On 6 August 1961 life in Lygurio had gained unexpected vitality, as the high guests had begun to arrive at a place that had never experienced before a corresponding occasion: people from all parts of the world arrived in its sacred place Asclepius and Epidaurus to see a play that was about to make history. The ‘Media’ Kerubini will become one of the appearances that sealed Callas' career, combining her international displacement with the Greek seal and bringing her back to the National Lyric Scene.
Even the captain of Onassis, who was stationed in the small Epidaurus, was a small detail in front of the grandness of the great diva - not even his absence from such an event, as he would wait a few days later in Athens, was not discussed by the newspapers all dedicated to the performance. “Great as Greco”, said the great Giannis Tsarouchis, signing the sets; "a unique example of melodrama", had commented immediately after the premiere Katina Paxino. Seventeen thousand spectators who had flooded the theater and others who had left outside were the necessary complement to an incredible success, who had the chance to see thousands of people close by, including Prince Michael and the then Greek Prime Minister Konstantinos Karamanlis.
The unforgettable evening
Calla's "Media" was not only an unforgettable performance that gathered international interest in Epidaurus and Greece, combining cosmopolitanism, which after the difficult years of the War the country sought, with the Greek tragedy in a Greek production. It was the work that made Callas declare for the first time "happy". The most important thing, however, is that its interpretation would open a crack in the repertoire, turning the great lyrical diva into what it has always been: a living myth. If, therefore, her first Italian "Media", in 1953 in Florence under Vittorium Gui, changed the data and its incarnation with Lucino Viscondi and Leonard Bernstein. in La Skala (1953/55) redefined the boundaries between tragic theatre and opera, Greece and Epidaurus came to become Calla's foremost "Media".
Any book written about her, whatever she reads, will see pictures of this show. Everyone has their own stories to tell about how she had envisioned the role, arriving a year ago at the ancient theatre of Epidaurus. It was when he posted Bellini's "Norma" to an equally crowded theatre, with his present Onase, Vougiouklaki and Paxino - everybody was hoarding the diva in the first series of marble medals.
Callas that night had conquered the scene of Epidaurus—with which few actors compete—by managing to fill the space with the voice that pushed the opera out and beyond its decorative enclosure since then. It was the beginning to follow, a year later, the legendary "Media" from the ELS and Callas herself to write, indeed, History.
Everything had started with Calla's collaboration with Alexis Mint, who had taken charge of directing, and John Tsarouhi in the sets for Kerubini's "Media" they had posted in Dallas. But in this particular performance in Epidaurus the collaboration was catalytic, almost fatal. Apocalyptic and highly indicative are the evidence of the time - photographs, fragmentary recordings, newspaper testimonies.
There one reads about the public who ascended by bus and bus dirt roads, about the dresses that dragged dust from the then nonexistent streets, about embarrassment in front of an opera placed in the womb of ancient drama. And then came the big titles. "Callas made Medea Greek", wrote a newspaper, and however paradoxical the title sounds today, apparently meant that foreign sound met its origin and made it speak to the present.
Callas was the first to modernize "Media", bringing it to its full measure and putting its personal seal. From this legendary moment Kerubini's "Media" acquired a double life. The "Kallas edition" established the Italian dramatic backbone, until the literary restoration of the last decades brought back the original French form with live dialogues – with some conductors, however, choosing hybrid solutions.
But whatever version one follows, it will pass through that first, stripped "Media" of 1961. This is the debt and the burden that the Commission is taking today. National Lyric Scene when he states that he "returns" to Epidaurus - not only symbolically, but morally and aesthetically, knowing perfectly that tribute does not mean imitation.
When ELS chooses directorial, visual solutions that resemble memory ergonomics, combined in every detail with that original representation, it does not represent the performance of '61, but talks with its rule. That is why we are not talking about a specific date, but about a starting point and a gift to the future.
What will we see?
Lyria, today, takes this gift of her own heritage and reverses it, speaking of "recomposing" the historical "Media" with the same mythical costumes of Tsarouchis, the unsurpassed direction of the Minotis and her iconic choreography Maria Dance. It is no coincidence that the tickets of the legendary performance that is launching - as usual with Lyric - this year's agenda has already been exhausted since the beginning of the pre-sale, last February.
So "Media" returns as a living myth: 65 years after that performance of Epidaurus, with Kerubini's leading work being relighted by the nervous current of an ancient theatre and a modern restoration that proves that each era has its own "Media".
And yet, to understand now, you must return to then. In the early 19th century Luigi Kerubini writes "Media" (Médée) in French, a hybrid project between opéra-comique and the precursor drama opera with extensive libretto. For more than a century the work has followed a labyrinthine route: translations, cuts, adjustments. The famous Italian version of 1909 by Carlo Janfranco/Lachi (often attributed to Francesco Luciano or Ernesto Laviniano) replaces his spoken lyrics with rechitiva Francesco Solomonica or Ernest Girón (the sources disagree), locking for decades a "Italianized" "Media" that breathes differently from the French matrix.
This is the version Callas is about to meet. Because Callas didn't just sing "Media": she rebranded it in collective memory. This contributed precisely to Kerubini's "Media" range, which matched perfectly the climate of a post-war Europe, where music found a second life because it explained a world full of cracks. Callas immediately recognized her economy: she cut off the unnecessary in the voice body, speaking with metal and air.
Today, the ELS seems to recognize the same need in seeking to record, not beautify. Remind us of this show that left time. In this he promises to travel us not only through the performance, but also the exhibition "Kallas Point" in the surroundings of the Ancient Epidaurus Theatre from 18 to 21 June, curated by the great photographer Distillation Fotopoulos and with his contemporary visual language Pants Macca.
Through them the audience will be able to tour in moments and fragments from the preparation of the performance, rediscover the form of Calla through rare photographic material and, finally, experience an artistic composition that is an experiential approach to that historical performance, as Dionysis Fotopoulos was a member of that memorable creative group as an assistant to Giannis Tsarouchis. The surprises will not be missed, such as the huge LED screens that will be placed around the Ancient Theatre, narrating five different thematic modules, but also a special construction, on which the visual compositions from the archival material preserved by the production of "Media" are shown.
On the way to the entrance of the Ancient Theatre the voice of Callas will be heard through a special sound facility set up in the space. Speaking about the exhibition, the artistic director of the ELS George Koumedakis Notes: “From our first visits to Epidaurus to prepare “Media”, Calla’s presence and memory at the Ancient Theatre was more than dominant. Having as the basic basis to honor the memory of the legendary Greek soprano who changed the art of opera, we decided to take the artistic risk of the recomposition of the historical “Media” of 1961, which she marked with her high art.
As the research and study of archival material progressed, as long as the form of Callas was with us, the idea of an exhibition on the unsurpassed tragedy and the ideal performer of Kerubini was constantly coming back. The acceptance of Dionysis Fotopoulos – the leading stage designer and close associate of Giannis Tsarouchis – to take custody, bringing to light his own experiential experience, was the starting point. The great collections that are now in possession of the ELS archive – with the latest acquisition of the valuable collection of Nikos Petsalis-Diomedes – and our collaboration with the Katinas Paxinos Archive and Alexis Minotis from MIET-ELIA was the basis on which the exhibition was founded.
The coefficients
It is important that in the role we see an Italian woman with a similar range, such as the dramatic hilt Anna Pirochi, which debuted in the role of the ELS in 2023, while Jason's role will be performed by the distinguished French tenor Jean-François Boras, who has performed in the world's top operas. In Creon's role, he will debut Tasos Christogiannopoulos, while Ner(e)ida will be taken over by the Russian speaker Alisa Colosseum, that we remember from "Madama Butterfly" three years ago.
The ELS Orchestra will be run by internationally renowned chief musician Zack. Lacob, while the heavy task of rebuilding the original costumes of legendary production was undertaken by the costumer Totta Prisca and his sets John Tsarouhi The Lily Pesanos. Finally, it is signed by the deep connoisseur of Calla's presence at the opera Panagis Pagoulatos.