Athens & Epidaurus Festival 2020
The Thessaloniki State Symphony Orchestra and its famed string instruments are featured in this year’s Athens & Epidaurus Festival, presenting two remarkable works.
Rich in contrasts, Béla Bartók’s Divertimento for String Orchestra will kick off the evening programme, combining neoclassical style with avant-garde modernism, and highlighting the dialogue of string instruments with imaginative expression, dynamic juxtapositions and surprising shifts in rhythm that have been established since the time of the concerti grossi.
Antonio Vivaldi’s timeless masterpiece The Four Seasons will dominate the second part of the evening. This work comprises the first four out of twelve concertos composed by Vivaldi for violin, string orchestra and continuo. The so-called “red priest” was inspired to compose one separate concerto for every season of the year. He also composed an equivalent sonnet for each concerto’s sheet music. The elegant and brilliant end result is hailed as one of the best-known works in the history of music. Vivaldi highlights the beauty of violin as few composers have managed to do, having been a major violin teacher and a violin virtuoso himself. Simos Papanas, concertmaster of the Thessaloniki State Symphony Orchestra, will perform as violin soloist.
Béla Bartók (1881-1945)
Divertimento for String Orchestra, Sz.113, BB.118
Allegro non troppo
Molto adagio
Allegro assai
Conductor Zoi Tsokanou
Antonio Vivaldi (1678-1741)
The Four Seasons, 4 concertos for violin and string orchestra, Op. 8
Concerto No. 1 in E major, Op. 8, RV 269, “Spring” (La primavera)
Concerto No. 2 in G minor, Op. 8, RV 315, “Summer” (L'estate)
Concerto No. 3 in F major, Op. 8, RV 293, “Autumn” (L'autunno)
Concerto No. 4 in F minor, Op. 8, RV 297, “Winter” (L'inverno)
Conductor / Soloist Simos Papanas violin
Ticket prices:
Distinguished Zone: 65€
Zone Α': 55€
Zone Β': 45€
Zone C': 35€
Zone D': 25€
Zone E' 20€
Zone F': 15€
Limited vision zone: 10€