It was August 1999, during the 23rd Montreal World Film Festival (Festival des films du monde de Montréal), when two major figures of Greek culture crossed paths: the acclaimed director Michael Cacoyannis and the distinguished composer Panagiotis Karousos.
At the time, Panagiotis Karousos maintained an active journalistic presence within Canada's Greek diaspora, editing the "Eisigiseis" (Suggestions) page for Montreal's I Roi newspaper. Through his column, he documented the city’s artistic events with interviews, reviews, and reports, offering a valuable channel of communication for the arts.
The Award and Screening of "The Cherry Orchard"
The occasion for their meeting was the presentation of Cacoyannis’s film The Cherry Orchard (La Cerisaie), an international production based on Anton Chekhov’s iconic play, featuring a stellar cast including Charlotte Rampling, Alan Bates, and Gerard Butler. The film, which portrays the dramatic decline of an aristocratic family in early 20th-century Russia, received excellent reviews.
As part of the festival, Michael Cacoyannis was honored with the prestigious Special Grand Prix of the Americas (Grand Prix spécial des Amériques) for his overall contribution to world cinema. Panagiotis Karousos, who attended the ceremony, captured the film's massive success in the pages of I Roi with warm words. As the composer vividly recalls, Cacoyannis was deeply loved by the French-speaking audience of Quebec, who welcomed him with profound respect and emotion.
An Artistic Dialogue on Opera and Tragedy
The personal acquaintance between the two men revealed their mutual appreciation. Panagiotis Karousos found Cacoyannis to be a most likable man, a great creator endowed with rare intelligence and a deep dramaturgical insight into his directions.
When Karousos mentioned that he was the composer of the opera Prometheus Bound, Cacoyannis, who was already familiar with the work, warmly congratulated him on putting such a difficult and complex text to music. The great director even confessed that although he had dedicated a large part of his life to ancient tragedy—creating his iconic cinematic trilogy—he had never directed this particular myth.
At the same time, Cacoyannis shared his passion for lyric theater. Though globally renowned for his cinema, he had directed major opera productions internationally (such as La Bohème, La Traviata, and Medea at the Frankfurt State Opera). A standout milestone in his career was at the Metropolitan Opera (Met) in New York in 1967, where he directed the world premiere of Marvin David Levy’s opera Mourning Becomes Electra.
The Vision for the Foundation in Athens
The meeting concluded with a significant proposal. Michael Cacoyannis urged Panagiotis Karousos, upon his return to Greece, to present Prometheus Bound at the foundation he was planning to establish in Athens (what would later become the Michael Cacoyannis Foundation). The director held a very specific and pioneering vision for this cultural space, wanting it to serve as a living home for theater, concerts, and cinema.
That meeting in Montreal remained an historic milestone, linking the journalistic and compositional perspective of Panagiotis Karousos with the global reach and endless vision of Michael Cacoyannis.
Κακογιάννη.
 |
| mcf.gr |
 |
Δεν υπάρχουν σχόλια:
Δημοσίευση σχολίου