Callas at the Herodium

This year marks the centennial anniversary of the birth of Maria Callas, and to honour the occasion the Greek National Opera hosts an opera gala like no other. With Callas at the Herodium, the GNO commemorates the legendary soprano’s performances at the ancient Roman theatre. The event will take place on September 16, coinciding with the date of the great soprano’s death back in 1977. In the summer of 1944, a year before she moved to New York, Callas performed The Masterbuilder by Manolis Kalomiris, and also took on the role of Leonora in Beethoven's Fidelio, both at the Odeon of Herodes Atticus. Thirteen years later, in 1957, Callas returned to the Herodion for a historic recital during the Athens Festival, featuring arias from operas like Wagner's Tristan und Isolde, Verdi's La forza del destino and Il trovatore, Donizetti's Lucia di Lammermoor, and Thomas' Hamlet. These are the arias that constitute the programme of Callas at the Herodium, which will be performed by four renowned opera singers: Anna Pirozzi, Catherine Foster, Vassiliki Karayanni, and Nina Minasyan.