World Premiere at the Greek National Opera: “Bleat” by Yorgos Lanthimos
Yorgos Lanthimos’ highly anticipated new film, Bleat – the second work to be commissioned as part of the GNO and NEON programme The Artist on the Composer – is to have its world-first premieres accompanied by live music ensembles on 6, 7 and 8 May 2022 inside the Stavros Niarchos Hall at the SNFCC.
BLEAT
Yorgos Lanthimos
World Premiere
The Artist on the Composer
A GNO and NEON co-production
Producer, scriptwriter, director: Yorgos Lanthimos (The Lobster, The Killing of A Sacred Deer, The Favourite)
Starring Emma Stone and Damien Bonnard
6, 7, 8 May 2022
Starts at: 18.00, 20.00, 22.00
Stavros Niarchos Hall of the Greek National Opera – SNFCC
The Greek National Opera’s participation in the co-production is made possible by a grant from the Stavros Niarchos Foundation (SNF) [
www.SNF.org] to enhance the GNO’s artistic outreach.
The Artist on the Composer programme curators:
Giorgos Koumendakis (GNO Artistic Director) – Elina Kountouri (ΝΕΟΝ Director)
The award-winning Greek filmmaker accepted the invitation extended by GNO Artistic Director Giorgos Koumendakis and NEON Director Elina Kountouri to produce, write, and direct the short film Bleat, shot on the Greek island of Tinos in February 2020, and starring Oscar-winning American actor Emma Stone and acclaimed French actor Damien Bonnard.
The Artist on the Composer programme – run by the Greek National Opera and NEON [www.neon.org.gr/en] – connects pioneering contemporary artists and filmmakers/producers with orchestral music performed live. Through works that spring from the programme’s new commissions, each artist responds to, and enters into dialogue with pieces by classical composers, free from every standard operatic convention, trope and storyline, in the hope of reaching audiences who may never have connected with opera before.
Giorgos Koumendakis (GNO Artistic Director): “The programme aims at engaging contemporary artists in a creative dialogue with the live performance of symphonic music, by further exploring the way in which one can manage, transform and make best use of an opera house.”
Following on from The Artist on the Composer’s first commission – a 2019 installation by Nikos Navridis – the gifted and internationally renowned Greek film director Yorgos Lanthimos takes on the programme’s second commission to create a new cinematic work that will always be presented with the live accompaniment of music ensembles. The work’s music script consists of pieces by J. S. Bach / Knut Nystedt and Toshio Hosokawa, performed live inside the Stavros Niarchos Hall by the soloists Angelina Tkatcheva (cimbalom) and Wu Wei (sheng), the “Maria Callas” quartet, and the Chorus of the Hellenic Broadcasting Corporation.
Yorgos Lanthimos: “I am very happy to be back in Greece, even in this indirect way – producing a work to be presented as part of a fascinating music and visual arts cycle created by the Greek National Opera and NEON. I have always been interested in the positive effect that limitations can have on the creative process, and this invitation to craft a film accompanied exclusively by live music is something new for me, and most interesting too.”
Watch the trailer here: https://youtu.be/4VrMvg-m_PE
|
|
About Yorgos Lanthimos
The multi-awarded Greek director Yorgos Lanthimos is considered today as one of the most sought-after creators in the world cinema with a recognizable style and an absolutely personal writing. His first full-length film Kineta was presented at the Toronto and Berlin film festivals. With his Dogtooth he conquered Cannes, where he won the “Un certain regard” prize and received his first Academy Award nomination for Best Foreign Language Film. The Alps won the best screenplay award in Venice, and the Lobster was presented in Cannes and was nominated for an Academy award for best original screenplay. His next movie The Killing of the Sacred Deer won the best screenplay award at the Cannes Film Festival. His last film, The Favourite, brought him to the centre of global attention: it started its breathtaking course at the Venice Festival, received 10 Academy Award nominations, 12 BAFTA award nominations, won the Golden Globe and its box office revenues reached 100.000.000 dollars at a worldwide scale.
|
|
|
„The Artist on the Composer“
Visual Arts Programme • New production • World premiere
Music and Visual Arts Cycle • A GNO and NEON co-production
The Artist on the Composer programme curators: Giorgos Koumendakis (GNO Artistic Director) – Elina Kountouri (ΝΕΟΝ Director)
Second Commission Yorgos Lanthimos: Bleat
6, 7, 8 May 2022
Start times: 18.00, 20.00, 22.00
Stavros Niarchos Hall of the Greek National Opera – SNFCC
Producer, scriptwriter, director: Yorgos Lanthimos
Starring: Emma Stone, Damien Bonnard
Music: Johann Sebastian Bach / Knut Nystedt, Toshio Hosokawa
Cimbalom: Angelina Tkatcheva
Sheng: Wu Wei
Chorus master: Agathangelos Georgakatos
With the participation of the “Maria Callas” quartet and the Chorus of the Hellenic Broadcasting Corporation
Set designer: Anna Georgiadou
Costume designer: Angelos Mentis
Choreographer: Christos Papadopoulos
Director of photography: Thodoros Mihopoulos
Film editor: Yorgos Mavropsaridis
Executive producer: Rebecca Skinner
Producer: Eleni Kossyfidou
Tickets: 10 euros (ticket revenues support the work of the Greek National Opera)
Advance bookings: ticketservices.gr/en, GNO Box Office – SNFCC (+30 2130885700, 09.00-21.00 daily)
nationalopera.gr/en
www.neon.org.gr/en
Lead Donor of the GNO / GNO’s participation supported by the Stavros Niarchos Foundation (SNF)
|
07.04.2022