Voice and music take us to a world of myth

This coming Thursday the Phaneromeni arts festival will go on a melodious voyage into the cultural heritage of Greece and Cyprus on the wings of musical concert Journey to the Myths and Legends.

Through the medium of lyrical singing, a broad group of talented performers and musicians will show how tradition and mythology has inspired great composers. Speaking about the performance, soprano Mariza Anastasiades – who will take part in the concert – said “the concert on September 6 at the Phaneromeni Festival of Arts 2018 will take us on a journey through mythology with the actress Maria Andreou, together with myself and other soloists Ellie Aloneftou, Marios Andreou, Augusto Garcia, the Concordia string quartet, pianists Zbynek Maruska and Plotinos Mikromatis. Together we will convey the audience into a mythical age, where mortals, gods, kings and knights exist around the eternal matter of love.”

The night will be set with an interesting and extremely enlightening singing narration that will stir the emotions of the audience with potent images, eternal symbols and a revolutionary faith in man. These images, which will take viewers away from the Bank of Cyprus Cultural Foundation to the land of legends, feeling as if they have moved along with the words and notes.

These stories will be combined with references from Greek mythology through arias. “The programme,” Anastasiades said “consists of two parts. The first part will include arias by classical composers that were influenced by Greek mythology. Arias and songs of myths and legends of the goddess Aphrodite, Apollo and Daphne, Orpheus and Eurydice, Dido and Aeneas, but also myths like the last kingdom of Cyprus – Katerina Cornaro, king of Paphos Imeneos, Paris and Helen, as the myth of Frosini and Arodafnousa will also be heard.”

Anastasiades is a graduate of the Limassol Music Lyceum. She studied Classical Song and Opera in Austria and Cyprus, specialising in Italian Bel Canto repertory. In 2013 she received the first prize at the Kyrenia Opera Singing Competition that was held in New York. In the last year of her studies, she received a scholarship as Student of Excellence in Singing from the Maria Ioannou Foundation. Her repertoire spans from the renaissance and baroque era to 20th century music covering operatic, oratorio and lied repertoire.

The soloist has performed in Cyprus and in Europe with acclaimed orchestras such as the Hungarian Symphony Orchestra, Prague State Opera Orchestra, Lamoureux Orchestra, Kremlin Orchestra, Thessaloniki Symphony Orchestra, Cyprus Symphony Orchestra, Severoceske Divalda Orchestra, National Opera of Amsterdam and Cyprus Youth Symphony Orchestra.

Journey to the Myths of Legends
Concert with Marisa Anastasiades, Elli Aloneftou, Maria Andreou, Marios Andreou, Augusto Garcia as part of the third Faneromeni 18 Festival. September 6. Bank of Cyprus Cultural Foundation, Nicosia. 9pm. Free. Tel: 22-128157

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