Friday, October 11, 2019. The
Hellenic-Eurasiatic Alliance (Mr. Xenofon Lambrakis XL, President) under the
auspices of the Consulate General of the Republic of Uzbekistan (Mr. Olim
Kasimov, Consul General), and supported by the "Maria Callas Greek
Society" (Mrs. Liana Skourli, President), presented a very successful
Opera Gala dedicated to the greatest opera Diva Maria Callas, at the Athens War
Museum.
Large crowd for more than 500 spectators enjoyed famous
arias and duets from operas performed by Maria Callas, (Traviata, Macbeth,
Trovatore, La Rondine, Samson et Dalila, Don Pasquale, Ernani), as well as
arias from the operas "Prometheus Bound" and "Trachiniae"
by renown Greek-Canadian composer Panagiotis Karousos.
The concert featured a critically acclaimed opera stars as, Irini
Konsta (soprano), Vasilis Asimakopoulos (bass), Katerina Botoni (mezzo),
Lyudmila Bondarenko (soprano), Marianthi Grigoriadou (soprano), Mariza
Kioseoglou (soprano), Chrisostomos Kalogridakis (tenor). The music
direction at the piano had pianists Frixos Mortzos and Pandelis
Legakis. The audience kept on cheering and applauding the artists were they
awarded with the Maria Callas Award 2019 by Popi Domazos (City Councilor
of the Municipality of Athens).
The audience also enjoyed a short documentary on the life of
Maria Callas as well as the famous arias “Casta Diva” from the opera Norma by
Bellini, and the "Hambanera" from the opera Carmen by Bizet,
performed by the greatest opera Diva Maria Callas.
During the event Master of Ceremony Mr. Alexis Kostalas
read the greeting messages of Anna Rokofyllou (President of the City of Athens
Cultural, Sport and Youth Organisation (OPANDA), and Olga Kefalogiannis MP
(Former Tourism Minister), and invited the winning guests for their
contribution to the arts and culture for the Maria Callas Awards 2019, Mr. Xenofon Lambrakis XL (President
of Hellenic-Eurasiatic Alliance), Mrs Liana Skourli (President of Maria
Callas Greek Society), Mrs Kiki Morfoniou (Mezzo-soprano), Mr. Panagiotis
Karousos (Opera composer), Mrs Elena Mathaiopoulou (Writer), Mr. Nikos
Floros (sculptor), Mr. Konstantinos
Bitzanis (Technopolis City of Athens) Mr. Fotis Papathanasiou
(Director of Theocharakis Foundation), Mrs Nina Koukouraki (Director of
Athenaeum International Cultural Centre & International Maria Callas
Grand Prix).
The event was honored by the presence of Mr. Olim Kasimov (Consul General of
Uzbekistan in Greece), Eleftherios G. Skiadas (Vice Mayor of the
Municipality of Athens) who conveyed the greeting of Kostas Bakoyannis
(Mayor of Athens), and Princess Hara of Montenegro.
In the musical part, famous Greek actress Eleni
Filini read texts for Maria Callas written by soprano Irini Konsta, and the
organizer of the glamorous evening Mr. Xenofon Lambrakis XL (President
of the Hellenic-Eurasiatic Alliance), thanks artists, honorary guests, and
volunteers for the successful event.
