The work of Cypriot musicians is continuously being showcased at the Nicosia International Festival.
STARTING FROM CHARLES BAUDELAIRE
Open discussion with the professor at the University of Cyprus Dr. Mary Roussou and the composer George K. Papageorgiou
Parallel Program
Wednesday 21/02/2024, 19:00
Nicosia Municipal Theatre (3rd floor)
On the occasion of the concert “The Flowers of Evil”, by George K. Papageorgiou, and in the framework of the Festival’s cooperation with the University of Cyprus, the festival organizes an open discussion between the audience members, Professor Mairy Roussou and the composer.
Dr. Roussou was born in Athens. She is a graduate of the Department of Classical Studies, Faculty of Philosophy, University of Ioannina. She continued her studies at the University of Birmingham, England, where she obtained an MPhil from the Department of Byzantine, Ottoman, and Modern Greek Studies in 1990 and a PhD from the Department of English Literature in 2001.
She has been teaching Modern Greek Literature at the Department of Byzantine and Modern Greek Studies of the University of Cyprus since 2008. She has been a research associate in the Postgraduate Programme in Art History at the Cyprus University of Technology, Limassol, where she has lectured and taught postgraduate seminars. Her research interests include travel literature, comparative literature, literary theory, history of ideas, 19th and 20th-century poetry and prose, and the relationship between literature and visual arts.
Free admission.
GEORGE K. PAPAGEORGIOUÂ – “THE BLOSSOMS OF EVIL“
A musical performance based on the poetry of Charles Baudelaire Â
21/2/2024, 20:30
Ages: 13+
Language: Greek
Duration: 70′
A music performance of contemporary scholarly music consisting of works by composer George K. Papageorgiou and recitation of poems from the collection “The Flowers of Evil” by Charles Baudelaire. The composition is written for a small orchestral ensemble (flute, clarinet, violin, cello, double bass, piano and percussion) and is performed by the Chronos Contemporary Music Ensemble and the actor Fotis Apostolidis, in the recitation of the poems.
In lieu of a composer’s note
The melodic lines oscillate between neo-romantic melancholy, the neuroses of sounds and the demonic alternation of rhythms.
The set and the projections of Stavros Kika’s visual works, like pieces of a large puzzle, complement the music, defining the dark palette of the piece and acting as the metaphysical mirror of the protagonist’s (narrator’s) psychic drama. At the same time, scintillations of light imagery add faint notes of optimism, but these are almost immediately drowned in the depressing intensity and perversion of both the text and the music.
The dense nostalgic melodies and neo-romantic style, intertwine with the demonic sonic tensions. The rich sonority of the musical instruments shifts unexpectedly, imparting the sensitive yet fragile psyche of a sickly bohemian existence, imprisoned between the melancholic romanticism of the 19th century and the neurotic modern society.
The poet and his work
In 1857 Figaro newspapers characterized: Charles Baudelaire as “the prototype of the cursed poet after nothing in contemporary art and intelligence will be the same’.
“The Blossoms of Evil” is one of the most important works of world literature and the poetic masterpiece that definitively defined modern poetry (what Homer is to poetry, Baudelaire to modern poetry). It was first published in three different editions between 1857 and 1868 and because of the first edition, Baudelaire was convicted of indecency with six of his poems being banned by the French judiciary.
In the work, disgust drowns the vile, and the foul overrides the vulgar and unites with the obscene. A hospital for every insanity of the spirit.
Music Composition, direction: Georgos K. Papageorgiou
Artwork – projections: Stavros Kikas
Narrator, actor: Fotis Apostolides
Choreography, dancer: Stefani Pastellas
Flute: Virginie Bove
Clarinet: George Georgiou
Violin: Sorin Alexandru Horlea
Cello: Jacub Otcenasek
Piano: Gergana Georgieva
Photos by: Stefanos Kouratzis
For tickets: http://bit.ly/NIF2023_tickets, Stephanis stores and at the Nicosia Municipal Theatre box office (Monday-Friday 10:00-13:00).
