Opera across borders

Concert, Monday, 22.8.2022, 20.30-21.00 h
AULA, Auditorium 203

Program

Dimitrios Rodios (1862-1957), The Music
Spyridon-Filiskos Samaras (1861-1917), “Io saluto in te", aria from the opera Rea
Richard Strauss (1864-1949), Das Lied der Frauen, opus 68, no 6
Jules Massenet (1842-1912), “Adieu notre petite table” aria from the opera Manon, act 2
Vincenzo Bellini (1801-1835), “Eccomi... Oh quante volte” aria from the opera I Capuletti e i Montecchi, act1
Giuseppe Verdi (1813-1901), “È strano... Sempre libera”, aria from the opera Traviata, act 1

Christina Poulitsi, soprano
Dimitris Giakas, piano

Praised for her clear coloraturas, high notes, fresh timbre and warm lyric color, Christina Poulitsi has already established herself in some of the most prestigious opera houses nowadays. Although she is acclaimed as “one of the best interpreters of the role of the Queen of the Night,” her collaboration with conductors such as Mo Zubin Mehta and Mo Gianandrea Noseda have broadened her repertoire with roles like Gilda, Lucia di Lammermoor, Konstanze, Violetta Valery, Massenet’s Manon etc.
In the current season, Ms. Poulitsi has just made her debut as Pamyra in Rossini’s Le Siege de Corinthe, and she has debuted at the Stuttgart State Opera and Festival Beaune with Mo Jeremie Rohrer as Queen of the Night. She will appear in this role in a new production of the Magic Flute at the Opera de Loraine and at the Semperoper, and will sing the role of Gilda in a new production of Verdi’s Rigoletto
In the 2019-2020 season Ms. Poulitsi added successfully two other significant roles to her repertoire: Violetta Valery at the State Opera of Hamburg and Amina from Bellini’s La Sonnambula at the Greek National Opera, a production of the Vienna State Opera by Arturo Marelli.
Due to Covid-19 the much awaited first Live official Recording of Christina Poulitsi of the Carmina Burana under the baton of Mo Gianandrea Noseda with London Sympony Orchestra at the Barbican Centre in London in December 2020 has been postponed.

Her scheduled appearance as Lucia di Lammermoor at the Angers/Nantes Opera in March 2021 was canceled. Christina has debuted this role four years ago in Katie Mitchel’s direction in a Royal Opera House production. She has performed twice as Queen of the Night in London in the legendary David McVicar’s production. This is a role that Christina has sung throughout the world: Teatro dell’ Opera di Roma, Bolshoi Theatre, Teatro de Liceu in Barcelona, Tokyo New National Theatre, Deutsche Oper Berlin, Seattle, Paris, Grand Theatre of Shanghai, Teatro Comunale di Bologna, Deutsche Oper am Rhein, Teatro Regio di Torino, Staatsoper Hamburg, Semperoper, Australia, New Zealand etc.
Christina, whose talent was originally discovered by Mo Zubin Mehta, has performed numerous times under his baton together with the Israel Philharmonic and Maggio Musicale Fiorentino (Gilda in Rigoletto). It was also in Tel Aviv when Christina was introduced to Mo Gianandrea Noseda, singing with him in Mozart’s Concerts. This collaboration continued with Stravinsky’s Rossignol at Stresa Festival and a Concert Tour in Spain and Portugal.
Christina has also performed under the baton of Christian Thielemann, Michele Mariotti, and Alberto Zedda, and has worked with directors such as Barry Kosky, Roberto Abbado, Katie Mitchell etc. in roles such as Lucia di Lammermoor, Violetta Valery in Verdi’s La Traviata, Konstanze, Gilda, Amina in Bellini’s La Sonnambula, Contessa di Folleville (Il vague a Reims), Manon (Massenet), Rossignol, Soeur Constance (Les Dialogues des Carmelites), Musetta, Isabella (L’ingano felice) Adele etc.
As a recipient of the “Maria Callas” foundation and “Alexandra Trianti” scholarships, she studied at the Berlin University of Arts with soprano KS Brigitte Eisenfeld and KS Dagmar Schellenberger. In 2014, she was named the best new artist by the Union of Greek Critics of Drama and Music for her performance as Gilda in Rigoletto at the Greek National Opera. Previously, she won the 1st Prize at the International “Nico Dostal” Competition in Vienna.

Dimitris Giakas was born in Athens. He received his Piano Diploma from the National Conservatory (class of Myrtos Mavrikos). He continued his musical studies at the École Normale de Musique in Paris, specializing in Piano, Chamber Music, and Opera Music Correpetition, and then began studying Accompaniment with Dalton Baldwin. From 1982 to 1991 he worked as a pianist-musical trainer at the Paris Opera and the Lyon Opera at the invitation of its Music Director, Kent Nagano. At the same time, he appeared accompanying singers on the piano in Paris, as well as in many cities and festivals in France. Since 1990, he has settled again in Athens, where he started his regular collaboration with the National Opera and the Athens Concert Hall. He regularly accompanies Greek and foreign singers in concerts in Greece and abroad.