On July 18, 2020, the Greek National Opera will be launching their national festival.

Led by the Ministry of Culture and Sports, this celebration of arts and culture will be held at archaeological sites around the country.

As a display of Greece’s recovery, the festival will be opened with a performance held at the foot of the Acropolis in the Roman Agora, featuring renowned mezzo-soprano Anita Rachvelishvili doing a selection of arias by Verdi, Cilea Gounod, and Saint-Saens. Due to her relationship with the Greek National Opera, Rachvelishvili has accepted to perform without a fee, being invited by company Artistic Director Giorgos Koumendakis.

“In these hard times that humanity is undergoing, we choose not to stay away from our audience, with whom we’ve never lost touch,” said Koumendakis in a press release. “We responded to the initiative of the Minister of Culture and Sports, Mrs. Lina Mendoni, to make use of the archaeological sites across the country this summer. Despite the unprecedented circumstances we are all under, we are united by the same passion to keep contemporary culture alive. We therefore propose a series of events that highlight the multifaceted artistic mark of the GNO”.

The festival will run from July 18 to September 25, with 111 performances to be held across 70 archaeological sites in Greece. While seating is limited due to space and health regulations, the audience will consist of health workers and government officials. The performances will be streamed worldwide on the Greek National Opera’s website, Facebook, and Instagram pages.