Оркестр «Armonia Atenea» (Armonia Atenea Orchestra) |

Armonia Atenea Orchestra

Armonia Atenea is the new name of the Athenian Camerata orchestra.

The orchestra was founded in 1991 by the Society of Friends of Music in Athens in connection with the opening and inauguration of the Athens Megaron Concert Hall. Since then, this hall has been the residence of the orchestra. Since 2011, the orchestra, in addition to the Megaron hall, also constantly performs at the Onassis Cultural Center.

Armonia Atenea is a universal group whose repertoire covers the widest period from the early Baroque to the XNUMXst century, concert programs, opera and ballet performances. The founder of the orchestra and its first artistic director is Alexander Mirat. Sir Neville Marriner and Christopher Warren-Greene then conducted the orchestra. The current artistic director is Georgi Petru (winner of The Echo Klassik).

The orchestra was conducted by such famous maestros as Fabio Biondi, Thomas Hendelbrock, Philippe Antremont, Christopher Hogwood, Helmut Rilling, Heinrich Schiff, Stefan Kovacevic, Mstislav Rostropovich, Yehudi Menuhin. Among the soloists who performed with the group are Marta Argerich, Yuri Bashmet, Joshua Bell, Leonidas Kavakos, Radu Lupu, Misha Maisky.

The orchestra is active in concert in Athens, Greece, performs at the most prestigious concert venues in the world (such as the Musikverein in Vienna, the Champs-Elysées Theater and the Pleyel Hall in Paris, the Royal Opera at Versailles, the Amsterdam Concertgebouw) and popular festivals (summer early music festival in Innsbruck, the festival in Versailles, the Enescu festival in Bucharest, etc.).

The group plans to perform at the Palais de Beauzare (Brussels), the Arsenal (Metz, France), the Monte Carlo Opera, the Grand Theater in Aix-en-Provence, Tonhalle in Zurich and the Bordeaux National Opera.

Another important aspect of the orchestra’s activity is the performance of contemporary music. The team often presents premieres and first recordings of works by many contemporary composers. The musicians also participate in educational programs, give educational concerts in schools. In 1996, the orchestra received an award from the Greek Critics Union for its artistic and educational activities.

Armonia Atenea’s extensive discography includes recordings at Decca, Sony Classical, EMI Classics, MDG, ECM Records and more. Recent releases include the first recordings of Gluck’s Triumph of Clelia and Handel’s Alexander the Great (MDG). Another recording of “Alexandra” (with the participation of Max Emanuel Cencic, Karaina Govin, Yulia Lezhneva and Javier Sabata), released on Decca at the expense of the Society of Friends of Music in Athens, received the highest marks from the world press, critics and numerous awards: Diapason d’Or, Choc Classica (December 2012 / January 2013), BBC Music Magazine Record of the Month (December 2012), Shock of the Year (2012), International Opera Record of the Year Award (2013), Stanley Sadie (2013).

In the 2013/2014 season, the orchestra released five new albums: Baroque Divas, a collection of rare arias from baroque operas interpreted by Sonia Prin, Romina Basso, Vivica Geno and Marie-Ellen Necy (Sony Classical); “Rococo” is a solo album by the famous Croatian countertenor Max Emanuel Cencic (Decca); “Arias from Gluck’s Operas” – an album by the Swiss tenor Daniel Behle (offering to the 300th anniversary of the composer, celebrated in 2014) (Decca); “Counter-tenor-gala” with the participation of six famous performers (Sony Classical); ballet “The Works of Prometheus” by Beethoven (Decca).

The orchestra is supported by the Greek Ministry of Culture and Sports and the Megaron Hall.

The main sponsor of the team is the Onassis Foundation.

Source: Moscow Philharmonic website