BLESSED ARE THE BREASTS THAT NEVER GAVE SUCK...

BLESSED ARE THE BREASTS THAT NEVER GAVE SUCK...

Markellos Chryssicos / Panos Iliopoulos / Karyofyllia Karabeti

Available for on-demand streaming from July 16, 2025, to March 16, 2026

On https://www.nationalopera.gr/GNOTV/en

Ticket: 5€

Music theatre

The reverent performance of the work Blessed Are the Breasts That Never Gave Suck..., based on the pieces Via Crucis by Franz Liszt and The Way of the Cross by Paul Claudel, which premiered as part of the 2nd Sacred Music Festival in April 2024 and was succesfully revived at the Greek National Opera's Alternative Stage, is now coming to your screens via GNO TV.
The production, conceived and conducted by Markellos Chryssicos, adapted and arranged by Panos Iliopoulos, and featuring Karyofyllia Karabeti in the role of the narrator, is a comission by the Greek National Opera. The Way of the Cross (Via Crucis), also known as the Path of Martyrdom, is a pilgrimage route that captures in the faithful's memory the journey of Christ from the Praetorium to the Holy Sepulchre. This route can be taken literally in Jerusalem or other designated places of worship, but it is also customary for it to have a purely symbolic character, with the faithful, following the iconography or narrative, having the opportunity to pray and spiritually walk the road to Calvary and the Crucifixion.

Franz Liszt's late composition Via Crucis (1874-79) for soloists, mixed choir and organ references the fourteen intervening Stations that the Western Church tradition has established. In conductor Markellos Chryssicos' approach, the work, transcribed for soloists, clarinet, two keyboards and string quintet by Panos Iliopoulos, enters into a dialogue with Paul Claudel's poem of the same name and texts by Giannis Antiochos, Argyris Ant. Liolios, Refaat Alarir, and Tasos Livaditis, read by the actress Karyofyllia Karabeti. The piece will be performed by Maria Kostraki, Theodora Baka, Christos Kechris, and Marios Sarantidis.

Concept, conductor: Markellos Chryssicos
Adaptation, arrangement: Panos Iliopoulos
Dramaturgical adaptation: Karyofyllia Karabeti, Markellos Chryssicos
Texts: Giannis Antiochou, Refaat Alarir, Paul Claudel, Tasos Leivaditis, Argyris Ant. Liolios
Greek translation: Karyofyllia Karabeti
Lighting design: Melina Mascha

Narrator: Karyofyllia Karabeti

Soprano: Maria Kostraki
Mezzo-soprano: Theodora Baka
Tenor: Christos Kechris
Bass: Marios Sarantidis

Violin Ι: Fani Vovoni
Violin ΙΙ: Vanessa Athanasiou
Viola: Krystallia Gaitanou
Violoncello: Dimos Goudaroulis
Double bass: Seraina Seidou
Clarinet: Kostas Gatsios
Piano: Stathis Anninos
Organ: Panos Iliopoulos

With a 5-euro ticket, viewers can enjoy this production from the comfort of their homes at tv.nationalopera.gr/en, at any time they choose, on their computer, ipad, TV or mobile phones. The ticket offers the possibility to access the performance for an unlimited number of times over the course of a 30-day period starting from the first streaming.

The funding body of the project is the Ministry of Culture, within the framework of the National Recovery and Resilience Plan "Greece 2.0" with funding from the European Union - NextGeneration EU.

Lead Donor of the Greek National Opera and Founding Donor of the GNO TV

Stavros Niarchos Foundation

Lead Donor of the Greek National Opera and Founding Donor of the GNO TV

Stavros Niarchos Foundation