The Hellenic Literary Society and the Historical and Ethnological Society of
Greece of the National
Historical Museum
present the opera Prometheus Bound by
Panagiotis Karousos.
"The
Hellenic Literary Society begins an effort to
broaden his artistic activities.
With great pleasure we welcome the opera Prometheus by Panagiotis
Karousos based on the tragedy of Aeschylus, translated
by John Gryparis. The presentation of the project in the Old Parliament
House of Greece
honored the creator and the HLS."
Paul
Nathanael, president of the
Hellenic Literary Society
Thursday 7 June, 2012 - 7:30pm at the Old Parliament
House - 13 Stadiou Street, Athens.
Participants: Ilias Tiliakos, baritone (Prometheus) - Alexandra
Mattheoudaki, soprano (Io) - Eleni Liona, mezzo-soprano (Violence - Goddess
Athena) - Vassilis Assimakopoulos, bass (Hephaestus - Ocean - Jupiter).
Gennadios Bykov (violin), Eugenios Bensis (cello) Marilina Tzelepi (piano)
A few words about the work and its creator
Gennadios Bykov (violin), Eugenios Bensis (cello) Marilina Tzelepi (piano)
A few words about the work and its creator
The opera
Prometheus by Panagiotis Karousos is a lyric drama based on the tragedy of
Aeschylus Prometheus Bound translated by John Gryparis.
The myth of Prometheus is always relevant and instructive brings man face
to face in front of the dilemma of revolution over in each historical eras
tyrannical power, or the destructive passive attitude. The philanthropist
Prometheus as the first partisan revolt, for the sake of the people in power of
Zeus, was trying to exterminate the human race. The composition follows an
expressionistic lyrical tone, messages of Aeschylus for humanist Titan
Prometheus, which the echoes of the myth comes to us, affecting through Christianity
the fourth of today's humanity. The Karousos opera "Prometheus" use neoromantic
traditional harmony and counterpoint to consolidate the lyrical style of
Aeschylus. The Greek-Canadian composer Mr. Panagiotis Karousos, excels in Canada
from which it has been awarded for his contribution to art.
The opera was
represented with a government grant in 1996 in French at theatre Maisonneuve of Place
des Arts.
Prometheus is the
first work of the Greek Tetralogy, focusing on the flame, which is the ancient
Greek spirit. In Prometheus, the
flame has the mystical form, at the second opera The Olympic Flame, the form of civilization, in Alexander the Great the civilizing
enlargement of mind, and finally at the Light
of Christianity or The Fire of
Catharsis the purifying flame. In April 2008 Panayiotis Karousos presented
Prometheus in New York in English under the
direction of maestro Grant Gilman, and in November 2008 the production of
Prometheus went to Washington
DC.
In Greece, Prometheus presented in the Municipal
Theatre of Holargos (November 2010), at the Municipal Theatre of Argostoli,
Kefalonia (July 2011), at the Mount
Olympus festival (Summer
2011), at the Hellenic Literary Society (January 2012), and at the Parnassos
Concert Hall (February and March 2012).
Mr. Karousos also
has been awarded by the Federal Government of Canada for his works Liberty Symphony and Piano Concerto, and from the City of Montreal for his Suite Montrealaise.
