ΚΑΛΩΣ ΗΛΘΑΤΕ! Kalos ilthate! Welcome!
Welcome to the Global Greek World - a world of Greek-Somethings which stretches from Auckland to Zanzibar, from Aruba to Zimbabwe.
Wherever you are in the world, this is YOUR world!
If you are in Athens today, be sure to attend this amazing event! Congratulations to the National Opera Company and to all the parties involved for coming up with what promises to be a unique and beautiful cultural experience. Combining Maria Callas' two loves, opera and Greece's Classical History!
On the 36th anniversary of her death, the National Opera Company of Greece pays tribute to Maria Callas, presenting us with a 'Musical Stroll in 5 Acts' around 5 of Athens' finest archaeological sites.
The Musical Stroll has been designed in such a way that the public can attend all 5 Acts if they wish to, easily walking from one to the other - from Dionysiou Areopagitou Street to Patission Street.
The Itinerary • 18.00 - Entrance of the New Acropolis Museum - 20 minutes • 18.45 - Entrance to the Herodus Atticus Theatre - 20 minutes • 19.35 - Greek Archaeologists Association Building Ermou 134-136, Aghion Asomaton Square - 20 minutes • 20.30 - Kotzia Square - 20 minutes • 21.30 - National Archaeological Museum, Patission Street - 40 minutes
Entrance is free of charge
Η Λυρική τιμά την Μαρία Κάλλας
Ένας απογευματινός μουσικός περίπατος στο κέντρο της Αθήνας σε πέντε πράξεις
Κυριακή 15 Σεπτεμβρίου 2013
Μουσείο Ακρόπολης,
Σκάλες Ηρωδείου,
Πλατεία Αγίων Ασωμάτων,
Πλατεία Κοτζιά,
Εθνικό Αρχαιολογικό Μουσείο
Με την Ορχήστρα, πιανίστες και μονωδούς της ΕΛΣ
Μουσική διεύθυνση Μύρων Μιχαηλίδης
Με
αφορμή τη συμπλήρωση των 36 ετών από τον θάνατο της Μαρίας Κάλλας (16
Σεπτεμβρίου 1977), η Εθνική Λυρική Σκηνή τιμά την κορυφαία Ελληνίδα
υψίφωνο με μια σειρά μουσικών δρώμενων στο κέντρο της Αθήνας, την
Κυριακή 15 Σεπτεμβρίου, από τις 18.00 το απόγευμα έως τις 22.00 το
βράδυ.
Στους δρόμους
της Αθήνας, της πόλης που μεγάλωσε η Μαρία Κάλλας, θα ακουστούν οι
διάσημες άριες οι οποίες σημαδεύτηκαν για πάντα από τις μοναδικές
ερμηνείες της, από τους καλλιτέχνες του Λυρικού θεάτρου, στο οποίο η
Κάλλας έκανε τα πρώτα βήματα της καριέρας της.
Οι σολίστ
Ελένη Βουδουράκη, Δήμητρα Θεοδοσίου, Αντωνία Καλογήρου, Βασιλική
Καραγιάννη, Ειρήνη Καράγιαννη, Έλενα Κελεσίδη, Τσέλια Κοστέα, Μυρσίνη
Μαργαρίτη, Μαρία Μητσοπούλου, Τζούλια Σουγλάκου, οι πιανίστες και η Ορχήστρα της Εθνικής Λυρικής Σκηνής σε μουσική διεύθυνση του Καλλιτεχνικού Διευθυντή της Μύρωνα Μιχαηλίδη
θα ερμηνεύσουν αποσπάσματα από τις όπερες Τραβιάτα, Μποέμ, Τόσκα,
Μαντάμα Μπαττερφλάι, Μάκμπεθ, Ριγολέττος, Ο κουρέας της Σεβίλλης,
Τροβατόρε, Ο σικελικός εσπερινός κ.α.
Ο μουσικός περίπατος σε πέντε πράξεις,
έχει σχεδιαστεί με τέτοιο τρόπο ώστε να δίνει τη δυνατότητα στο κοινό
να παρακολουθήσει και τις πέντε συναυλίες μετακινούμενο με τα πόδια από
τη μια στην άλλη. Η Εθνική Λυρική Σκηνή προσκαλεί τους θαυμαστές της
απόλυτης ντίβας της όπερας να περιδιαβούν τους δρόμους της πόλης, με
συνοδοιπόρους τις όπερες των Βέρντι, Πουτσίνι, Ροσσίνι, Ντονιτσέττι κ.α. να
σταθούν σε περισσότερο ή λιγότερο δημοφιλή σημεία της, για να δουν με
μια νέα ματιά τόσο την πόλη, όσο και την τέχνη της όπερας.
Το πρόγραμμα της Κυριακής 15ης Σεπτεμβρίου, αναλυτικά, έχει ως εξής:
• 18.00 - Προαύλιος χώρος Μουσείου Ακρόπολης - Διονυσίου Αρεοπαγίτου [σολίστ με συνοδεία πιάνου, διάρκεια 20 λεπτά] • 18.45 - Σκάλες Ωδείου Ηρώδου Αττικού - Διονυσίου Αρεοπαγίτου [σολίστ με συνοδεία πιάνου, διάρκεια 20 λεπτά] • 19.35 - Κτίριο Συλλόγου Ελλήνων Αρχαιολόγων - Πεζόδρομος Ερμού 134-136, Πλατεία Αγίων Ασωμάτων Θησείο [σολίστ με συνοδεία πιάνου, διάρκεια 20 λεπτά] • 20.30 - Πλατεία Κοτζιά [σολίστ με συνοδεία πιάνου, διάρκεια 20 λεπτά] • 21.30 - Προαύλιος χώρος Εθνικού Αρχαιολογικού Μουσείου – Πατησίων [Ορχήστρα Εθνικής Λυρικής Σκηνής - σολίστ, διάρκεια 40 λεπτά]
Είσοδος Ελεύθερη σε όλες τις εκδηλώσεις.
Σε
συνεργασία με τον Δήμο Αθηναίων, το Μουσείο της Ακρόπολης, το Εθνικό
Αρχαιολογικό Μουσείο, τον Σύλλογο Ελλήνων Αρχαιολόγων και την Ομάδα Κάθε Σάββατο στην Αθήνα.
A mere
100 odd Million dollars marks the end of the Onassis Era for Skorpios…
Dear Athina,
That’s it then.
Farewell to your own private island in the Ionian Sea.
Skorpios, the private island bequeathed to you by your
Mum Christina who inherited it from her Dad, Aristotle Onassis, has been sold/leased
to a wealthy Russian Oligarch, Dimitri Rybolovlev, for his 23 year old daughter
Ekaterina, who plans to make the most of it, already referring to it as a financial
and business centre!
What a shame…
That you didn’t recognize or perhaps appreciate the value of your island
paradise and what marvellous things could be done with it!
Every so often we heard that that you had sold that
symbol of extreme wealth –your Grandfather’s legendary island - to one or other
of the world’s privileged - eg Bill Gates or Madonna - Millionaires or Billionaires,
it doesn’t matter - but it always stopped at rumour status… until now. We wrote
about it the last time too, in August 2009, and wished you well if that’s what you really wanted...
But, like most Greeks in Greece and around the world, we're sad... and puzzled.
You never really seemed to take to your Greek side
very well…
We don’t know why you appeared to reject all that was
Greek and didn’t appear to want to visit this beautiful little island.
Statue of Aristotle Onassis at Nidri Port, Lefkada
Maybe it is the fact that your Grandfather is buried
on it along with his two children - your Mum, Christina and the Uncle you never
met, Alexander - and all this brings
back too much sadness, sadness which maybe you had too much of as a young child
growing up without your mother.
Then again, this may not be true. Maybe we read
too many wicked stepmother fairytales! Maybe you actually enjoyed your life
growing up in as normal a way as possible and as part of a large family with
the added bonus of bodyguards… maybe that’s what has made you want to sever
connections with anything that’s Greek…and forget about the Greek part of your
heritage, a heritage that appeared to be too hard for you to cope with, a
heritage you didn’t seem to want, except briefly when you were talking about holding The Athina Onassis Equestrian Competition in Athens, when your beloved was
considering wearing Greek colours for the Olympics, although we did read on your
website that you are still riding for Greece ‘Athina then switched her national affiliation from France to Greece, effective for all of her equestrian competitions’ .
Most of our Global Greeks around the world have gone
to a great deal of trouble, personal and financial , under very difficult
conditions and without many resources, to make sure that their children grow up
within their Greek heritage, their history, traditions, language and, above
all, a love for Greece.
Millions of people, come to visit Greece each
year, inspired by her history and culture and attracted by her natural beauty.
Many non-Greeks have made Greece
their home, bringing up their children there and following an essentially Greek
way of life. They’re not Greek by descent but they are Greek by choice.
Yet you, the only Onassis left, have effectively
severed relations with your Greek heritage, with Greece,
with the Onassis Foundation, apparently unwilling to take any step towards
reconciliation by learning Greek, quickly auctioned off your Mother’s jewels,
the houses in Greece
and now the last link, Skorpios, is gone too.
You virtually gave it away…
What a shame…
It puzzles us that you, the only grandchild and
descendant of one of THE most famous Greeks – a man who made his stature as a
sharp businessman synonymous with his Greek identity - seem to be denying that
heritage… for what? For money? Mere
money?
Money is just money and it doesn’t last. It is simply
a tool that can help make daily living easier… when you have a lot, it really
doesn’t mean much to get another few million to add to the stockpile.
You’ve given Skorpios away for a song. What’s 100
million dollars these days? Not much for an island, let alone an island like
Skorpios with status and history!
Why? It’s
perplexing for us non-billionaire-heirs-and-or-heiresses because one doesn’t
have to ‘feel’ particularly Greek to enjoy the benefits an inheritance like
yours gives you – the fortune your Grandfather made and which allows you to
live a life of luxury - whether you want it or not.
Isn’t it strange that the world’s titled and moneyed
are looking for the added prestige owning their own Greek island will give
them, yet you, apparently, couldn’t wait to get rid of it?
The Emir of Qatar bought a couple
of islands of his own in the Ionian for his family vacations just a few weeks
ago, and now the Russian Rybolovlev has ‘bought’ yours, handing over something
more than 100 million dollars for a piece of the Onassis myth - the Onassis
myth which lives on long after its main protagonists have left this world, and
remains forever synonymous with wealth, power and glory intertwined as it was with stories of the world's rich and powerful, from Hollywood stars and celebrities to royalty and politicians.
It is a real shame that you didn’t decide to
do something yourself with your fabled island paradise in the Ionian. This mythical
island which hosted so many celebrities and legends in their own right, was also home to two famous
women, Maria Callas and Jackie Kennedy Onassis, and the final resting place of
the Onassis family members.
Since you didn’t want to go there why not open it up and share it with
the rest of the world?
You could have opened the main house up as a Museum – The
Onassis
Family Memorial Museum, thus ensuring its existence as an ongoing and living
tribute to its founder, your Grandfather, Aristotle Onassis. This would have been the real tribute
to your Grandfather and your Onassis family, on the island paradise he created
and where he is buried.
There are so many who would love to be able to visit,
to see this beautiful island, to capture a bit of history, a piece of the
glorious past, to see up close the legend that was the Onassis retreat…
recreating the atmosphere, the glamour and the joy of the time when your
grandfather was alive and bringing back that ultimate Greek’s love of
life!
What a shame…
If you didn’t want to do it, why not sell the island
to the Onassis Foundation and let its Trustees do it. Although they haven’t done too badly at
keeping the Onassis name and spirit alive and above all Greek, your
Grandfather’s arch rival’s family via their Stavros Niarchos Foundation is
doing a lot better to be honest! The Stavros Niarchos Foundation have committed
the same amount you received for Skorpios, around 100 million dollars, to benefit and assist those who are
suffering in Greece
right now, supporting their founder’s homeland in its time of need. Bravo to
them all!
We hope we will be able to say the same to you one
day. Maybe, you too plan to donate some of the proceeds of this deal, to the people in Greece
who are suffering right now. We certainly hope so.
Most of us felt sad today as we watched the movers loading up what remained of the Onassis personal effects as they left for an
unknown destination to make way for the new owners…it is always sad to witness
the end of an era, and that’s exactly what this is.
For Skorpios and all
it symbolises, it is the end of an era.
The Onassis legend and the Onassis
legacy remain and will do so forever but Skorpios is now in the hands of Ekaterina and Dimitri Rybolovlev who we hope will breathe new life into the island and the entire area.
For you, the last Onassis, a clean cut, a clean break, a clean slate that you can
now draw on as much as your heart desires.
We sincerely hope it brings you the happiness you are looking for.
Enjoy it.
If and when you do decide to claim back your Greek heritage, and we hope for your sake that that day comes soon, Greece will always be there for you...
PS Onassis international Prizes - Where Are they Today?
While we are talking about what a shame it is how these situations have developed, it would be interesting to find out what
happened to the Onassis International Prizes which Onassis had intended to be
the Greek equivalent of the Nobel Prizes?
From Simone Veil to Herbert
von Karajan and Elizabeth Taylor to Manolis Andronikos, the Laureate list from 1980 to 1993, the last year that they were awarded, is impressive to say the least.
Dame Elizabeth Taylor
1988 Onassis International Prize for services in the fight against AIDS
Press Conference, Hotel Grande Bretagne in Athens
The stunning jewellery worn by an equally stunning Liz in these photos comes from the famous Lalaounis collections which Liz adored.
To read about Onassis on Wikipedia Click here To read about the Alexander Onassis Public Benefit Foundation Click here To read about Athina Onassis on the ADSport Horses Site, Click here To read Athina Onassis: In the Eye of a Storm by Alexis Mantheakis, former Roussel family spokesman click here
At Global Greek World, We ♥ Greece...and it shows!
On 16 September 1977, the world farewelled one of the most exceptional opera singers ever and Greece one of her most gifted children of the diaspora...
Maria Callas died, of heartbreak some say, leaving behind her a legend. To this day, so many years later, that legend has remained undiminished.
Maria Callas, the woman who gave the world the definition for DIVA...
Maria Callas - La Divina - the Divine One...
Maria Callas - Golden Global Greek...
Our father's great love for this brilliant performer meant that we grew up with Maria Callas... not literally of course, and when Callas passed away
we felt like we had lost a member of our family. As we had most of her recordings in our record collection, Norma, Tosca, La Traviata, Il Trovatore, Aida, Carmen and others, we would often sit with our father in our 'saloni', the visitor's room, where our stereo was and listen to that magnificent voice flood the room, transporting us to La Scala, Covent Garden or Epidaurus... That room was always our father's refuge and his record collection his great joy.
Whenever we heard Maria Callas' voice we knew he was sad, mad or just nostalgic for Greece, the
homeland he would never see again...
You can hear some of his favourite and some of her most famous pieces, by clicking on video widget 'Maria
Callas - The Collection' in the sidebar on the right hand side of the blog.
I remember reading everything about her that I could, and Arianna Huffington's (then Stassinopoulos) biography of her, Maria Callas - The Woman Behind the Legend, was fascinating indeed although I later learned that it was also controversial. Maria Callas' life and especially her love for another legendary Global Greek, Aristotle Onassis, meant that her life often gave the tabloids and the gossip columnists a great deal of material to work with.
I also remember the trail of goose bumps I got when I visited Verona's Arena, the site of Callas' debut at the Verona Opera Festival in 1947, the city where she lived with her mentor and husband,Giovanni Battista Meneghini. The same feeling that I got at Milan's La Scala - the legendary Opera House where she gave some of her finest performances.
Milan's Legendary La Scala Opera House
Earlier this year, the Athens Concert Hall hosted an exhibition in collaboration with La Scala, of rare
and magnificent costumes worn by Maria Callas in her great operatic roles.
Our photos taken at that exhibition are our tribute to the brilliant, determined and very talented Global Greek woman who was Maria Callas on this special day... a woman who was a citizen of the world, but didn't hesitate to say in an interview in Greek when she visited in August 1957, to sing at the Athens Festival at the Herodus Atticus Theatre...
'I especially belong to the Greek people, I may have married an Italian, the whole world may have bestowed honours upon me, but my blood is Greek, and no-one can erase that'
Hear Maria Callas' interview, in Greek, below ... and then check out the beautiful costumes from her legendary performances in the pictures which follow.
Grim-visaged war hath smooth'd his wrinkled
front;
And now,
instead of mounting barded steeds
To fright the souls of fearful adversaries,
He capers nimbly in a lady's chamber
To the lascivious pleasing of a lute.
But I, that am not shaped for sportive
tricks,
Nor made to
court an amorous looking-glass;
I, that am rudely stamp'd, and want love's majesty
To strut before a wanton ambling nymph;
I, that am curtail'd of this fair proportion,
Cheated of feature by dissembling nature,
Deformed, unfinish'd, sent before my time
Into this breathing world, scarce half made
up,
And that so
lamely and unfashionable
That dogs bark at me as I halt by them;
Why, I, in this weak piping time of peace,
Have no delight to pass away the time,
Unless to spy my shadow in the sun
And descant on mine own deformity:
And therefore, since I cannot prove a lover,
To entertain these fair well-spoken days,
I am determined to prove a villain
And hate the idle pleasures of these days.
Plots have I laid, inductions dangerous,
By drunken prophecies, libels and dreams,
To set my brother Clarence and the king
In deadly hate the one against the other:
And if King Edward be as true and just
As I am subtle, false and treacherous,
This day should Clarence closely be mew'd up,
About a prophecy, which says that 'G'
Of Edward's heirs the murderer shall be.
Dive, thoughts, down to my soul: here
Clarence comes.
Richard III - William Shakespeare
With this well-known Shakesperean soliloquy in the world's most famous ancient theatre, Epidaurus - the Theatre of Theatres, last night, actor/director Kevin Spacey opened his sold out Epidaurus season in what promises to be THE highlight of the annual Athens and Epidaurus Festival this year.
Spellbound and mesmerised by his Richard III, at the end of an impressive and riveting performance the audience rewarded him with a standing ovation.
Bravo!!!!
(The standing ovation was well-deserved we're told. We couldn't experience the magic firsthand
despite it being my favourite Shakespeare... unfortunately we didn't
make it in time to get tickets, but if you are interested, Greece and
Epidaurus, are the first stop of an international tour. You can find out
more about The Bridge
Project by clicking here )
Kevin Spacey as the much maligned Shakespearean anti-hero Richard III, deformed not just in body but also in soul...
Reunited for the first time since the Bafta and Academy Award-winning American Beauty, Sam Mendes returned to the stage to direct his old friend, Old Vic Artistic Director Kevin Spacey in the title role of Richard III in the final season of The Bridge Project.
Mendes is no stranger to Epidaurus, he directed Ethan Hawke in another sold out performance in Epidaurus, his 2009 production of Shakespeare's A Winter's Tale...
Kevin Spacey is the latest in a long line of world class performers, Greek and non-Greek alike, who have taken the hallowed stage at this magnificent ancient theatre where even a whisper centre stage is audible to all...
Epidaurus - the Theatre of
Theatres
World class performers such as Maria Callas, Rudolf Nureyev, Margot Fonteyn, Jose Carreras, Montserrat Caballe, Katina Paxinou, Dame Helen Mirren, Melina Mercouri, Mikis Theodorakis, Manos Hadjidakis, Alexis Solomos, Kostas Kazakos, Tzeni Karezi, Dimitri Mitropoulos have considered it an honour and the highlight of their careers to perform at Epidaurus - The Theatre of Theatres, along with many many other greats such as directors Peter Hall, Peter Stein, Karolos Koun...
Maria Callas takes a bow with Maestro Tulio Serafin
at the end of her performance of Bellini's Norma - Epidaurus 1960. In 1961 she was once again at Epidaurus, impressive as the fiery Medea...
«Maria Callas and La Scala » The Athens Concert Hall Organization – Teatro Alla Scala-Milan
Last day today, May 8, 2011, Mother's Day in Greece and in a large part of the world, for the tremendous exhibition on Maria Callas and her historical appearances in La Scala. Entitled “Maria Callas and La Scala”, this exhibition includes a large number of rare costumes worn by Callas in her great operatic roles, as well as photographs, objects, videos and original recordings of her performances.
There is also a section dedicated to the history of Milan's landmark operahouse, La Scala, the centre of world opera.
This prestigious material has never been presented outside Italy and is a result of the cultural cooperation between the Athens Concert Hall and Milan’s “La Scala” opera house, and was planned as a parallel event to this year's performances of Donizetti’s opera “Maria Stuarda” at the Megaron Mousikis Athinon.
If you can get there today don't miss it! It's well worth the effort!
According to reports in the British and Greek Press today, Skorpios, the magnificent private island getaway in the Ionian Sea made famous by Greek Tycoon, Aristotle Onassis, has been put up for sale by the sole heir to his legend and legacy, Athena Onassis.
Skorpios, the island of legendary international jet set glamour, the island where Onassis stunned the world and especially Maria Callas, on October 30, 1968 when he married President John F Kennedy's widow, Jacqueline Kennedy, is also Onassis' final resting place along with that of his children, Alexander and Athena's mother, Christina.
Among those who have written about the rumored sale is writer Alexis Mantheakis, former press spokesman, adviser and friend to Athena's family. He writes in his Greek Political Issues blog that
Athina maintains Scorpios in pristine condition with an army of gardeners, servants, sailors and mechanics at a cost of around 1.5 million USD per annum, but never visits the island and is not known to have been to the family tombs there to light a candle or to say a prayer for her mother Christina, her uncle Alexander who died in a plane crash at 24, nor for her granddad who made her and Doda's present jet setting lifestyle possible.
Her mother and family rest quietly in the silence of the tiny island chapel of Panagitsa encased in milk-white Pendelian marble tombs. Only the weekly visits of a cleaning woman who comes to change the flowers in the chapel and to light a candle at each of the four tombs disturbs the serenity of the last Onassis resting site.
The cost of maintaining Scorpios, the reluctance of the heiress and her husband to visit Greece and the family island, and her past liquidation of hallmark Onassis properties and valuables indicates that it would only be a matter of time before Athina put Scorpios on the block. The Sunday Express report indicates that the time for this too may have come.
The last link of Athena (the correct spelling of her name) - Helene Roussel de Miranda Onassis to her Onassis heritage may be about to be severed. But there is always a twist in the Onassis legend. Athina is only 24 years old, very early in the game for anyone to predict the future of any of the Onassis women who historically have proved to be notoriously unpredictable. Time will tell, but Scorpios or no Scorpios, the last surviving descendant of the fabled dynasty may prove everybody wrong in the end. (To read entire article - click here)
We don't know if the rumours are true, as there have been many similar ones before, including one reported by the Daily Telegraph in May of 2004. We hope that it is not true and that Athena does not want to sever every bond that ties her to the Onassis legacy. We would like to think that she would be proud of her family and the legacy her grandfather and mother left.
However, it is her inheritance and if she feels that she will gain real happiness by getting rid of the Onassis Legacy Baggage as it were, and which she may consider as an oppressive burden, then who are we to stop her?
The legacy is hers and she can dispose of it as she wants. Athena has had enough tragedy in her young life. We in the Global Greek World can only wish her luck and happiness and hope that she can get on with her life in the way she wants to live it, far from the eyes of a voracious world press.
If the rumours do prove to be true this time, may we respectfully suggest to the Board of the Onassis Foundation that, the right thing to do would be to buy the island in order to set it up as an Onassis Family Memorial Museum, thus ensuring it's existence as an ongoing and living tribute to it's founder, Aristotle Onassis, the man to whom the Onassis Foundation owes it's very existence.
Statue of Aristotle Onassis at Nidri Port, Lefkada
