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“Kypria 2011”
T
he “Kypria 2011” International Festival
took place from 1 September to 1 October
throughout Cyprus. Audiences were treated to
music, theatre and dance events of considerable
renown in a variety of venues.
The Festival commenced on 1 September with a
concert by the Cyprus Youth Symphony Orches-
tra,
With Youthful Passion
, which featured works
by Tchaikovsky andMahler. This was followed by
a concert in tribute to the famed Greek poet and
songwriter, Nikos Gatsos,
Nikos Gatsos, 100 Years
since His Birth
, which featured Maria Farandouri
and Alkinoos Ioannides. The third “Kypria” event
was a dance performance by world renowned cho-
reographer Photis Nikolaou and X-It Dancethea-
tre,
Waltz
; a combination of dance, theatre, music
and visual art.
The Cyprus Symphony Orchestra followed
Waltz
with Theophrastos Sakellarides’s famous oper-
etta,
The Godson
, his masterpiece, which is still
very popular. The next performance was Musik-
konzept’s production of
The Infernal Comedy:
Confessions of a Serial Killer
, starring John Mal-
kovich, the real-life story of Jack Unterweger, a
serial killer who strangled prostitutes and became
a cause célèbre after writing poetry in prison. The
Prague Quattro Chamber Orchestra’s
Opera Night
featured two operas, one by Mozart,
The Impre-
sario
, and one by Salieri,
Prima la Musica e poi
le Parole
. The National Theatre of Greece, under
the direction of Stamatis Fasoulis, staged a per-
formance of the renowned Shakespeare tragedy
Othello
starring Yiorgos Kimoulis, Konstantinos
Markoulakis and Smaragda Karides; the National
Theatre’s second production was
Stage Walkers
,
which starred Nena Menti, Tania Tripi and Nikos
Kouris.
The Limassol Folklore Association made its con-
tribution to “Kypria” with a production entitled
Crossroads: from Thrace and the Black Sea to
Cyprus – from Tradition to the Rebetiko
. The sec-
ond dance performance at this year’s festival was
Alexandra Waierstall’s production
Mapping the
Wind
. The final performance of the festival,
Gen-
tlemen prefer blondes
, based on the 1953 film, was
produced by Rea Madella Ioannidou.
The Advisory Committee for “Kypria 2011” in-
cluded Mr Pavlos Paraskevas, Director of the
Cultural Services of the Ministry of Education
and Culture, Mrs Machi Demetriadou Lindahl, Mr
Neophytos Neophytou, Mr Evis Gavrielides and
Mr Nicolas Konstantinou.
With Youthful Passion
Piotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky: Concerto for violin and
orchestra op. 35; Gustav Mahler: Symphony no.
1 (
Titan
). Soloist: Melina Harrer-Kanthou. Artistic
director and conductor: Ayis Ioannides (1 Septem-
ber, Strovolos Municipal Theatre; 2 September,
Larnaka Municipal Theatre).
Their composers’ recovery from traumatic experi-
ences was the connection between the two works