Sunday 7 of November 2021
21:00
Concert Hall
Lecture | Ealo Politistiko
Nowadays that controversy and scepticism are searching for their own space in public and private discourses, the Heraklion Cultural Conference Centre gives the opportunity to fertile debates among intellectuals, scientists, thinkers, researchers. We open our doors, as the present times ask, to those who love and support the dialogue, those who don’t like being just listeners of tiring monologues, but choose to put questions, to search for convincing and thorough answers and overall give realistic propositions that occur through discussion process.
With the participation of top intellectual, science and culture representatives, of thinkers, writers and artists, who are present in the Greek and global scene, we start the discourse, having one goal, to keep on being in contact with the public, on international community matters. In this moment, that identities and roles readjust themselves, the Cultural Conference Centre searches for answers in a language simple and understandable, interacting with the audience and the scientists, holding ideas in the first plan!
«How do we listen to the music? »
The first circle of lectures starts with the conductor and artistic director of the Heraklion Cultural Conference, Myron Michailidis, on the production of the opera Idomeneo, king of Crete, of Mozart. This opera is the first lyrical theatre production that takes place in our island, in constructions made for this purpose. We believe that this is the way both the opera and the Cretan audience, deserve.
But how do we really listen to the music? Starting from the sound trip, the different music styles, to the contemporary transmission means, have we ever wondered and have we ever been able to answer to the question of how we listen to the music? Which is the role of music in our lives? Is it important which kind of music we listen to? Does music shape the way of our perception? And overall, is there a manual of the right way of listening?
Myron Michailidis in a lecture on the art of music. The journalists Katerina Aggelidaki and Antigoni Andreaki coordinate the discussion.
Credits:
Myron Michailidis | conductor, artistic director of the Heraklion Cultural Conference Centre
Antigoni Andreaki | journalist
Katerina Aggelidaki | journalist
Bio
Myron
Michailidis | conductor
Widely regarded as one of the most important Greek
conductors, Maestro Myron Michailidis is currently General Music Director of
the Philharmonic Orchestra and Theatre Erfurt, Germany, as well as the very
first Artistic Director of the new Heraklion Cultural and Conference Centre in
Greece. Appointed “Chevalier de l'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres” by the French
Republic in 2016, Michailidis served as Artistic Director and Chief Conductor
of the Greek National Opera from 2011 to 2017. His contributions to the institution’s
achievements and successes were honoured with the Society of Friends of the
Greek National Opera’s prestigious “Apollo Award” in his final year. Maestro
Michailidis’ conducting style is characterized as impassioned and vivid, yet
authoritative, allowing him to deliver outstanding dynamic control as well as
wide-ranging musical expression. The Greek Critics Award bestowed upon him
“Honourable Award for Music and Theatre”. Prior to his tenure as Artistic
Director and Chief Conductor of The Greek National Opera, Michailidis was
Artistic Director and Chief Conductor of the Thessaloniki State Symphony
Orchestra, a post he held from 2004 to 2011. From 1999 to 2004 he further
served as Permanent Conductor at the Eastern Saxony Opera in Germany.
With a repertoire spanning over 250 symphonic works
and 40 operas ranging from the Baroque to the Contemporary, Maestro Michailidis
is particularly known for his interpretations of Beethoven, Tchaikovsky and
Rachmaninoff, as well as the operatic works by Verdi, Puccini, Gounod and
Wagner. Throughout the years, Michailidis has collaborated with internationally
distinguished musicians such as Paul Badura-Skoda, Salvatore Accardo, Cyprien
Katsaris, Aldo Ciccolini, Ivo Pogorelich, Lars Vogt, Shlomo Mintz, Misha Maisky,
Vadim Repin, Martino Tirimo, June Anderson, Cheryl Studer, Paata Burchuladze,
Fazil Say and Barry Douglas, among many others. He has conducted some of the
most renowned orchestras throughout Germany, China, Israel, Italy, Czech
Republic, Russia, Mexico, Slovakia, Poland, Romania, Portugal, Taiwan,
including the Berlin Symphony Orchestra, Vienna Chamber Orchestra, Rome
Symphonic Orchestra, Shanghai Opera House Orchestra, Slovak Philharmonic
Orchestra, Jerusalem Symphony Orchestra, Bucharest National Opera,
Staatsorchester Braunschweig, Philharmonisches Orchester Erfurt, Astrakhan
Symphony Orchestra, Orchestra della Fondazione Teatro Lirico Giuseppe Verdi di
Trieste, George Enescu Philharmonic Orchestra, Prague Radio Symphony Orchestra,
Sofia Philharmonic Orchestra, Mexico State Orchestra, Odessa Philharmonic
Orchestra, as well as all of the major orchestras in Greece. While with the
Thessaloniki State Symphony Orchestra, Michailidis led concerts at various
festivals in Greece as well as abroad. In December 2007, during the celebration
events of the Cultural Year of Greece in China, he took the Orchestra on tour
to Beijing China, host of the 2008 Olympic Games.
Maestro Michailidis has conducted numerous opera
productions at opera houses, festivals and on international tours. Over the
years, he has performed with some of the finest singers, stage directors and
set designers. He has further led numerous spectacular productions at the
legendary Odeon of Herodes Atticus in Athens. In 2015 his production of Gounod's
Faust with Eric Cutler, Alexia Voulgaridou, Paata Burchuladze and Dimitri
Platanias, directed by Renato Zanella, marked the Greek National Opera’s first
DVD release. In 2017 he led a production of La Fille du Régiment at Shanghai
Grand Theatre. As Theater Erfurt’s new General Music Director, he has conducted
new productions of Carmen (2018), Aida (2019), Rimsky-Korsakov’s Tale of Tsar
Saltan (2019), Lohengrin (2020) and Mozart’s Der Schauspieldirektor (2020), as
well as performances of Lehar’s Merry Widow (2019). Upcoming productions with
Theater Erfurt scheduled for the 2021/22 season include Manon Lescaut and Luisa
Miller as well as a new production of Nabucco. In March of 2021 Michailidis was
scheduled to conduct Norma at The Göteborg Opera, a production that
unfortunately had to be cancelled due to the pandemic.
A prolific recording artist, Michailidis’ 2012 EMI
Classics recording of Beethoven's 3rd and 4th piano concertos with the
legendary French-Italian pianist Aldo Ciccolini received exceptional
international acclaim. His recording of works by the Italian composer
Ildebrando Pizzetti for Naxos, including several world premieres, earned
Michailidis stellar reviews with five Diapasons by the French magazine in 2009,
and several awards. Two years prior, his first Naxos CD featuring Theodore
Kerkezos and works by 20th century Greek composers such as Mikis Theodorakis,
Nikos Skalkottas, Theodore Antoniou, Manos Hadjidakis, Minas Alexiadis and
Vassilis Tenidis won the Pizzicato Classics “Supersonic Award” and two Grammy
Award nominations. Following his piano studies with Dimitris Toufexis in
Athens, Michailidis studied conducting with Hans-Martin Rabenstein at the
Universität der Künste Berlin and participated in Master Classes by Miltiadis
Karydis and Simon Rattle. He also holds a law degree from the University of Athens.
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