Athens Epidaurus Festival 2026
Lena Platonos | Maria Farantouri
"Fortunes"
Flute soloist: Stathis Karapanos
Odeon of Herodes Atticus
June 19, 2026
An exceptional concert brings together two iconic figures of Greek music to the Odeon of Herodes Atticus. Pioneering composer Lena Platonos, at the most mature face of her illustrious career, and Maria Farantouri, the legendary interpreter of great Greek and international poets, come together for a unique performance, on June 19, at an emblematic ancient theatre. Three major works will be presented, where ancient text, contemporary composition, and electronic sound engage in dialogue under the shadow of the Acropolis.
The “Poetesses of the Ancient World” return through their few yet precious surviving “fragments” – small, invaluable excerpts that still keep their voices and stories alive. Sappho – the presiding figure and “mother” of them all – alongside Corinna, Telesilla, Anyte, Praxilla, Moero, Nossis, Diophile, Erinna, the evil eye healers, and other women poets of the ancient Greek world – the Silent ones, whose names alone have survived. Nature and its humble creatures, the friendship between girls, love and war, death and life, and gender equality are woven into their lyrical and tender songs.
Lena Platonos – uniquely and by nature attuned to these ancient figures – becomes, through her music, the medium that channels the poetesses into the present, securing for them a life in the future, where they will stand as sung heroines. With her electronic palette, she imbues their words with contemporary textures, while at the same time drawing on the legacy of the ancient Greek modal system and weaving in elements of traditional songcraft. No interpreter could be more fitting for this material than the timeless – and therefore ever-relevant – voice of Maria Farantouri.
Conceived especially for this year’s Athens Epidaurus Festival and its selected performances at the Odeon of Herodes Atticus, Lena Platonos’s new music piece, Fortunes, sees the composer and Thanos Tsaknakis pull from oblivion the Platonic idea of the soul’s immortality - as reflected in the legendary Myth of Er in The Republic. Presented here for the first time, this modern reinterpretation is written for the internationally acclaimed flute soloist Stathis Karapanos and the iconic voice of Maria Farantouri, while in its final part, Athina Routsi joins as a performer. The original narrative texts and their renditions in Modern Greek (Fragments – Fortunes) are by Thanos Tsaknakis.
The performance reaches its apex with a return to Platonos’s seminal and marginal work "Sabotage" (1981), a cornerstone of an album that helped shape the vocabulary of electronic music in Greece. Three striking pieces from the album (“One Thousand and One Nights,” “Sabotage,” and “In the Constellation of the Penguin”) are presented here in new arrangements for flute, performed by Stathis Karapanos. The concert also features Lena Platonos’ latest song, “Kainourgioi Anthropoi” (New People – lyrics by Nikos Moraitis), bridging ancient myth with contemporary musical creation.
Credits
Lena Platonos: Composition – Narration (Fragments of the Silent Ones) – Keyboards (Fortunes and Sabotage)
Thanos Tsaknakis: Poetry (Fortunes), Narration & Modern Greek adaptation (Fragments of the Silent Ones)
Maria Farantouri: Performance (Fragments of the Silent Ones, Fortunes)
Stathis Karapanos: Flute soloist (Fortunes, Sabotage)
Athena Routsi: Performance (Fortunes)
Stergios T. (Stergios Tsirliagkos): Orchestration, keyboards, programming, el. percussion
Giorgos Kontogiannis: Lyra
Michalis Porfyris: Cello
Vahan Galstian: Wind instruments
Michalis Papapetrou: Music direction (Fragments of the Silent Ones), keyboards
Dimitris Bourboulis: Sound design
Dimitris Koutas: Lighting design
Co-production:
Athens Epidaurus Festival & Technotropon – Artway Cultural Productions
Information
Odeon of Herodes Atticus
Friday, June 19, 2026 | 21:00
Tickets
Ø Piraeus 260 box office: Mon–Fri 10:00–18:00
Ø Telephone: Mon–Fri 10:00–18:00 +30 2118008181
Ø Accessibility (pwd): +30 2104834913 | Μon–Fri 10:00–17:00
Tickets information: aefestival.gr/plirofories-eisitirion/