The Greek National Opera (GNO) began its activities in 1940. After one-and-a-half centuries of the Ionian Island operatic arts and 50 years of the Greek Opera House (1888-1938) the conditions were ripe and the circumstances favorable for the establishment of the first and, to date, only opera company in Greece. From the outset, opera, operetta and dance were given equal emphasis. In response to the demands of the contemporary cultural scene, the GNO is today preparing its audiences of the future with its Children’s Stage, and is offering young composers the opportunity to take important artistic steps with its Experimental Stage.
1940-1944: On 5 March 1940 an opera company was established as part of the National Theatre. The company’s inaugural opera performance at the neoclassical theatre designed by Ziller on Agiou Konstantinou Street was the operetta Die Fledermaus by Johann Strauss. The first director and driving force behind the company was Kostis Bastias, the then General Director of State Stages under the Metaxas Government. During the course of the Greco-Italian War (1940-1941), performances were transferred to the newly-constructed Pallas Cinema. In the summer of 1940, performances were given at the Park Theatre (on Mavromateon Street), and at an outdoor stage in the gardens of what is today Klafthmonos Square. During the period 1941-1944 the repertory was subject to censorship. In the summer of 1943 The Masterbuilder by Manolis Kalomiris was performed at the Odeon of Herodes Atticus, with Maria Callas – then still known as Maria Kalogeropoulou – in the lead role. Programme texts were printed in Greek, German and Italian at that time, but as of September 1943 they appeared solely in German.
1944-1946: On 9 May 1944 the organization was made an autonomous public sector entity, taking the name Greek National Opera. It began operating in its own theatre, the original building of the Olympia Theatre on Akadimias Avenue. The inaugural opera performance was Rhea by Spyros F. Samaras. In the summer of 1944 Beethoven’s Fidelio was presented at the Odeon of Herodes Atticus, in which Maria Callas performed. The years of the German Occupation saw productions of light-hearted operettas from the German repertory. Following the liberation of Greece, a clear emphasis was placed on the works of Greek composers. A number of popular works from the Italian and French repertories were also added to the company’s repertoire, as well as works less well known to Greek audiences, such as Mignon by Ambroise Thomas (1946-1947 season), The Bartered Bride by Bedřich Smetana (1950-1951 season), and The Flying Dutchman by Richard Wagner (1951-1952 season).
1946-1950: The GNO operetta company was separated from the main company in 1946 to become its own branch. From 1949 it was housed at the outdoor Metropolitan Theatre on Alexandras Avenue, where it gave performances every day during the summer period. From the winter of 1950 it was housed at the Kivelis Theatre on Syntagma Square.
1950: A Bill was passed for the establishment of the GNO Ballet School.
1958: On 8 January the newly-built Olympia Theatre, which houses the GNO to this day, was inaugurated with a performance of Verdi’s Aida. Dinos Yannopoulos was appointed Artistic Director of the GNO.
1959-1964: Kostis Bastias was appointed GNO Artistic Director once again, a post in which he remained until 1964. His five-year directorship proved to be one of the most artistically prolific periods in the history of the GNO: each season included some 20 productions, and around 30 works received their Greek premières at this time. Here are but some of the productions mounted during this period: Donizetti’s La favorite, Delibes’ Lakmé, Poulenc’s Dialogues of the Carmelites, Rossini’s Mosè in Egitto, Mussorgsky’s The Khovansky Affair, Borodin’s Prince Igor, Cimarosa’s Il matrimonio segreto, Wagner’s Tannhäuser and Lohengrin, Massenet’s Manon, and Weber’s Der Freischütz. The Greek repertory also featured strongly. Important productions were mounted both at the Odeon of Herodes Atticus (the Athens Festival had been established in 1955), and at the Ancient Epidaurus Theatre; a key artistic role was played at this time by Maria Callas, who appeared in Bellini’s Norma in 1960 and Cherubini’s Medea in 1961. Manolis Kalomiris’ final opera, Konstantinos Paleologos, received its world première at the Odeon of Herodes Atticus in the summer of 1962. The outdoor theatre on Alexandras Avenue fell out of use after 12 years of performances staged there, but the GNO operetta company continued to operate until the late 1970s.
1967-1973: Menelaos Pallantios took the reins of the GNO, continuing along similar artistic lines. The exceptionally positive progress of the company was cut mid-stride by the military coup of 21 April 1967. In 1970 the GNO was subsumed into the Greek State Theatre Organisation, under the auspices of the Greek Ministry of the Presidency. After a rapid succession of changes in the post, the musicologist Dimitris Chamoudopoulos was appointed Artistic Director of the GNO. While there was no significant reduction in the number of productions being mounted, the change in artistic direction as regards the company’s repertoire was clear from the very first season under the Greek military junta.
1974-1980: The GNO was placed under the aegis of the Ministry of Culture, which was established in 1971. The artistic direction of the GNO was assigned to the conductor Dimitris Chorafas. The certificate of social beliefs, which had constituted a prerequisite for the employment of any administrative employee or artist since the establishment of the company, was now abolished. A number of works were added to the company’s repertory at this time, including: Stravinsky’s The Rake’s Progress, Berlioz’s La damnation de Faust, Purcell’s Dido and Aeneas, Dallapiccola’s Il prigioniero, Rossini’s La Cenerentola and La italiana in Algeri, Weill’s Aufstieg und Fall der Stadt Mahagonny, Monteverdi’s L’incoronazione di Poppea, Verdi’s Les vêpres siciliennes, Prokofiev’s Betrothal in a Monastery, and Ravel’s L’enfant et les sortilèges. Certain works were selected by Manos Hadjidakis, Vice President of the company until the 1976-1977 season, when he shared his post with the mezzo-soprano Arda Mandikian, who took over from him thereafter.
1980-1984: The baritone John Modinos was made Artistic Director of the GNO in 1980. In the second year of his term, the composer Yorgos Kouroupos was made GNO President, a post he held until 1984, with the baritone Kostas Paschalis as Vice President in 1983 and 1984, himself becoming President in his third year. Kouroupos returned as President of the Board of Directors in 1993, a post in which he remained until 1999.
1984-1990: The director Spyros A. Evangelatos was appointed Artistic Director of the GNO in 1984, and was subsequently made President of the company in 1999. The following works received their Greek premières in this period: Handel’s Giulio Cesare, Britten’s Albert Herring, Puccini’s La fanciulla del West, and Mozart’s La clemenza di Tito. The 1986-1987 season saw the mounting of Mikis Theodorakis’ first opera, Kostas Karyotakis.
1990-1994: Nikos Sinodinos was appointed Artistic Director in 1990. Greek premières of note included Rossini’s La siege de Corinthe and Massenet’s Thaïs.
1994-1997: Law 2273, passed on 27 December 1994, established the GNO as a private sector entity. 1994 also saw the appointment of a new Artistic Director, the composer and conductor Alkis Baltas. The GNO’s Children’s Stage and Chamber Orchestra were also established, and in 1995 surtitles were introduced. Operas added to the company’s repertory at this time included: Kagel’s La trahison orale, Shostakovich’s Lady Macbeth of the Mtsensk District, Weill’s Die sieben Todsünden, and Strauss’ Salome.
1997-1999: The composer Periklis Koukos was appointed Artistic Director in 1997. Great emphasis was placed upon financial and administrative issues, resulting in the more efficient operation of the company. Many co-productions were mounted in collaboration with international theatres, with tours were undertaken through many cities in Greece and Cyprus.
1999-2006: The conductor Lukas Karytinos was appointed Artistic Director in 1999. The company’s repertory was systematically broadened in all musical directions, from the Baroque period (with Handel’s Serse and Alcina, and Vivaldi’s Orlando furioso) right down to the 20th century (with Rota’s Il capello di paglia di Firenze, Walton’s The Bear, Menotti’s The Medium, Britten’s Peter Grimes, and Ligeti’s Le Grand Macabre), with Italian and French works set alongside German (Wagner’s Das Rhinegold) and Russian (Rimsky-Korsakov’s The Tsar’s Bride) operas, popular works alongside lesser-known ones (Verdi’s Attila), and operas by contemporary Greek composers (Vrondos’ The Posessed) alongside those by Greek composers past (Samaras’ Rhea, and Carrer’s Marathon – Salamis). Successful collaborations with international theatres continued during this period. In 2000 the GNO once again acquired a permanent second stage (the Acropol Theatre), which housed its new operetta company. The theatre’s historical archive was updated. 2004 saw the establishment of the Experimental Stage as a hothouse of contemporary opera under the artistic direction of the composer Thodoros Antoniou, President of the Greek Composers’ Union.
2006 to the present: On 1 January 2006 the director and set designer Stefanos Lazaridis was appointed Artistic Director of the GNO. His main aim is to further broaden the company’s repertory, with special emphasis being given to works of the 20th century. Particular importance is being placed on the Experimental Stage, which will continue to commission works by young Greek composers, and give Greek audiences the opportunity to see important contemporary works by international composers. Among his immediate plans are co-productions and the exchange of productions with international theatres and other Greek organizations. He is also seeking to spotlight promising young Greek artists (singers, musicians, directors and set designers). Finally, the reinvigoration of the ENO Ballet is of great importance to Stefanos Lazaridis, and to this end he is working with the renowned dancer Lynn Seymour.