Alternative Stage Founding Donor
Major Sponsor of the Greek National Opera
From Beethoven and the era of grand musical subversions to contemporary readings of the historical repertoire, the Early Music Days festival invites audiences on a journey through emblematic works, period instruments, and fresh artistic approaches, highlighting the timeless power of musical creation. The programme is divided into two thematic cycles.
The First Cycle, titled The Age of Revolutions and curated by the versatile and highly prolific artist Dimos Goudaroulis, is dedicated to Ludwig van Beethoven and his creative entourage. It will feature music from the late 18th and early 19th centuries, spanning Classicism to Early Romanticism, with masterworks of chamber music by Joseph Haydn, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Ludwig van Beethoven, and Franz Schubert, performed on period instruments by prominent Greek and European musicians.
The Second Cycle, titled Active Pasts and curated by distinguished conductor Markellos Chryssicos, is grounded in the belief that Early Music is not an outdated fossil but an active field of listening and reinterpretation that continues to generate new meanings even today. In this context, new commissions from Greek composers, jazz interpretations of Bach's variations, electronic sounds, and sound and lighting design create a seamless artistic setting in which the historical material is reactivated.
■ Ludwig van Beethoven, Franz Schubert: String Quintets | 21 November 2026
Shunske Sato, Simos Papanas violin, Emlyn Stam viola, Job ter Haar, Dimos Goudaroulis violoncello
Five leading musicians of the European Early Music Scene, Shunske Sato and Simos Papanas on the violin, Emlyn Stam on the viola, and Job ter Haar and Dimos Goudaroulis on the violoncello, present two emblematic chamber works performed on period instruments. The captivating anonymous adaptation for string quintet with two cellos of the famous Kreutzer Sonata, Op. 47 by Ludwig van Beethoven, published in Vienna in 1832 and most probably attributed to the composer himself or to his student and close collaborator Ferdinand Ries, will be presented for the first time in Greece. The programme will conclude with the emblematic string quintet in C major by Franz Schubert, a work of symphonic scale and transcendental beauty, considered one of the most important and masterful chamber music pieces of all time.
■ First part: Songs in Shifting Times - Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven | 22 November 2026
Fanie Antonelou soprano, Gerasimos Hoidas fortepiano
Soprano Fanie Antonelou, accompanied by Gerasimos Hoidas on the fortepiano, will present a rich programme of songs by three leading composers who redefined the late 18th-century musical landscape, transporting us to the heart of a period marked by significant changes and aesthetic upheavals.
■ Second part: Beethoven - septet | 22 November 2026
Sebastian Kürzl period clarinet, Alexandros Economou period bassoon, Kostas Siskos natural horn, Faidon Miliadis violin, David Bogorad viola, Alexis Karaiskakis violoncello, Ioannis Babaloukas double bass
Six exceptional Greek musicians, along with guest German clarinetist Sebastian Kürzl, will perform Beethoven's famous Septet for winds and strings, Op. 20, on period instruments. The Septet, one of the most beloved and captivating works from Beethoven's youthful period, debuted in Vienna in 1800, immediately achieved unprecedented success, and became highly popular, perhaps overshadowing other, subsequent chamber works of his for a time.
Ticket prices: 12, 15 • Students, children: 10
Tickets on sale from: 31/7
