Magical Night

Cyprus, Nicosia, Pallas Theatre, Pafos Gate

Thursday, 14 & Friday, 15 May 2026, 20:30

For the first time, the Cyprus Symphony Orchestra joins forces with Maria Farantouri in a special tribute to Mikis Theodorakis – for a Magical Night! A concert that takes on special significance, as it marks the first performance under the baton of the Orchestra’s new Artistic Director, the internationally renowned conductor Myron Michaelides.

Maria Farantouri, the iconic singer of Mikis Theodorakis, will perform with the unique, deeply expressive and soulful quality of her voice the great Greek composer’s timeless songs, as well as seven songs from Odyssey, the last song cycle composed by Theodorakis in 2007, set to poetry by Kostas Kartelias. The songs of Odyssey constitute a journey into the depths of the modern human soul: love, loneliness, and dead ends, as each of us, like a modern-day Odysseus, inevitably faces Clashing Rocks on the journey to find our own Ithaca. Here, the theme itself refers to the exaltation of the ‘self,’ which, just as Odysseus struggles alone —he and the sea— so too must the ‘self,’ that is, our own being, must ultimately come to terms with the idea that Ithaca does not exist and that it must be sustained by its own passions and emotions to stay afloat on the churning sea that is life, as Mikis Theodorakis characteristically puts it.

The concert culminates with the composer’s most iconic songs. His timeless melodies, so deeply loved, blend creatively with the poetry of leading Greek poets, highlighting the enduring power and universal resonance of his work. The orchestrations, both for the Odyssey cycle and the songs, are by the distinguished musicians Antonis Sousamoglou and Lazaros Tsavdaridis.

The evening is rounded out by the symphonic ballet suite Greek Carnival, a work that characteristically captures Mikis Theodorakis’s creative assimilation and transformation of Greek folk music. The composer notes: In 1947, I was in exile on Ikaria, and it was then that I first came into real contact with our folk music. The first song I heard was ‘Captain Andreas Zepos’ … Immediately afterward, I began methodically collecting folk songs. This song, as well as other Greek folk songs and dances, is ingeniously orchestrated by Theodorakis, seeking those orchestral colours that correspond to the character of the work’s rhythmic and melodic material.

The Greek Carnival premiered in November 1953 in Athens, with the Athens State Orchestra, conducted by Andreas Paridis, and was also presented as a ballet at the Rome State Opera in 1954, by Rallou Manou’s Greek Choreodrama with the Rome Opera Symphony Orchestra. This was followed by symphonic premieres in Paris in 1958 and London in 1959.

The authentic interpretations of Maria Farantouri, the dynamism of the Cyprus Symphony Orchestra, and the interpretive vision of conductor Myron Michaelides offer a unique musical journey that illuminates the multifaceted work of Mikis Theodorakis, from the deeply human and familiar Mikis to the preeminent Greek composer of global renown.

Programme | Works by Mikis Theodorakis
Well-known and iconic songs
Seven songs from the Odyssey cycle, poetry | Kostas Kartelias
Arrangements | Antonis Sousamoglou, Lazaros Tsavdaridis
Greek Carnival – symphonic suite

Maria Farantouri | vocals
Cyprus Symphony Orchestra
Myron Michaelides | conducting