22 & 23 August, Archaeological site of Mantinia, Arcadia
Production: Apparat Athen
Genre: Music
Time: 21:00
Duration: 60′
For pre-booking press HERE
Ancient Theatre of Mantinia, Arcadia
An unexpected musical conversation, Alexandros Drakos Ktistakis’ new music work Selva Oscura, attempts to musically capture the forces that make forests an inextricable structural element of our survival. Written for a chamber orchestra, the work is divided into instrumental parts, improvisation, and parts with set paralogés (narrative folk ballads) performed by Elli Paspala with an original text by Alexandra K*.
The fragile rhythmic and melodic balance among the members of the orchestra, where each musician focuses both on their individual duty and on the orchestra’s goal as a group, reminds us of the balance and organisation of a precious ecosystem. At the same time the work musically captures destruction and rebirth. Its rhythmic contrasts outline the alternations of the life cycle and the destruction of forests. The realisation of the destruction, the despair of “why” and the hope for rebirth are all aspects that emerge through its musical structure. “After a fire, forests are burnt but not dead”.
Creative team
Music score, musical direction: Alexandros Drakos Ktistakis
Text: Alexandra Κ*
Performer: Elli Paspala
Musicians: Othonas Gogas (flute), Kostas Giovanis (oboe), Kostas Tzekos (clarinet), Dimitris Dakovanos (bassoon), Dimitris Verdinoglou (piano), Kostas Panagiotidis (violin), Angela Giannaki (viola), Phaedon Miliadis (violin), Dimitris Travlos (cello), Dinos Manos (contrabass), Alexandros Drakos Ktistakis (percussion)
Sound engineer: Nikos Kollias