Greek Orchestras

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

It has occurred to me that we very rarely hear about orchestras from Greece. I couldn't think of a single example, so I investigated. There appear to be three orchestras in Athens, two in Thessaloniki and two opera companies in the same two cities.

Not much for one of the great civilisations, though Greek culture is very much alive in other respects.

[visualnickmos]

Yes, but the population of Greece is quite low, so that to a fairly large extent may proclude the development of orchestras.

[jayne lee wilson]

Oh, now you're talking!
Greek Orchestras = Skalkottas!

Any Skalkottas obsessives such as myself have long been familiar with Greek Orchestras, as recently found on a number of releases earlier this year: the Athens State Orchestra with Stefanos Tsialis on Naxos, and Athens Philharmonia Orchestra under Byron Fidetzis on BIS.
The SO were founded as The Athens Conservatory SO in the late 19thC and renamed in 1943, and inevitably seem the more polished; the Phil, founded as recently as 2016 precisely to discover, revive and raise the profile of modern Greek Music a little more colourful and free in their expressions.

The Thessaloniki Symphony Orchestra (founded 1959) with Vassilis Christopoulos contributed to the BIS Skalkottas series, very memorably with the Double Violin Concerto (orch Demertzis), one the finest BIS releases.

The two older orchestras have had many famous conductors as guests; very accomplished, they simply haven't been recorded very often. Several of the Greek Conductor Skalkottas specialists had to record in Iceland, Malmo or the Urals, courtesy BIS or Lyra.
This seemed set to change this year, especially with the advent of the Naxos series; but alas, who knows if this will continue in our changed world..

After prodigious early compositional achievements studying with Schoenberg in Berlin, Skalkottas himself returned to obscurity in Greece, playing in the ranks of the various orchestral violins, later active in the Greek Resistance, sadly dying at 45 in 1949, just as his musical style was developing a new, very brilliant fusion of folk melody and rhythm with his own highly original, ultra-complex and extremely inventive take on serialism - this particular tendency one of the reasons he fell out with Schoenberg.

Do investigate... a few links ..

https://www.qobuz.com/gb-en/search?q=skalkottas&i=boutique

The top two in this list are an ideal starting point! But don't miss the Concerto for Two Violins further on... it may be the start of an addiction...

[Bella Kemp]

Well done Jayne! - that's excellent. You give us some exploring to do ...

[MickyD]

And for we HIPsters, the excellent Armonia Atenea under Georges Petrou, who have given us some fine Handel recordings among others.

[jayne lee wilson]

And for we HIPsters, the excellent Armonia Atenea under Georges Petrou, who have given us some fine Handel recordings among others.

Wow, yes! I'd forgotten about this one.....

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Beethoven-Prometheus-Armonia-Atenea/dp/B00JPT35CW/ref=sr_1_8?dchild=1&keywords=armonia+atenea&qid=1604337658&sr=8-8

https://www.qobuz.com/gb-en/album/ludwig-van-beethoven-prometheus-armonia-atenea-george-petrou-/0002894787093

One of the best Prometheus recordings I've ever heard...