Ensemble Modern in Athens

Yes, yes, some curious concerts take place as well in Athens. Last Thursday, Jan. 24th, the Ensemble Modern had a concert at the Dimitri Mitropoulos concert hall of the Megaron. In the program, Nikos Skalkottas' Octet (op. 30, 1931) for string quartet and woodwind quartet, György Ligeti's Cello concerto (1966), and Helmut Lachenmann's Mouvement (-vor der Erstarrung) (1982/84).

Indeed some serious stuff there, with works covering a great deal of the last century's avant-garde. And before anyone disagrees -correctly- on what Skalkottas has to do with avant-garde, I will state nothing. This work of his however, is very much ahead of its time, considering it was composed in 1930, while most of Skalkottas Greek colleagues where still experimenting with late romanticism and nationalism... In comparison of course to the other works of the program it was something like Haydn compared to Wagner. Classical in form, atonal the first movement, while the other two are dodecaphonic. Brilliantly played from the ensemble.

Ligeti's concerto was the highlight of the evening. Typical of Ligeti's music, impressive all the way, and of course hard to interpret. And interpret they did, at least to my opinion. The audience too seemed to have like that work most. Lachenmann's Mouvement was the avant-garde work of the evening, with all kinds of use of the instruments but the conventional one. Mostly a percussive one, though in all possible dynamics.

To my surprise the audience was less than the one on the previous day. I guess, I should have expected that, since the players on the other day were Greek and naturally brought some friends and listeners. What I could not guess was that all these conservatories and university students did not come to listen to this great ensemble. Though there are many concerts in Athens nowadays, you don't get exceptional experiences everyday...

Deutsches Symphonie Orchester today, with Xenakis, Christou etc. Impressions from that too soon. Cheers!