Jaroslaw Kilian stages a performance in Athens

The ancient Odeon on the slopes of the Acropolis hosted the premiere of the play ‘GEORGE & FREDERIC. Ποιητές του Ονείρου', directed by Jaroslaw Kilian. The script of the musical show was written with the participation of Elisabeth and Tatiana Papageorgiou.

Starring the subversive French writer George Sand and the genius composer Frédéric Chopin, the piano poet par excellence and exponent of eternal passion. The stormy love affair of the two creators will unfold on stage through masterful musical works and personal letters they exchanged, both with each other and with their close friends Franz Liszt and Eugène Delacroix. Their relationship was recorded throughout the centuries, became legendary and inspired intellectuals and ordinary people.

George Sand, Baroness Dundevan, was the first woman to get a divorce, smoke, wear men's clothes, associate with intellectual circles in Paris, write literary works and claim the professional status of a woman writer, something unthinkable at the time. A dynamic and stormy woman, close friend of Franz Liszt, one night at a "soiree" met Frédéric Chopin...

“I first saw him in the dark improvising on the piano… I fell in love with him. I can't recover from the admiration…” he will write. "People didn't know him and even now they don't know him. For 8 years, that I lived near him and was introduced day by day to the secrets of his inspiration... Chopin managed to make a musical instrument speak the language of infinity... I begin to think that there are angels transformed into men... Frédéric has mastered the my heart... but also all of Paris with its divine music..."

Sand is recognized as one of the most remarkable writers and representatives of Romanticism in Europe, with more than 70 works, novels, essays, plays, a philhellene and a lover of of Greek culture, a fact that can also be seen from the nickname he adopted, "Georgia". Dramatized excerpts from her literary works will be presented on stage and will highlight the love but also the deep spiritual relationship that was created between them and was the inspiration for Chopin's world musical masterpieces.

The great lover of Chopin and Sandi will be brought to life starring the beloved actor Dimitris Lalos and the glamorous protagonist Marilita Lampropoulou, directed by the distinguished Polish composer Jarosław Kilian, permanent director of the Warsaw Opera and with a rich resume in the independent theater.

Dimitris Lalos, an actor who has been tested in many types of theater, has conquered the audience, captivating in his performances, with his penetrating gaze and deep interiority, will bring to life the mentally fragile, introverted and genius Frédéric Chopin, his poet of a dream that briefly passed from this world and left at the age of 39, leaving behind musical masterpieces that deeply touch the human soul. His music penetrates the human soul and is not only addressed to connoisseurs and experts, it touches every person.

Marilita Lambropoulou, a talented actress, who we have seen starring in the ancient theater of Epidaurus as well as the modern theater, stands out for her expressiveness and sensitivity in her performances. He particularly loves literature, has academic studies in philosophy and theater studies, has studied Sandi's work in the original language.

A prominent element of the show is the directorial approach of the famous Polish director Jarosław Kilian, who has served alongside Peter Brook, was the artistic director of the National Theater in Warsaw and is director and director of the Warsaw Theater Academy and resident director at the National Opera of Warsaw with a number of important performances to his credit in Europe and in the independent theater.

Kilian, of Polish origin, is distinguished for his inspired directorial works and has been particularly concerned with the life and work of Chopin. The way in which Jarosław Kilian will bring the characters to life, connect the theatrical discourse with music in the emblematic space of the Roman monument and illuminate the play is awaited with great interest.

The musical works that will be heard are connected to milestone events in the paths of great creators, and introduce us to a world of insurmountable emotions. Among them some of the most famous masterpieces of romanticism, which will be performed by the distinguished pianist Tatiana Papageorgiou with a string ensemble from Paris, in excellent transcriptions. From Chopin's works you will hear the Variations "Là ci darem la mano", op. 2, which he composed inspired by Mozart's famous theme, the Grande Polonaise brillante, op. 22, the "Military" and the "Tragic" Polonaise, op. 40, no. 1 & 2, excerpts from the second Sonata opus 35, as well as selections from Preludes, Mazurkas, Nocturnes, and Waltz. In addition, works by Liszt, a close friend of Chopin and Sandy in Paris, will be heard, such as "Dream of Love", Liebesträume no.3, and "Tarandela" from "Years of Pilgrimage II: Italy".

The great Greek pianist Tatiana Papageorgiou is distinguished for her high performances both in terms of performance and virtuosity on the piano. She has collaborated as a soloist with leading international orchestras, such as the London Philharmonic, the Moscow Opera Symphony, the Beijing Symphony, the Warsaw Symphony, etc., in a wide repertoire from classicism to the 20th century, from Mozart concertos and Chopin, to Rachmaninov and Mikis Theodorakis. She has received rave reviews and is appreciated internationally: "Tatiana Papageorgiou is a great pianist with deep musicality, and interpretive skill" said Patrick Fournilier, conductor and Artistic Director of the Warsaw Opera when he conducted her as a soloist in Herodion with the Symphony Warsaw Opera Orchestra.

The editing and translation of the texts is by the musicologist and pianist Tatiana Papageorgiou, who studied the primary material in the artists' archives, and the dramatization is by the theater scholar Elisavet Papageorgiou.

Featuring the award-winning and rising soprano Matinas Tsarouha, who has won the historic Maria Callas Scholarship for the year 2023-2024 appearing in lyric theaters in England. Chopin especially loved opera, which influenced him in his compositions and we will hear indicative passages during the flow of the work from Matina Tsarouha.

A magical journey through time to romantic Paris, Majorca where the lovers lived in a monastery away from the prying eyes of the world, in Vienna Chopin's first stop, in Warsaw where he begins the journey of his life, will unfold on stage.