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Simona Peneva

     At the beginning of the new season, cultural institutions traditionally present their programme up to the next summer, including the Athens Concert Hall, the 2014-2015 season highlights of which include the greatest symphonic orchestras, lavish opera performances and exquisite ballet performances. On 28 September, the London Symphony Orchestra, one of the greatest orchestras in the world, conducted by Valeri Gergiev, will perform the works by two of the most notable composers of Russian music, Tchaikovsky and Prokofiev. The piano soloist will be Denis Matsuev. Several months later, the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra, conducted by Daniele Gatti, will visit Athens on 15 February 2015 and will perform Symphony No. 1 and 3 by Brahms. These two events are included in the cycle "International Orchestras."
     As for the "Opera" series, the rock opera "Alexander the Great" is expected with great interest. Its performances will be on 27-28 February and 1 March 2015. This is a theatrical musical production created by Greek composer Aristidis Konstandinou and English playwright Penny Turner. The performance lasts about two hours and fifteen minutes to the accompaniment of a live orchestra, consisting of fourteen musicians and thirty-eight singers, actors and dancers. The main role of Alexander the Great is performed by Dimitris Tiktopoulos. The premiere of the rock opera took place on 9 November 2012 and since then the reviews related to it have been very good. Its directors are Yiannis Vourou and Aristidis Konstandinou, and the State Theatre of Northern Greece and the Athens Concert Hall in are its producers.  

    This season again the Athens Concert Hall will continue the tradition of live broadcasts of great concerts and theatre performances around the world. The direct broadcasts of the highly successful productions of the Metropolitan Opera in New York will continue as well. Among them will be the performance of the opera "Carmen" by Georges Bizet, featuring Elina Garanca, Roberto Alagna, Barbara Frittoli, Teddy Rhodes and Keith Miller in the main roles. The operas "Macbeth" by Giuseppe Verdi conducted by Lorenzo Mariani, "The Marriage of Figaro" by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, "The Barber of Seville" by Gioachino Rossini and "The Merry Widow" by Franz Lehar will be presented too. The "Theatre in the Hall" series will continue the live broadcast of the performances at the National Theatre in London, and the fans of this art will be able to see "A Streetcar Named Desire" by Tennessee Williams, starring Gillian Anderson, Ben Foster and Vanessa Kirby, "Of Mice and Men" by John Steinbeck, starring James Franco and Chris O'Dowd, "Treasure Island" by Robert Louis Stevenson, "Medea" by Euripides (a version of Ben Power), "Skylight" by David Hare and "John" by Lloyd Newson.
     During the Christmas month of December, from 11 to 13, "absolute ballerina" Svetlana Zaharova will present a dance performance on the stage of the Athens Concert Hall. She is the prima ballerina of the Bolshoi Theatre Ballet and La Scala Theatre Ballet in Milan. She is the winner of many prestigious awards. Svetlana was recently honoured by President Vladimir Putin with the prize Artist of the Russian People, which is awarded to artists with significant presence in the world of art. During the elections before 2008 in Russia, she was elected Member of Parliament. Her performance will be a combination of classic and modern choreography.
     The innovative, inexhaustible and world famous Nederlands Dans Theater 1 was founded in 1959 by Benjamin Harkavry, Aart Verstegen and Carel Birnie together with a group of eighteen members of the Nederlands Dans Theater 1. Since then its members have focused on new ideas and experiments, exploring new forms and techniques in dance. Today it is one of the leaders in this field in the world. Its artistic director is Anders Hellström who was born in Sweden. He creates the programmes of the troupe together with choreographers Jiri Kylian and Leon & Lightfoot. The group toured on the world's biggest stages and regularly accompanied Queen Beatrix and the Dutch Prime Minister during official visits. The Nederlands Dans Theater 1 will present three choreographies by Manin, Leon & Lightfoot and Valerski from 5 to 7 March 2015.
     Megaron Plus, an organization with versatile activities, has dynamically entered the cultural life of the country, and keeps abreast of the course of time and the relevant changes, managing to touch a new audience from the broad sectors of the social environment as well as to win thousands of faithful friends in recent years. The organization is mainly engaged in contemporary criticism and political thought, science and environment as well as in the organization of children's programmes and much more. The annual programme of Megaron Plus will be announced in the coming days.
     "The programme of the creative period 2014-2015 not only continues the successful path of the Athens Concert Hall in a time of economic crisis, but also expands the scope of this successful response to the challenges of time," said Minister of Culture and Sport Costas Tasoulas during the presentation of the programme. He defined the programme as innovative and high-level, worthy of being the programme of a national cultural institution with traditions such as the Athens Concert Hall.