course for an ambitious future. The diverse, wide-ranging address programme of 2024/25 called “Surpassing limits”, includes premieres, unknown masterpieces, remarkable artistic challenges, international co-productions, classical and modern dance, and iconic artists.

Following the smaller and bigger revolutions that took place during the first seven seasons of the GNO at the GNO Foundation Cultural Center (GNO), under the artistic direction of Giorgos Koumendakis, conditions are now ripe for a series of even greater leaps that will push the boundaries of opera.

The concept of surpassing limits is not only related to selecting the works that will be presented in 2024/25, but mostly with bold decisions, risk-taking, and the welcoming of a new era. The goal is to clash with conservatism, barren conceptions of the past, and the reproduction of stereotypical views.

From the age-old curse of the House of Atreides and the unspeakable fate of Iphigenia to the mental collapse of Lucia di Lammermoor, from the blood-stained destiny of Bluebeard and Aleco to the limits of revenge in La forza del destino and Rigoletto, and from the entrapped life and tragic death of Tchaikovsky and the dead-ends of the Golden Age to the dark aspect of the legend of Turandot, the stories of the works that will be featured in the new season’s programme of the GNO reflect the challenging journey of surpassing mental limits.

 

For the new productions of the 2024/25 season, the Greek National Opera invites, converses, and co-creates with renowned directors, set and costume designers, and choreographers from Greece and all over the world, including Fanny Ardant, Dmitri Tcherniakov, Rodoula Gaitanou, Yannis Skourletis – bijoux de kant, Andrei Şerban, Chloe Obolensky, Konstantinos Rigos, Cayetano Soto, George Souglides, Pierre-André Weitz and others.

The productions will be conducted by internationally acclaimed and emerging Greek and foreign conductors such as Michael Hofstetter, Fabrizio Ventura, Jacques Lacombe, Paolo Carignani, Konstantinos Terzakis, Lukas Karytinos, Pier Giorgio Morandi, Derrick Inouye, and others.

Alongside the protagonists from the Greek National Opera (GNO) Dmitri Platanias, Tassis Christoyannis, Cellia Costea, Vassiliki Karayanni, Yannis Christopoulos, Dionysios Sourbis, Tassos Apostolou, Petros Magoulas, Yanni Yannissis, Dimitris Tiliakos, in the 2024/25 productions we will have the pleasure to watch and listen to more internationally acclaimed Greek and foreign performers, including Corine Winters, Ekaterina Semenchuk, Catherine Foster, Véronique Gens, Alexandre Duhamel, Stanislas de Barbeyrac, Arsen Soghomonyan, Riccardo Massi, Myrsini Margariti, Anna Stylianaki, and more.

 

The 2024/25 season will open with a remarkable international co-production with the famous Aix-en-Provence Opera Festival and the Opéra national de Paris. This collaboration presents a unique artistic endeavour: the staging of two operas by Gluck in one evening, both inspired by the ancient Greek legend of the House of Atreides. The double bill will feature Iphigénie en Aulide and Iphigénie en Tauride, under the direction of the acclaimed Russian director Dmitri Tcherniakov.

The new productions of the season also include the rarely performed opera by Rachmaninoff Aleco directed by the unique Fanny Ardant, Verdi’s La forza del destino –last performed by the GNO 27 years ago– directed by Rodoula Gaitanou, the unknown gem by Spyridon-Filiskos Samaras Flora mirabilis directed by Yannis Skourletis, and Puccini’s operatic swan song Turandot directed by Andrei Şerban, with sets and costumes designed by internationally acclaimed Greek designer Chloe Obolensky.

The GNO Ballet will present two new productions –Tchaikovsky, choreographed by Cayetano Soto, and the Golden Age, directed, choreographed and with sets designed by Konstantinos Rigos–, as well as a revival of the classical ballet Don Quixote, choreographed by Thiago Bordin.

Taking into consideration the strong wishes of its audience, the GNO is bringing back its outstanding co-production of Lucia di Lammermoor with the Royal Opera House in London directed by Katie Mitchell, La bohème in the staging by renowned Graham Vick, Bluebeard’s Castle under the direction of Themelis Glynatsis, and Rigoletto directed by Katerina Evangelatos.

More information www.nationalopera.gr/en/