Avra Xepapadakou - University of Nicosia

Avra Xepapadakou - University of Nicosia
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Avra Xepapadakou
University of Nicosia
Performing Arts; Dept. of Education
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Dr Avra Xepapadakou is a researcher of opera and theatre. She is Associate Professor at the University of Nicosia where she coordinates two MA programs. She has taught as a lecturer (faculty / affiliated / visiting) at several other academic institutions.
She has widely published and has given numerous lectures on topics related to her research interests.
She has worked intensively on cultural documentation. Since 2012 she has worked on the processing of the archive of the Italian theatre director Romeo Castellucci as a documentation consultant and curator. Currently she is collaborating with Greek theatre director and visual artist, Dimitris Papaioannou, as curator of his archive. She has conducted research as a grantee visiting scholar at CSU-Sacramento (2015). In 2016 she was awarded a research grant and research visitorship as part of the Balzan Prize in Musicology Towards a global history of music. Within this framework, she has curated a special session at the University of Oxford (2016), and has conducted research at the Musikwissenschaftliches Institut, Universität Zürich (2017).
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How can an MA programme inspire students to learn their heritage and fundamental concepts and values?
Join the group of Greek Civilization enthusiasts today!
MA in Greek Civilization | University of Nicosia
Our MA in Greek Civilization (English, Distance Learning Programme) covers the main body of Greek...
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Our MA in Greek Civilization (English, Distance Learning Programme) covers the main body of Greek culture offering students a unique educational opportunity. It explores the multifaceted phenomenon of Greek civilization, both in its diachronic and in its thematic range. At the core of its design lies the investigation of the fundamental Greek concepts and values that shaped and are still central to the modern Western world. Freedom, democracy, aesthetics, logic and the search for truth and scientific knowledge are some of the areas the programme studies. Courses draw on thematic material from various disciplines in the field of Greek civilization such as history, philosophy, literature, science, the arts and language. Moreover, students will deal with topics that attract international interest as they combine aspects of Greek antiquity with contemporary culture, such as stage approaches of ancient drama, modern Greek cinema, printing history and digital culture.
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01:47:31
Caterina Cornaro: Last Queen of Cyprus | Four Short Talks and a Play
An online event under the MA in Greek Civilization at the University of Nicosia

Caterina Corn...
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An online event under the MA in Greek Civilization at the University of Nicosia
Caterina Cornaro (1454-1510) was the last queen of Cyprus. Caterina and her Renaissance court at Asolo have become the stuff of legend and inspired a large number of works of art, such as paintings by grand masters, dramatic plays, novels, poems and well-known operas.
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BOOKS MONOGRAPHS by Avra Xepapadakou
Avra Xepapadakou & Alexandros Charkiolakis (2017). Interspersed with Musical Entertainment. Music in Greek Salons of the Nineteenth Century
by
Avra Xepapadakou
and
Alexandros Charkiolakis
Athens: Hellenic Music Centre
, 2017
The subject matter of the present book is the music of the salon, a frequently misunderstood inst...
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The subject matter of the present book is the music of the salon, a frequently misunderstood institution that came into its own in the early nineteenth century as a key component of formalized sociability. The salon embraced a diversity of activities [...] and a diversity of social groups, from bourgeois soirées to dazzling aristocratic gatherings where the most famous personalities of the day would assemble. But common to most was music […].
This book illuminates one corner of a larger story of musical patronage that extends from the early nineteenth to the early twentieth centuries, a story in which women really do occupy centre stage.
[...] The anthology provided here helps to restore something of the immediacy of musical practices that are ‘of their time’ and ‘of their place’. It constitutes an act of recovery, and it makes concrete the ‘little stories’ of multiple Hellenic cultures relayed by our authors. […] The great virtue of this volume by Avra Xepapadakou and Alexandros Charkiolakis is that it allows us to see around the edges of familiar, canonised portraits of music, musicians, and music-making. It takes us backstage.
Excerpt from the Forweord by Professor Jim Samson
Xepapadakou Avra (2013). Pavlos Carrer. Athens: Fagottobooks.
A biography of the Greek composer, who was born on 12 May 1829 in Zakynthos, and who is the first...
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A biography of the Greek composer, who was born on 12 May 1829 in Zakynthos, and who is the first Greek opera composer; placing him in the historical and cultural context of the 19th century. A fascinating portrait emerges a composer and the relations between West and East, present and past, modernity and tradition, that shaped the culture of modern Greece. (n.a.)
Ζιώγας Γιάννης & Ξεπαπαδάκου Αύρα (2013). Σχολεία Δεύτερης Ευκαιρίας: Πολιτισμική και Αισθητική Αγωγή. Οδηγός Σπουδών και Καλές Πρακτικές, Αθήνα: Ίδρυμα Νεολαίας και Δια Βίου Μάθησης.
Ziogas, Yannis & Xepapadakou, Avra (2013). Cultural Education / Aesthetics in Second-Chance Schoo...
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Ziogas, Yannis & Xepapadakou, Avra (2013). Cultural Education / Aesthetics in Second-Chance Schools. Study Guide and Good Practices, Athens: Foundation of Youth and Lifelong Learning
BOOKS EDITED VOLUMES by Avra Xepapadakou
Πρακτικά Ημερίδας / Conference Proceedings: «ΧΑΜΕΝΟΙ ΣΤΗ ΜΈΤΑΦΡΑΣΗ» ή (ΔΙ)ΕΡΕΥΝΩΝΤΑΣ ΤΙΣ ΑΔΗΜΟΣΙΕΥΤΕΣ ΜΈΤΑΦΡΑΣΈIΣ ΑΡΧΑΙΟΥ ΔΡΑΜΑΤΟΣ. / LOST IN TRANSLATION» or Looking for the Unpublished Translations of Ancient Drama. Eπιμέλεια/Editor: Kaiti Diamantakou
by
Kaiti Diamantakou
and
Avra Xepapadakou
Kapa Ekdotiki
, 2024
Proceedings of the Conference "Lost in Translation", organized by the Laboratory of Ancient Drama...
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Proceedings of the Conference "Lost in Translation", organized by the Laboratory of Ancient Drama and Theatre Research, Department of Theatre Studies, N.K.U.A., on 3 June 2024.
The proceedings are posted on the website of the Department and the Laboratory:
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Alexis Solomos' renewed approach to staging Aristophanes has influenced theatrical practices for over thirty years in Greece.
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Έλενα Παπαλεξίου (επιμ.), Δημιουργικά αρχεία ως ζωντανά τοπία μνήμης στην ψηφιακή εποχή, Αθήνα: CREARCH-Fagottobooks, 2022
by
Eleni Papalexiou
Vlatka Lemic
Tamara Štefanac
Valia Vraka
Avra Xepapadakou
Stephanie Merakos
Elpida Komianou
, and
Athanasios N. Karasimos
Ποια η έννοια, η λειτουργία και η χρησιμότητα των αρχείων στην εποχή της ψηφιακής επανάστασης; Πο...
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Ποια η έννοια, η λειτουργία και η χρησιμότητα των αρχείων στην εποχή της ψηφιακής επανάστασης; Ποιες νέες αναγκαιότητες έχουν προκύψει και οφείλουν να υπηρετηθούν; Η εδραίωση επιστημονικών κλάδων, όπως η Δημόσια Ιστορία και οι Ψηφιακές Ανθρωπιστικές Επιστήμες και Τέχνες, έχουν μεταβάλει το αρχειακό τοπίο, εγκαινιάζοντας  προοπτικές αξιοποίησης και ανάδειξης του πολιτιστικού περιεχομένου και καθιστώντας τα αρχεία ζωντανές εστίες έμπνευσης και δημιουργικότητας.
Οι νέες και σύνθετες διαστάσεις της πληροφορίας, των δεδομένων και των μεταδεδομένων, καθώς και οι σύγχρονες ανάγκες για ανοικτότητα, προσβασιμότητα, συμπεριληπτικότητα και ανάπτυξη του κοινού των αρχείων έχουν πυροδοτήσει έναν παραγωγικό διάλογο τόσο μεταξύ των μελών της ερευνητικής ομάδας του ευρωπαϊκού πολυεταιρικού έργου 'CR.E.ARCH.: CReative European ARCHives as Innovative Cultural Hubs', όσο και σε έναν ευρύτερο κύκλο ειδικών ερευνητών και ερευνητριών, αλλά και καλλιτεχνών που υπογράφουν τον τόμο 'Δημιουργικά αρχεία ως ζωντανά τοπία μνήμης στην ψηφιακή εποχή'.
Creative European Archives as Innovative Cultural Hubs. A conversation between countries and cultures from paper to multimedia
by
Eleni Papalexiou
and
Avra Xepapadakou
CREARCH
, 2020
Training handbook published in the framework of the CR.E.ARCH. project (Creative Europe 2018-2021)
Opera and the Greek World during the Nineteenth Century (ebook). FULL ACCESS
by
Music Museum Corfu Philharmonic Society Μουσείο Μουσικής Φιλαρμονικής Εταιρείας Κερκύρας
Konstantinos Kardamis
Eleni Kokkinomilioti
Kourmpana Stella
Avra Xepapadakou
Dr. Konstantina D. Karakosta
, and
Stamatia Gerothanasi
Opera and the Greek World during the Nineteenth Century (ebook) FULL ACCESS
, 2019
Published by Ionian University-Music Department-Hellenic Music Research Lab and Corfu Philharmoni...
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Published by Ionian University-Music Department-Hellenic Music Research Lab and Corfu Philharmonic Society (ISBN 978-960-7260-63-5).
2017 marked for opera in Greece four anniversaries: the centenary since the passing of Spiros Samaras (1861-1917), the bicentenary since the birth of two important Greek opera composers, Spiridon Xyndas (1817-1896) and Domenikos Padovàs (1817-1892), as well as the 150 years since the premiere of the opera O ypopsifios [The Parliamentary Candidate] (1867, music by Xyndas and libretto by Ioannis Rinopoulos), which was both the first full-scale opera in Greek and the pivotal point for the emergence of opera in Greek language. Actually, this opera was revived by the Corfu Philharmonic Society in November 2017 in its original version honouring thus both the birth of its composer and the anniversary of its premiere.
The Hellenic Music Research Lab of the Music Department of the Ionian University and Corfu Philharmonic Society on the occasion of the aforementioned anniversaries organized the international conference entitled Opera and the Greek World during Nineteenth Century, which took place in Corfu, Greece, on 17, 18 and 19 November 2017.
Corfu, the seat of the Ionian University, was the birthplace of the three aforementioned composers. The San Giacomo theatre of Corfu, the earliest theatrical stage of the region, hosted opera performances already since 1733, contributing decisively to the dissemination of opera within the Greek world during 19th century. Moreover, Xyndas, Padovàs and Samaras presented in the same theatre their operas. Xyndas in 1840 was also one of the initial founders and professors of the Corfu Philharmonic Society and he dedicated to it certain of his operas. Padovàs also taught harmony and music theory in the Philharmonic, in 1857 he dedicated to it his opera Dirce and since 1884 he was appointed the Society’s artistic director. Samaras, a student of Xyndas during his early music training, had multiple connections with the Philharmonic Society and had been its honorary artistic director since 1889.
Given the above, the conference was not confined solely to the lives and the works of the aforementioned composers, but focused on matters regarding the place, the reception, the importance and the formative factors of the operatic activity within the Greek world during the “long nineteenth century”. This volume includes sixteen selected contributions covering areas such diverse as opera in the Ionian Islands, Athens and the Greek diaspora, analytical approaches and matters of reception both in Greece and abroad, and offers to the readers a wealth of information regarding opera activity in such places as Ermoupolis (Syros) and Smyrna, as well as aspects of the operatic “micro-history” of the Greek world.
Most of the texts of this volume are in English, but for those that are in Greek, extended abstracts can be found in the “Summaries” section.
Επιστημονικό Συμπόσιο Μετάφραση και περιοδικός τύπος στον 19ο αιώνα. Πρακτικά. Επιμέλεια: Άννα Ταμπάκη - Αλεξία Αλτουβά, Αθήνα 2016, 224 σελ.
by
Alexia Altouva
Anna Tabaki
Stessi Athini
Maria Charitou
Avra Xepapadakou
Maria Sehopoulou
Katerina Karakassi
Marinella Sofia Gkinko
Zoi Mavridou
Nikos Falagkas
, and
Katerina Diakoumopoulou
Επιστημονικό Συμπόσιο (Αθήνα, 13-14 Νοεμβρίου 2015, Κτήριο «Κωστής Παλαμάς».
Βιβλιοκρισία: Βάλτε...
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Επιστημονικό Συμπόσιο (Αθήνα, 13-14 Νοεμβρίου 2015, Κτήριο «Κωστής Παλαμάς».
Βιβλιοκρισία: Βάλτερ Πούχνερ, Παράβασις 16/2 (2018), σσ. 309- 313. (
www.theatre.uoa.gr/ereyna/
ekdoseis/parabasis /parabasis-online.html).
Xepapadakou Avra (ed. 2009). Jacques Offenbach: Orphée aux Enfers. Thessaloniki: Thessaloniki Concert Hall.
Ο Ορφέας στον Άδη είναι η πρώτη μεγάλη επιτυχία του Jacques Offenbach, αλλά και η πρώτη οπερέτα μ...
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Ο Ορφέας στον Άδη είναι η πρώτη μεγάλη επιτυχία του Jacques Offenbach, αλλά και η πρώτη οπερέτα μεγάλης διάρκειας. Πρόκειται για μία ξεκαρδιστική σάτιρα της αρχαιότητας, της όπερας του κλασικισμού και των ηθών της παριζιάνικης κοινωνίας κατά την περίοδο της Δεύτερης Αυτοκρατορίας.
ARTICLES & CONTRIBUTIONS by Avra Xepapadakou
Remember me? I used to live for music: Επιχειρώντας στη μουσικοθεατρική αγορά του ελληνικού 19ου αιώνα
Πρακτικά του 16ου Διατμηματικού Μουσικολογικού Συνεδρίου: Επετειακές μουσικές αντανακλάσεις, αναλυτικές θεωρήσεις και κριτικοί αναστοχασμοί
, 2025
Κατά τα σαράντα έξι χρόνια της ενεργού του δράσης, ο επτανήσιος συνθέτης Παύλος Καρρέρ αναπτύχθηκ...
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Κατά τα σαράντα έξι χρόνια της ενεργού του δράσης, ο επτανήσιος συνθέτης Παύλος Καρρέρ αναπτύχθηκε ως πολυσχιδής καλλιτεχνική προσωπικότητα σε ποικίλα πεδία της πολιτιστικής ζωής. Η σταδιοδρομία του δεν περιορίστηκε στη συνθετική δημιουργία, αλλά επεκτάθηκε στον χώρο της καλλιτεχνικής παραγωγής, καθώς και της εκπαίδευσης. Στο άρθρο αυτό συζητείται μία διαφορετική πτυχή της προσωπικότητας και του έργου του Καρρέρ, η επαγγελματική και επιχειρηματική του δραστηριότητα στη μουσικοθεατρική αγορά της εποχής του και η σχέση του με τους μηχανισμούς λειτουργίας της.
Neprocjenjiva kulturna digitalna zbirka od 65 godina: Arhiv Festivala Atena – Epidaur (1955. – 2020.) [“An Invaluable Cultural Digital Collection of 65 Years: The Archive of the Athens Epidaurus Festival (1955-2020)"]
by
Avra Xepapadakou
Eleni Papalexiou
, and
Paraskevi Damala
@rhivi, 17/2025
, 2025
This article examines the creation and significance of the Athens Epidaurus Festival archive, doc...
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This article examines the creation and significance of the Athens Epidaurus Festival archive, documenting 65 years of one of Greece’s most important cultural institutions (1955–2020). The Festival has played a central role in promoting Greek classical heritage while introducing international innovation in performing arts, hosting 3,683 productions of theater, music, opera, and dance. Initially centered at the Ancient Theatre of Epidaurus and the Odeon of Herodes Atticus, the Festival later expanded to various venues, showcasing a wide range of artistic expressions that bolstered Greece’s cultural and tourism sectors while elevating its global profile.
The archive preserves the Festival’s rich history with materials including annual catalogs, posters, photographs, audiovisual recordings, and performance programs. These resources capture key moments in cultural history and reflect the sociopolitical context and artistic trends of each era. A meticulous documentation process, led by a 17-member team under the academic supervision of Eleni Papalexiou and Avra Xepapadakou, organized and digitized this invaluable collection, ensuring accessibility for research and creative purposes.
Containing over 2,700 photographs, 1,100 videos, and hundreds of printed materials, the archive functions as a cultural repository, safeguarding the legacy of the Festival while inspiring future generations of artists, scholars, and audiences with its unparalleled breadth and interdisciplinary significance.
Early blossoms, mature fruits. The short life cycle of "Flora Mirabilis" in the 19th century
Spyros Samaras, "Flora Mirabilis", The Greek National Opera, 98-109
, 2025
Texts for the evening programme of the production "Flora Mirabilis" by Spyros Samaras, Greek Nati...
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Texts for the evening programme of the production "Flora Mirabilis" by Spyros Samaras, Greek National Opera, 2025
Πρώιμα άνθη, ώριμοι καρποί. Ο σύντομος κύκλος ζωής της Flora Mirabilis τον 19ο αιώνα
Σπύρος Σαμάρας, Flora Mirabilis, Αθήνα: Εθνική Λυρική Σκηνή, 32-45
, 2025
Κείμενα για το πρόγραμμα της παράστασης της όπερας "Flora Mirabilis" του Σπυρίδωνος Σαμάρα.
"Η Χώρα των Γαιοσκωλήκων. Μία τραγωδία για παιδιά": Η διερευνητική δραματοποίηση ως αρωγός για τη διαχείριση της απώλειας αγαπημένων προσώπων στην παιδική ηλικία
by
Avra Xepapadakou
and
Georgia-Maria Papadaki
Θεατροπαιδαγωγική Επιστήμη και Έρευνα, Κ. Μαστροθανάσης, Μ. Κλαδάκη (επιμ.), Αθήνα: Πεδίο
, 2024
Το παρόν άρθρο αποσκοπεί στη διερεύνηση της απώλειας αγαπημένων προσώπων στην παιδική ηλικία, αξι...
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Το παρόν άρθρο αποσκοπεί στη διερεύνηση της απώλειας αγαπημένων προσώπων στην παιδική ηλικία, αξιοποιώντας το θεατρικό έργο της Κιάρα Γκουίντι "Η Χώρα των Γαιοσκωλήκων. Μία τραγωδία για παιδιά" και τη μέθοδο της Διερευνητικής Δραματοποίησης. Αρχικά, συζητούνται πτυχές της απώλειας, όπως την βιώνει ένα παιδί, αλλά και οι ενδεδειγμένες συμπεριφορές των εκπαιδευτικών και εν γένει του σχολείου απέναντι στο παιδί που πενθεί. Ακολουθεί η ανάλυση της μεθόδου της Διερευνητικής Δραματοποίησης και η σύνδεσή της με τη διαχείριση της απώλειας στο σχολικό περιβάλλον. Εν συνεχεία επιχειρείται η αξιοποίηση του έργου "Η Χώρα των Γαιοσκωλήκων" της Κιάρα Γκουίντι, το οποίο λειτουργεί ως μέσον εφαρμογής της Διερευνητικής Δραματοποίησης. Στο πλαίσιο αυτό προτείνεται ένα θεατροπαιδαγωγικό πρόγραμμα, το οποίο αναπτύσσεται μέσα από τη δημιουργία ατμόσφαιρας ομάδας, τη γνωριμία με το αρχικό περιβάλλον, τη διαμόρφωση δραματικού–νέου περιβάλλοντος και την αξιολόγηση.
Αύρα Ξεπαπαδάκου & Ιώ Μανωλέσσου «Μεταφράζοντας τη Λυσιστράτη τον 21ο αιώνα: Θεωρητικός στοχασμός, μεθοδολογική προσέγγιση, πρακτική εφαρμογή»
Πρακτικά της επιστημονικής ημερίδας Χαμένοι στη μετάφραση ή (δι)ερευνώντας τις αδημοσίευτες μεταφράσεις αρχαίου δράματος, Κ. Διαμαντάκου (επιμ.), Αθήνα: Κάπα εκδοτική, 177-189.
, 2024
Avra Xepapadakou & Io Manolessou, Translating Lysistrata in the 21st century: Theoretical conside...
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Avra Xepapadakou & Io Manolessou, Translating Lysistrata in the 21st century: Theoretical considerations, methodological approach, implementation
The translation of Ancient Greek drama has long formed the object of considerable theoretical discussion, and the field of constructive debate between the fields of classics, translation studies, and performance studies. This is all the more true in the case of Attic comedy, a multi-faceted dramatic genre where diverse elements co-exist. In contrast to the international academic scene, the issue of the intralingual translation of Aristophanic comedy has not been sufficiently developed in Greek scholarship. The transposition of a text from Ancient to Modern Greek, i.e. a linguistic form closely related genetically to the original language, adds another layer of complexity  to the issue. In effect, a Modern Greek translation of Lysistrata, which forms the topic of this paper, is called upon to provide not only the “meaning” of the texts or the authorial intentions, but also to highlight a complex nexus of common linguistic and cultural values, as well as a stable, recognizable through the centuries, frame/background of scenic and comic action. This contribution describes how we as translators come to grips with Lysistrata, Aristophanes’ most “feminine” work, on the linguistic and potentially on the performance level, an attempt which constitutes something of an irruption in a hitherto exclusively masculine abaton (at least in Greece). The paper discusses the translation principles and the methodology adopted in our unpublished translation attempt, and further focuses on the complex dimensions of a “double” translation: a contrastive side-by-side translation of the ancient comedy, on the one hand, in a literal/faithful
way on the one hand and in a free/theatrical way on the other. Finally, it recounts the tribulations of a translation destined for the stage but in the end relegated to a computer hard drive.
Sur les traces de l’Orestie (une comédie organique ?) de Romeo Castellucci: De sa conception (1995) à sa reprise (2015)
by
Eleni Papalexiou
and
Avra Xepapadakou
Parcours de génétique théâtrale: brouillons, variations et transpositions, Sophie Lucet & Ana-Clara Santos (eds), Paris : Le Manuscrit
, 2023
This paper explores the creative process of the "Oresteia (an organic comedy?)", a groundbreaking...
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This paper explores the creative process of the "Oresteia (an organic comedy?)", a groundbreaking theatrical production created/directed by Romeo Castellucci in 1995 and 2015. In the paper, a genetic methodology of performance analysis is applied through the thorough study of a plethora of primary sources and the constitution of the detailed "genetic file" of the production.
Isabella d’Aspeno or Gustav’s Disguises: An Unknown Prototype of Un Ballo in Maschera?
Zealos: Studies in the Humanities, Social Sciences, Arts & Design
, 2023
This article focuses on an opera forgotten today, but popular in its time: Isabella d’Aspeno, a w...
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This article focuses on an opera forgotten today, but popular in its time: Isabella d’Aspeno, a work by the Ionian composer Paolo Carrer and the unknown Italian librettist hidden behind the initials R.G.S. The opera Isabella d’Aspeno was performed in April 1855 at the Milanese theatre ‘Carcano’ and was considered one of the grands succès of the season, a fact confirmed by the numerous repetitions of the production during that year and the next. The special interest of this work lies is its obvious thematic similarity to the libretto of the celebrated Italian opera Un Ballo in Maschera by Giuseppe Verdi and Antonio Somma.
Taking into consideration that Carrer’s Isabella is chronologically anterior to Verdi’s Ballo (1859), it would be reasonable to wonder whether the work of the young composer from Zante served as one of the models for one of the major operatic creations of the king of Italian opera. Since Isabella d’Aspeno was such a major operatic hit at the time when Verdi and his librettist Somma were working on the dramatic plot of Un Ballo in Maschera, the possibility that they were aware of it cannot be ruled out. We will attempt to investigate this issue by offering a comparison of the two librettos, as well as those of the other known models of Un Ballo in Maschera.
Towards the institutionalization of Musical Life in Nineteenth-Century Greece and Southeastern Europe: The First Steps of the Formation of New Creative and Cultural Industries
Institutionalization in Music History, Saijaleena Rantanen & Derek B. Scott (eds), Helsinki: DocMus Research Publications, 15-36
, 2022
This chapter attempts to trace the evolutionary path towards the institutionalization of music li...
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This chapter attempts to trace the evolutionary path towards the institutionalization of music life in 19th c. Greece, a new European state just recovering and struggling to re-connect with the Western world after more than 400 years of Ottoman rule. Greece constitutes an especially interesting case study, as it functioned as a cultural cross-roads between East and West within a geographically wide and culturally complex space at the southeastern edge of Europe, characterized by a still resonant Ottoman past and a fast pace of westernization.
Within the area investigated, the gradual acquaintance with Western culture is effectuated initially as a private activity, only later acquiring a public character through consecutive stages of institutionalization. The proposed overview includes landmarks such as the developing of a network of musical and theatrical activity and the foundation of musical and theatrical institutions, namely opera houses, as the cultivation of art music became inherently connected with the development of theatrical activity, and in particular with the diffusion of opera and musical theatre. Consequently, the trajectory of art music in Greece will be connected with the development of Greek urban life and the continuous trend for westernization running through the huge area between the Adriatic Sea, the Black Sea, the Aegean archipelago and the Eastern Mediterranean. Concerts, opera, ballet and theatre productions, balls, light musical theatre, were all instantiations of an urban civilization, linked to city public life, and bourgeois needs and habits.
Additionally, this paper attempts to relate the path towards institutionalization with the developments in the cultural market in general, by examining factors which affect musical and theatrical activity in a decisive way, such as: the evolution of new social customs (evening entertainment), the introduction and gradual establishment of musical education, the commercialization of art, and the gradually increasing professionalism of the performers and artists which leads to the formation of a creative industry.
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Focus on the genesis of cultural industry in Greece, emphasizing the process of institutionalization rather than post-establishment activities.
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Theatre in Modern and Contemporary Cyprus
The Cyprus Review. A Journal of Social Sciences, 34(1), Spring 2022, 164-170
, 2022
Book Review: Theatre in Modern and Contemporary Cyprus, edited by Andri Constantinou, Kaiti Diama...
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Book Review: Theatre in Modern and Contemporary Cyprus, edited by Andri Constantinou, Kaiti Diamantakou, and Leonidas Galazis, Athens: Herodotus & Cyprus Theatre Museum, 2020, pp. 640, ISBN: 978-960-485-327-4
Popular Song in 19th-Century Greece
Popular Song in the 19th Century, Derek B. Scott (ed.), Turnhout: Brepols
, 2022
The Greek musical culture of the 19th century developed under only partially formed political and...
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The Greek musical culture of the 19th century developed under only partially formed political and social conditions, within an area of new ethnic states, the borders of which were as yet not fully defined. The “new” Greece was a nexus for the meeting of different musical cultures, with different origins, ancient and modern, western and eastern, polyphonic, monophonic and pentaphonic, traditional and urban. The Modern Greek state, which was formed gradually, from 1830 until the first decades of the 20th century, could boast of a new Greek musical culture, the product of intense cultural gestation, which involved a multiplicity of local musical idioms.
This chapter investigates popular song in 19th century Greece, which lies within a quite broad intermediate band between art and traditional musical creation. It aims to present different manifestations of urban popular song in the Greek 19th c., some of which develop outside the borders of the Greek state proper, as delimited after its independence from Ottoman rule. It discusses different genres, such as phanariot songs, oriental songs from Constantinople, Smyrna and Ioannina, heptanesian cantadas, Athenian light songs. All of the above genres appeared and flourished before the development of discography in Greece.
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