Click to Enlarge
In April 2007, the Onassis Foundation scholarship holder, Teodor Currentzis, was awarded one of the greatest international distinctions ever received by a Greek artist abroad. In a brilliant ceremony that took place in Moscow’s Stanislavski Theatre, the thirty-five year old conductor and artistic director of the Ballet Theatre and the Novosibirsk Opera, was honored with the Golden Mask for Russia’s Best Maestro 2007. Furthermore, Prokofiev's ballet Cinderella, which he conducted at the Novosibirsk Opera, was awarded the Golden Mark for the Best Ballet 2007.
In one of his rare visits to Greece, Teodor Currentzis appeared at the Athens Concert Hall (Megaron) on June 27th 2007, in the context of the Athens Festival, where he conducted the Musica Aeterna Ensemble and the New Siberian Singers Chamber Choir both of which he himself founded in Novosibirsk. Giya Kancheli’s Styx for viola, mixed choir and orchestra with the superb soloist Yuri Bashmet on the viola, was presented during the first part of the concert. Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No.6 in B minor, also know as Pathetique was presented during the second part of the concert, exhilarating the audience.
On the 28th of June 2007 Teodor Currentzis and Musica Aeterna gave a second concert in Athens, at a venue located on 260 Pireos Street. They presented the works Lacrimosa (2006) by Dimitri Kourliandski (commissioned by the pioneering Territorila Festival), Pranam by Giacinto Scelsi (a 1972 composition for soprano voice, 12 instruments & tape, in memory of Jani Christou and his wife), Psalom (1985/1995/1997) for string orchestra, by popular Estonian composer Arvo Pärt, as well as a concertante performance of Henry Purcell’s opera Dido and Aeneas, featuring Simone Kermes, Deborah York, Mikhail Davidoff, Oleg Ryabets and Sophia Fomina in the leading parts.
