For Immediate Release

THE GREEK NATIONAL OPERA PRESENTS THE GREEK PREMIERE AND THIRD-EVER STAGING OF NADIA BOULANGER’S OPERA LA VILLE MORTE, JANUARY 19-28

La Ville morte is a co-production with Catapult Opera

and receives its U.S. premiere in New York, April 19-21

La Ville morte by Sophie von Hellermann (2023)

ATHENS, GREECE (December 14, 2023) —The Greek National Opera (GNO) presents the Greek premiere of La Ville morte (The Dead City), the only opera composed by Nadia Boulanger—one of the most important conductors and music educators, and mentor to some of the greatest music figures of the 20th century—in collaboration with her mentor Raoul Pugno, to a libretto by Gabriele D’Annunzio. Staged for only the third time in over a century, La Ville morte will be presented by the GNO on the Alternative Stage at the Stavros Niarchos Foundation Cultural Center in Athens on January 19, 21, 24, 26, & 28, 2024, in a co-production with New York’s Catapult Opera. 

This co-production of La Ville morte is made possible by a grant from the Stavros Niarchos Foundation (SNF) [www.SNF.org] to enhance GNO's artistic outreach.

La Ville morte is based on the famous Italian poet Gabriele D’Annunzio’s play of the same title, and was adapted into the operatic libretto by the poet himself. The opera tells a tragic and outrageous story of obsession and incestual desire among its four characters—Léonard, an archeologist (tenor Joshua Dennis), his sister Hébé (soprano Melissa Harvey), Alexandre, a poet (baritone Jorell Williams), and his wife Anne (mezzo soprano Laurie Rubin)—set amidst an excavation site of the ruins of the ancient city of Mycenae, Greece. The work’s music reflects the impressionist musical aesthetic of the time, interspersed with echoes of Debussy’s Pelléas et Mélisande.   

Although the opera had been scheduled to premiere at the Opéra Comique in Paris in 1914, Boulanger and Pugno’s La Ville morte was never staged in its time because of the outbreak of the First World War. The opera was first performed only in 2005, at the Festival of the Accademia Musicale Chigiana in Siena with an orchestration based on the only act spared by a storage room fire; it was then performed for a second time, in concert, at the Göteborg Opera, Sweden, in March 2020.  

Boulanger and Pugno’s La Ville morte was hailed as one of the most important creative achievements of the great French conductor, music educator, and mentor to some of the greatest music figures of the 20th century (such as Aaron Copland, Leonard Bernstein and Astor Piazzolla)

For this production, David Conte, one of Boulanger’s last proteges, has supervised a full score orchestrated by composers Joseph Stillwell and Stefan Cwik, and based on Boulanger’s recently discovered piano reduction of the orchestra music. Neal Goren conducts the cast and an 11-member instrumental ensemble, and the production is directed by Robin Guarino. 

Following the production's premiere in Athens, Catapult Opera presents La Ville morte in its U.S. premiere in New York, April 19-21.

La Ville morte (Greek premiere)

Nadia Boulanger, Raoul Pugno

January 19, 21, 24, 26, and 29, 2024 

Starts at: 20.30 (Sunday: 19.00)

Greek National Opera Alternative Stage – SNFCC

In co-production with Catapult Opera

Libretto: Gabriele D'Annunzio

Orchestration: Joseph Stillwell, Stefan Cwik

Conductor: Neal Goren

Stage director: Robin Guarino

Set designer: Andromache Chalfant

Costume designer: Candice Donelly

Lighting & video designer: Jessica Drayton

Cast: Melissa Harvey, Laurie Rubin, Joshua Dennis, Jorell Williams

With the participation of an 11-member instrumental ensemble

Ticket prices: €15, €20 • Students, children: €10

Presale: GNO Box Office (tel. +30 213 088 5700, daily 09.00-21.00). and via ticketservices.gr/en

The production is realized thanks to the support from the Stavros Niarchos Foundation (SNF) [www.SNF.org] grant for the enhancement of the Greek National Opera’s artistic outreach.

Alternative Stage Founding Donor Stavros Niarchos Foundation (SNF)

ABOUT THE GREEK NATIONAL OPERA

Founded in 1939, the Greek National Opera is a public body and the sole opera house in Greece. It produces and stages operas, musical theater, operettas, ballets, and multi-disciplinary productions for its two stages at the Stavros Niarchos Foundation Cultural Center (SNFCC), the Stavros Niarchos Hall and the Alternative Stage, as well as at the Odeon of Herodes Atticus, an open-air theater in the center of Athens. The company’s repertory covers four centuries of lyric theater, from the works of Claudio Monteverdi to those of contemporary composers. The Orchestra and Chorus of the Greek National Opera were both founded in 1939 alongside the opera company, then a part of the Royal Theatre, and a Children’s Chorus was founded in 2012. In addition to its opera programming, the GNO also encompasses the GNO Professional School of Dance, as well as education and community programs aimed at all age groups.

The GNO is one of Europe’s most innovative opera houses with a unique artistic identity that engages global talent and inspires large and diverse audiences. Led by artistic director Giorgos Koumendakis and supported by the Stavros Niarchos Foundation (SNF) [www.SNF.org], its mission is to offer audiences high caliber productions by presenting operas, ballets, operettas, operas for children, and music recitals, among other events. The GNO’s main source of funding is the Greek State and the Ministry of Culture and Sports. Over 60% of its annual budget is covered by state funding, with the rest coming from ticket proceeds, private sponsorship, and grants. The Stavros Niarchos Foundation (SNF) is the Greek National Opera's biggest donor and to date, its grants to the GNO amount to €27.5 million.

A turning point in its history came in 2017 when the GNO relocated to a new state-of-the-art building at the architecturally striking Stavros Niarchos Foundation Cultural Center (SNFCC), which was conceived, designed, constructed, and equipped with a substantial grant from the Stavros Niarchos Foundation (SNF). Following completion, the SNFCC was delivered to the Greek state and the public in February 2017 through the SNF’s largest grant initiative to date, totalling €618 million. Assisted by a €5 million grant from the Stavros Niarchos Foundation (SNF), the GNO relocated from Athens’ Olympia Theatre to the SNFCC and the two, purpose-built theaters designed by Renzo Piano, doubling its audience capacity to 1,400 seats in the opera hall and also doubling its ticket revenues.

The hall’s inaugural production in October 2017 was Strauss’ Elektra, starring the celebrated Greek mezzo Agnes Baltsa as Klytaemnestra. In 2019 a major grant of €20 million was announced by the Stavros Niarchos Foundation (SNF) to support the implementation of a four-year programming and development plan that will enhance the artistic outreach of the GNO and increase the promotion of its work overseas. In 2020 the GNO celebrated its 80th anniversary, commissioning and presenting works to reintroduce itself to the Greek and global audience through its new artistic identity and mission. This programming has included, among others: Verdi’s Don Carlo directed by Sir Nicholas Hytner, a co-production of the Royal Opera House, London, Metropolitan Opera, New York, and Norwegian National Opera, Oslo; Berg’s Wozzeck directed by Olivier Py; Shostakovich’s Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk  directed by Fanny Ardant; Marina Abramović’s 7 Deaths of Maria Callas, a co-production with Opéra national de Paris, Bayerische Staatsoper, Deutsche Oper Berlin, and Teatro di San Carlo; Verdi’s Otello, a co-production with Festspiel Baden-Baden directed by Robert Wilson; Mozart’s Don Giovanni, a co-production with the Göteborg Opera and the Royal Danish Opera directed by John Fulljames; Offenbach’s Les Contes d'Hoffmann, a co-production with La Monnaie de Munt, directed by Krzysztof Warlikowski; Verdi’s Falstaff, directed by the artistic director of the Glyndebourne Festival Stephen Langridge; Verdi’s Rigoletto, directed by the artistic director of the Athens Festival Katerina Evangellatos; Puccini’s Madama Butterfly directed by director of the Théâtre du Châtelet Olivier Py; and Cherubini’s Medea directed by David McVicar, a co-production with the Metropolitan Opera, Canadian Opera Company, and the Lyric Opera of Chicago.

For more information, visit nationalopera.gr/en.

# # #

Press Contacts:

Shuman Public Relations

Constance Shuman | connie@shuman-pr.com

Lisa Jaehnig | lisa@shuman-pr.com

Christina Bianco | christina@shuman-pr.com

Greek National Opera Press Office

Vasilis Louras | pressoffice@nationalopera.gr | +30 2130885740