The Greek National Opera Presents Laurent Pelly's Production Of Offenbach's LE VOYAGE DANS LA LUNE, July 12-13

The Greek National Opera partners with one of the most important and historic opera houses in Europe, the Opéra Comique in Paris, for an adaptation of Jacques Offenbach's Le Voyage dans la Lune, staged and with costumes by the acclaimed French director Laurent Pelly, and featuring the children's and youth choruses of both institutions. Performances will take place at Stavros Niarchos Hall (SNFCC) on July 12 & 13, 2023. 

Le Voyage dans la Lune is made possible by a grant from the Stavros Niarchos Foundation (SNF) [www.SNF.org] to enhance the GNO's artistic outreach.

Le Voyage dans la Lune (A Trip to the Moon) is a four-act, 23 scene “opéra-féérie” (opera fairytale) by Jacques Offenbach, with a libretto by Albert Vanloo, Eugène Leterrier, and Arnold Mortier based loosely on the Jules Verne novels From the Earth to the Moon and Journey to the Centre of the Earth. Written in the wake of the success of the novels, the story combines fantastical elements with the scientific achievements of the time. The original 1875 production heavily featured phantasmagoria and grand spectacle elements including two ballet troupes, 20 painted backdrops, 673 costumes designed specially for the production, an on-stage cannon that shot the characters to the Moon, a volcanic eruption, and a replica of the Paris Observatory's main hall. The opera was so popular that in 1876, it was presented in London and Vienna, and its sensational run in Paris ended after a total of 185 performances, only for the show to open again on a new stage before the year was out.

In Pelly's new adaptation of the work, the complex scenic demands made by the libretto give way to the imagination, while the libretto, music, and staging create a dream-like world for the young performers of the Children's and Youth Choruses of the GNO and Opéra Comique. Brought together inside a giant playground are the inhabitants of the Earth and Moon with children dressed like grown-ups playing kings, laypeople, astronomers, princes, and government ministers; while other children are there to protest and fight for the climate and for an Earth that's drowning under rubbish dumps.

Laurent Pelly is a specialist in French repertoire and comedy, and is sought after by the world's most prestigious houses. His direction brings a trademark sense of dark humor and surreal fantasy, and he designs all the costumes for his productions. As a renowned director of Offenbach's works, Pelly has directed Barbebleue, La vie parisienne, La belle Hélène, La Grande-Duchesse de Gérolstein, Orphée aux Enfers, and Les contes d'Hoffmann. At the Metropolitan Opera, he has directed highly-acclaimed productions of La Fille du Regiment, Manon, and Cendrillon, and he regularly directs productions at the Royal Opera House Covent Garden, Opéra National de Paris, Théâtre des Champs-Elysées, Dutch National Opera, La Monnaie / De Munt, The Glyndebourne Festival, among many others. 

The performance will be lead by GNO Chief Conductor Elias Voudouris and the cast features soloists from the Opéra Comique including Franck Leguérinel, Arthur Roussel, Ludmilla Bouakkaz, Matéo Vincent-Denoble, Enzo Bishop, Violette Clapeyron, Rachel Masclet, Micha Calvez-Richer, among others. 

   

Opera for the family • New production
Le Voyage dans la Lune  (A Trip to the Moon)
Jacques Offenbach
July 12, 13, 2023
Starts at: 7:30 p.m. (Sunday at 6:30 p.m.)
Stavros Niarchos Hall of the Greek National Opera – SNFCC
In co-production with the Opéra Comique (Paris)

Conductor: Elias Voudouris
Director, costumes: Laurent Pelly
Libretto adaptation and new version of the dialogue: Agathe Mélinand
Sets: Barbara de Limburg
Lighting: Joël Adam
Mistress of the Maîtrise Populaire of the Opéra Comique: Sarah Koné
Children's chorus mistress: Konstantina Pitsiakou

Le roi V'lan: Franck Leguérinel
Le prince Caprice: Arthur Roussel
La princesse Fantasia: Ludmilla Bouakkaz
Microscope: Matéo Vincent-Denoble
Le roi Cosmos: Enzo Bishop
Flama: Violette Clapeyron
Popotte: Rachel Masclet
Cactus: Micha Calvez-Richer
Les Demoiselles d'Honneur: Salomé Baslé, Justine Chauzy Le Joly, Judith Gasnier, Airelle Groleau, Maxence Hermann

With the GNO Orchestra, the Maîtrise Populaire of the Opéra Comique and the GNO Children's Chorus (as part of its educational mission)

Tickets are available now from the GNO Box Office and online here.
Ticket prices: €10, €12, €15, €20
Students, children: €10
Limited visibility seats: €5

Founded in 1939, the Greek National Opera is a public body and the sole opera house in Greece. It produces and stages operas, musical theater, operettas, and ballets, and multi-disciplinary productions for its two stages at the Stavros Niarchos Foundation Cultural Center (SNFCC), the Stavros Niarchos Hall and the Alternative Stage, as well as at the Odeon of Herodes Atticus, an open-air theater in the center of Athens. The company's repertory covers four centuries of lyrical theater, from the works of Claudio Monteverdi to those of contemporary composers. The Orchestra and Chorus of the Greek National Opera were both founded in 1939 alongside the opera company, then a part of the Royal Theatre, and a Children's Chorus was founded in 2012. In addition to its opera programming, the GNO also encompasses the GNO Professional School of Dance, as well as education and community programs aimed at all age groups.

The GNO is one of Europe's most innovative opera houses with a unique artistic identity that engages global talent and inspires large and diverse audiences. Led by artistic director Giorgos Koumendakis and supported by the Stavros Niarchos Foundation (SNF) [www.SNF.org], its mission is to offer audiences high caliber productions by presenting operas, ballets, operettas, operas for children, and music recitals, among other events. The GNO's main source of funding is the Greek State and the Ministry of Culture and Sports. Over 60% of its annual budget is covered by state funding, with the rest coming from ticket proceeds, private sponsorship, and grants. The Stavros Niarchos Foundation (SNF) is the Greek National Opera's biggest donor and to date, its grants to the GNO amount to €27.5 million.

A turning point in its history came in 2017 when the GNO relocated to a new state-of-the-art building at the architecturally striking Stavros Niarchos Foundation Cultural Center (SNFCC), which was conceived, designed, constructed, and equipped with a substantial grant from the Stavros Niarchos Foundation (SNF). Following completion, the SNFCC was delivered to the Greek state and the public in February 2017 through the SNF's largest grant initiative to date, totaling €618 million. Assisted by a €5 million grant from the Stavros Niarchos Foundation (SNF), the GNO relocated from Athens' Olympia Theatre to the SFNCC and the two, purpose-built theaters designed by Renzo Piano, doubling its audience capacity to 1,400 seats in the opera hall and also doubling its ticket revenues.  

The hall's inaugural production in October 2017 was Strauss' Elektra, starring the celebrated Greek mezzo Agnes Baltsa as Klytaemnestra. In 2019 a major grant of €20 million was announced by the Stavros Niarchos Foundation (SNF) to support the implementation of a four-year programming and development plan that will enhance the artistic outreach of the GNO and increase the promotion of its work overseas. In 2020 the GNO celebrated its 80th anniversary, commissioning and presenting works to reintroduce itself to the Greek and global audience through its new artistic identity and mission. This programming has included, among others: Verdi's Don Carlo, a co-production of the Royal Opera House, London, the Metropolitan Opera, New York, and the Norwegian National Opera ,Oslo, directed by Sir Nicholas Hytner; Berg's Wozzeck directed by Olivier Py; Shostakovich's Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk directed by Fanny Ardant; Marina Abramović's 7 Deaths of Maria Callas, a co-production with Opéra national de Paris, Bayerische Staatsoper, Deutsche Oper Berlin, and Teatro di San Carlo; Verdi's Otello, a co-production with Festspiel Baden-Baden directed by Robert Wilson; Mozart's Don Giovanni, a co-production with the Göteborg Opera and the Royal Danish Opera directed by John Fulljames; Offenbach's Les Contes d'Hoffman, a co-production with La Monnaie de Munt, directed by Krzysztof Warlikowski; Verdi's Fallstaff, directed by the artistic director of the Glyndebourne Festival Stephen Langridge; Verdi's Rigoletto, directed by the artistic director of the Athens Festival Katerina Evangellatos; and Puccini's Madama Butterfly directed by director of the Théâtre du Châtelet Olivier Py.

For more information, visit nationalopera.gr/en.

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