Cyprus Symphony Orchestra Concerts
ELECTRA AND BERENICE
Paphos: Wednesday 30 April 2014, Markideion
Theatre, 20:30
Nicosia: Friday 2 May 2014, Pallas Theatre,
Paphos Gate, 20:30
The Cyprus Symphony Orchestra welcomes you to enjoy two dramatic
operatic pieces by Mozart and Haydn which were inspired by two personages of
antiquity: Electra and Berenice. The roles of the two tragic women are
interpreted by the well-known Cypriot soprano Katerina Mina. Inhabiting different worlds, Andreas Moustoukis’s
esoteric composition Epitafium and Beethoven’s luminous and energetic Symphony
no. 8 in F major, op. 93 will also be performed in the same concert. The orchestra
is conducted by the Cypriot conductor Yiorgos
Kountouris.
Electra, Princess of Argos sings the recitative and aria “Oh, smania! oh Furie! - D' Oreste, d'Ajace”
towards the end of Mozart’s opera Idomeneo. This is a highly dramatic
point where Electra, who is in love with Idamantes, son of the King of Crete
Idomeneo, is forced to abandon every hope of union with her beloved, since, after
Neptune’s command, he is to marry Princess of Troy Ilia. In Haydn’s Scena di Berenice,
Berenice, wife of the King of Macedonia Antigonus II Gonatas, who is in love
with her husband’s son Demetrius is tormented by conflicting emotions. Both
compositions aptly express the agitated psychological state of the two women.
Andreas Moustoukis devoted his work Epitafium (2006) to the memory of
Dmitri Shostakovich on the occasion of his 100th birth anniversary.
The composer writes: “Keeping in the innermost part of my heart Lorca’s lines
used by Shostakovich in his 14th Symphony, I ponder on that which
defines life and art. ‘A hundred people madly in love, have fallen into eternal
dreams, deeply into the arid soil.’ (De profundis, F. G.
Lorca, free translation)”.
Beethoven’s 8th Symphony is a work bursting with vitality and high spirits. According to many
musicologists, including Antony Hopkins, in his penultimate symphony, Beethoven
presents several musical jokes, such as the parody of the metronome in the 2nd
movement, a recent invention, which rapidly unwinds towards the end of the
movement. Beethoven himself considered this symphony much better than his 7th
Symphony. Importantly, Tchaikovsky called the 4th movement of the
symphony, "one of the greatest symphonic masterpieces of Beethoven."
Supporter: Municipality of Paphos
In collaboration with the Οrganization “European Capital of Culture – Pafos 2017”
TICKETS: €12 and €7 (18-26 years old and
pensioners), free entrance for children under 18 years old
Tickets available at the Theatres’ box office.
Paphos: Markideion
Theatre (Andrea Geroudi, Paphos, Tel. 26 932571)
Available 3 hours before the concert.
Nicosia: Pallas
Theatre, Paphos Gate (Regenis and Arsinoes corner, Nicosia, Tel.: 22 410181)
Available two days before the concert from 4-7pm and on the concert day
from 4pm.
