Classical Music Pages

The Cyprus Symphony Orchestra will perform two masterpieces of the classical period by its two major composers Joseph Haydn (1732 – 1809) και Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756 – 1792), next to a work by contemporary Cypriot composer Aris Tsigaras. The concerts will be given in Paphos and Nicosia and feature the internationally acclaimed artists Stefanos Tsialis as guest conductor and the talented pianist Apostolos Palios as soloist.

The opening work Like Rock by Aris Tsigaras refers to the ideal of consistency, unyielding beliefs and values as well as to sturdiness in sound and rhythm, according to the composer. Mozart’s masterful Concerto for Piano no. 20 in D minor, K. 466, a work of emotional complexity which was greatly admired by Beethoven. Mozart composed it for the Viennese public in 1785, during a time in which he was especially productive in this genre, since he composed no less than eleven piano concertos between 1784-86. Ten years later, Haydn would compose his penultimate Symphony no. 103 in E-flat major (“Drum Roll”), which the Cyprus Symphony Orchestra will interpret in the second part of the concert. The symphony took its name from the impressive opening drum roll. Its bright humour, vivacious dance passages and dramatic moments, received with wild enthousiasm by the London public on its premiere, are bound to impress the public in Cyprus.

The Artists:

Apostolos Palios was born in Karditsa in 1979. He is a graduate of Music Department of the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens where he also received his PhD with Distinction. He has also obtained the Soloist Diploma and Masters from the Music Academies of Berlin and Leipzig. He has studied with world renowned pianists such as Ciccolini, Perahia, Katsaris, Solomon and Szidon. He won scholarships from various foundations in Greece and abroad. He has won prizes and distinctions in Germany, Italy, Spain and Greece, among others from the Greek Theatre and Music Critics Union and the Athens Academy and including the Gina Bachauer prize. Apostolos Palios has an active international career, appearing as soloist in major concert halls: Konzerthaus, Vienna, Philharmonie Berlin, Carnegie Hall, New York, Oslo Philharmonic, Auditorio de Falla in Granada, Athens Music Megaron. He has a rich discography, among others with Naxos label. He has collaborated with all the Greek orchestras, as well as important orchestras abroad such as the Berlin Symphony and the Orquesta Ciudad de Granada. Apostolos has performed many world premieres. He is an ex member of the piano quartet Aurora in Germany and of the contemporary music group Ergon Ensemble. He has been a piano lecturer at the Department of Music Science and Art of the University of Macedonia and the artistic director of the international concerts cycle New Classics.

Stefanos Tsialis has been Chief Conductor and Artistic Director of the Athens State Orchestra since 2014. Since the 2011/12 season he is Permanent Guest Conductor with the Hamburg Symphony and of the Thessalonica State Orchestra and since 2015/16 of the Thuringia Philharmonic in Gotha. He was born in Hermoupolis (Greece) in 1964. After studying piano at Thessalonica New Conservatory and musicology at Copenhagen University, he went on to graduate with distinction from Vienna Academy of Music as a conductor and répétiteur. Stefanos Tsialis was the Chief Conductor of the Central German Chamber Philharmonic (1997-2004), permanent conductor and substitute general music director at the State Theatre of Meiningen (2005-2009), Chief Conductor and Artistic Director of the Thuringia Philharmonic in Gotha (2009-2013) and permanent guest conductor with the Berlin Symphony Orchestra (2001-2004). He has also worked with 70 orchestras around the world, including the Stuttgart and Copenhagen Philharmonics, Vienna Tonkünstlerorchester, Orchestra of the Teatro Comunale di Bologna, Winnipeg and Montreal Symphony Orchestras, Stavanger and Aarhus Symphony Orchestras, “George Enescu” Philharmonic Bucharest, Weimar Staatskapelle, National Orchestra of Cuba, a.o., whilst he has appeared with various orchestras in most E.U. countries as well as in the USA, Canada, Russia and elsewhere. He has produced CD recordings for the labels Genuin and Centaur, and has appeared on television and radio in Germany, Greece, Rumania and South Africa. Stefanos Tsialis is regarded as one of the leading interpreters in the world of Mikis Theodorakis’ work.

Entrance: €12 / €7 (18- 26 years old and pensioners) / free for under 18

Tickets, CySO Friends Cards, invitations and free entrance vouchers available at the Theatres’ box office:
Markideion Theatre (26 932571): available 3 hours before the concert.
Pallas Theatre (22 410181): available 2 days before the concert from 16:00-19:00 and on the concert day from 16:00.

Information: 22 463144, www.cyso.org.cy.