Monday 2 October 2017

Corfu: Revival of the First Greek Opera, Ο Υποψήφιος Βουλευτής, The Parliamentary Candidate


Ο Υποψήφιος Βουλευτής (1867) - a revival of The Parliamentary Candidate in its original form

Η πρώτη ελληνική όπερα αναβιώνει στην Κέρκυρα στην αρχική μορφή, Corfu Press

About Spyridon Xyndas

"In the 1840s, Xyndas began to compose concert arias and songs in demotic Greek, a contribution that eventually resulted to the creation of the opera called O ypopsifios (The Parliamentary Candidate) in 1867. This was the first full-scale opera based on a libretto in Greek and the only one of Xyndas' operas that exists today. The libretto was written by Ioannis Rinopulos (with contributions by Nikolaos Makris and Xyndas himself) and it was performed at the Nobile Teatro di San Giacomo di Corfù. Its seemingly comic plot is a severe criticism regarding the living conditions of the Ionian Islands' rural society, against the morality of the indigenous politicians, both during the period under British occupation (1815–1864) and after it" - Wikipedia.

Opera and the Greek World during the Nineteenth Century, International ConferenceCorfu, Greece, 17-19 November 2017

"2017 marks for opera in Greece four anniversaries: the centenary since the passing of Spiros Samaras (1861-1917), the bicentenary since the birth of two important Greek opera composers, Spiridon Xyndas (1817-1896) and Domenikos Padovas (1817-1892), as well as the 150 years since the premiere of the opera O ypopsifios [The Parliamentary Candidate] (1867, music by Xyndas and libretto by Ioannis Rinopoulos), which was both the first full-scale opera in Greek and the pivotal point for the emergence of opera in Greek language. The Hellenic Music Research Lab of the Music Department of the Ionian University and Corfu Philharmonic Society on the occasion of the aforementioned anniversaries organize the international conference entitled Opera and the Greek World during Nineteenth Century, which is going to take place in Corfu, Greece, on 17, 18 and 19 November 2017.

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