“Curtain Rises Again” for Mon Repos Theatre
CORFU. The opening of the open-air “Rena Vlachopoulou” theatre at Mon Repos took place on Wednesday evening, August 27, under the title “Curtain Rises Again.” The venue was filled to capacity.
The evening was opened by the president of the Board of Directors of DIPETHE, Giorgos Lykissas, who thanked all those who contributed to the planning, construction, licensing, and ultimately the reopening of the theatre.
The performance was warmly and enthusiastically embraced by the audience, with the following taking part:
The Corfu Conservatory Symphony Orchestra, with soloists Andreas Goussis, Elli Karydi, Lia Kolita, Pantelis Kondos, Despina Mouratidi, Elena Ristova, Elena Soueref, and Spyros Soueref, conducted by the Conservatory’s Artistic Director, Kimon Hitiris.
The “Dimodokos" Municipal Choir with Christos Parintas on piano accompaniment and conducted by Dora Kolitsi.
The “San Giacomo" Municipal Choir with soloists Despina Daskalierou and Spyros Soueref, accompanied on piano by Panayiotis Garbis and conducted by Anton Ivanov.
Excerpts from poems by Nikiforos Vrettakos, Manos Eleftheriou, Odysseas Elytis, Andreas Empeirikos, Konstantinos Kavafis, Yiannis Ritsos, Giorgos Seferis, and Dionysios Solomos were recited by the actors Nota Darmani, Vaggelis Zikos, Natalia Kapodistria, Nikos Katsaros, and Marietta Savvani.
The final songs of the performance were sung together by the two Municipal Choirs.
The performance was presented by music producer Xenofon Rarakos.
At the close of the evening, the audience gave a standing ovation to the performance and the artists, and warmly welcomed the director of the event, Petros Gallias.
The performance was honoured by the presence of the Mayor of Central Corfu, Stefanos Poulimenos; the President of the Municipal Council, Xenofon Alamanos; the Deputy Mayor of Culture, Administration and Planning, Nikos Vradis; the Deputy Mayor of Technical Services, Andreas Kardonas; and Municipal Council member, Nikos Kalogeros.
The Ionian Islands Regional Governor, Yiannis Trepeklis, was represented by the Deputy Regional Governor for Culture, Christos Anthis, and the Deputy Regional Governor for Technical Works and Planning, Giorgos Mamalos.
Archbishop Nektarios of Corfu, Paxos and the Diapontia Islands, was represented by Father Spyridon Garnelis.
Also honouring the evening with their presence were former Member of Parliament for Corfu, Spyros Spyrou; former Mayor of Corfu, Sotiris Mikalef; former Director of the Corfu Archives and Professor at the Ionian University, Aliki Nikiforou; Professor at the National Technical University of Athens, Giorgos Zoupanos, together with the delegates of the “Conference on Elementary Particle Physics”; and the CEO of the “Union of the Ionian Islands of Greece,” Eleni Konofaou.
ELENI KORONAKI
Photos: Petros Gallias, Despina Daskalierou, San Giacomo Choir
