News
Greek National Opera
“Opera born of the past, ahead of its time”
Athens, Berlin, June 25, 2025 – For the 2025/26 season, the Greek National Opera (GNO) once again builds an impressive bridge between Greece's cultural heritage and contemporary artistic impulses. Under the artistic direction of Giorgos Koumendakis, the house continues its consistent path of openness and internationalization: with strong co-productions, new partnerships, and a diverse yet distinctive artistic signature, the GNO has firmly established itself on the European opera map in recent years. For the first time, the GNO will also embark on two international tours.
At the heart of the new season are productions that bring past and present into a productive dialogue. This becomes especially evident at the very start of the season:
25. June 2025
Greek National Opera (GNO)
Athens: “La forza del destino” back at the Greek National Opera after 27 years
On January 26, 2025, the Greek National Opera will present the eagerly awaited new production of Giuseppe Verdi's masterpiece La forza del destino, which will finally return to the stage in Athens after 27 years. The renowned conductor Paolo Carignani will take over the musical direction, while the artistic staging will be in the hands of the internationally acclaimed Greek director Rodula Gaitanou. Further performances will follow on January 29 and February 2, 6, 9, 12, 15 and 18, 2025 in the SNFCC's Stavros Niarchos Hall. Dimitri Platanias, Cellia Costea and Marcelo Puente will be singing the leading roles.
21. January 2025
Siemens Arts Program
26th Annual Siemens Türkiye Opera Contest picks best rising opera stars
The Siemens Arts Program has been helping rising stars in Türkiye's opera world gain international exposure through its Siemens Türkiye Opera Contest for over a quarter of a century. This year, the 26th edition of the contest once again welcomed three of the country's finest talents to the podium: Güneş Uluçay (first place), Nazlican Karakaş and Berke Tükenmez (second place) and Emre Parlar (third place).
4. December 2024
NEUE STIMMEN 2024
Magdalena Lucjan and Alejandro Baliñas Vieites win NEUEN STIMMEN 2024
Magdalena Lucjan from Poland and Alejandro Baliñas Vieites from Spain are the winners of the 20th edition of the NEUE STIMMEN International Singing Competition. In the final in Gütersloh, they convinced the jury composed of world-renowned opera experts. There were also awards for the second and third prize winners. Three exclusive special prizes were also awarded.
14. October 2024
Greek National Opera
Greek National Opera season opening: Iphigénie en Aulide & Iphigénie en Tauride by Dmitri Tcherniakov comes to Athens
The Greek National Opera opens the 2024/25 season with an international co-production with the Festival d'Aix-en-Provence and the Opéra national de Paris. As one of the highlights of this year's festival season, the production was staged in Aix-en-Provence in the summer and has already wowed the international press and audience there. The renowned Russian director, Dmitri Tcherniakov, will now present Gluck's two operas about the ancient world, Iphigénie en Aulide and Iphigénie en Tauride, for the first time in Athens in a double bill. The premiere evening is on October 10, 2024 with seven performances in the Stavros Niarchos Hall of the SNFCC. This production is made possible by a grant from the Stavros Niarchos Foundation (SNF) [www.SNF.org] to increase the artistic reach of the Greek National Opera.
23. September 2024