Euripides in English

Went to the Seat of the European Union in England, Europe House on Smith Sq near the Palace of Westminster to see a special cultural event, it was the presentation of the play Paris Alexandros by Euripides. Written some 2500 years ago, when theatre was being invented by the Greeks. It is part of a trilogy of plays written at a time when Athens was expanding its empire into greater Greece meaning Sicily and Southern Italy. The most famous of the trilogy is the play The Trojan Women, the two others were lost, Paris Alexandros is only partially complete. Nonetheless it is a fascinating story that of Paris who meets 3 Goddesses and makes a bad choice angering the powerful Athena Goddess protector of Troy and giving himself to lust by going with Artemis the Goddess of Sparta. There he will meet the most beautiful women of Sparta, Helen, kidnap her and seal the fate of his city Troy.
Paris is a bad boy and has many faults and Cassandra his sister will try in vain to warn their parents King Priam and Queen Hekabe of the dangers of Paris, of the fulfilment of the prophecy to no avail, calling for his death to avoid the Trojan wars.

The group Dionysia (AOD) composed of famous names of the British Theatre present such plays to school groups in order to foster a love of theatre, in this case ancient theatre.
This is a great group, you can visit their web site at: www.actorsofdionysus.com

Lady Lucy French, whose grandfather Field Marshall Sir John French created the version of the British Poppy we wear at this time of the year in England and in Canada in Remembrance of all our War Dead (1914-1918), also provided important support as did the Hellenic Foundation and the Embassy of Greece.

Such evenings in London are especially nice, got to meet and speak with actress Fenella Fielding and actor Nigel Anthony, Joseph Wickes, Tamsin Shasha. Also met author David Stuttard who was instrumental in putting this recreated play together.

Europe House, seat of the European Union Office in London on Smith Sq. near Parliament.

From Smith Square you can see the towers of Westminster Abbey

The Church of St-John on Smith Square in London, today used as a concert hall.

Homes on Smith Square dating from 1726. Expensive real estate given the prestige of the proximity to Westminster Palace and Abbey.

The Victoria Tower of Westminster Palace.

Return to Athens

This morning a fog lingers over the volcanic crater and the island of Therasia in front of us. The Aegean is like a mirror, still, calm, no wind and very quiet all around.

This is when you notice how birds and there are lots of little birds all around, sing in noisy shrill voices.

The sun slowly burns off the fog, boats glide slowly to the caldera where people go to swim in the hot sulphurous waters. The volcano still emits a fine puff of smoke almost invisible and a red pumice which covers everything and must be wiped away daily.

Today in Khatimerini the national Greek newspaper, I read about the Fava bean which is used in Greek dishes, we had some of it in a purée in Mykonos at the Kapari restaurant. It is now a protected designated food by the E.U.

Fava ‘protected’

Island puree gets EU stamp

The version of fava, a popular split pea puree, made on the southern Aegean island of Santorini, is to be included on the European Union’s official list of “protected designations of origin” (PDO) and “protected geographical indication” (PGI), it emerged yesterday. The puree joins a list of another 87 goods produced in different parts of Greece – including olives and olive oil as well as various fruits and vegetables and different types of cheese – that enjoy the special PDO and PGI status. The use of EU symbols on the labels of such products provides consumers with information regarding the products’ origin.

Our boat is at 15:35 this afternoon and in Athens the weather is rain and lots of it for the next 48 hours. Maybe we will simply go and sit at Alexander’s Bar at Hotel Grande-Bretagne on Syntagma Square. I was planning to visit Cap Sounion for the sunset but not in the rain, too soggy.

  

Concert at the Papal Chancellery

Last night I was pretty tired after work and had a headache, at 6 pm my colleague called and asked me if I was willing to go to a concert at the Papal Chancellery, the Palazzo della Cancelleria. A magnificent building near the Palazzo Farnese seat of the French Embassy in Rome. I took 2 aspirins and got dressed. My personal policy is if you serve food at a party I will be there.

The Concert by invitation only, was given by the Ambassadors of Spain to Italy and to the Holy See to celebrate the Presidency of the European Union who is headed this year by Spain. The great palace like so many in Rome is not heated and it is all stone and marble inside and out, it was a windy and cold night. The great room (magna Aula) has room for 600 people and it was full. We entered the palace and turned left towards to great staircase, I said to my colleague that in Rome you should not have a heart condition with all these great staircases, no elevators anywhere. The concert was given by the Complesso Spagnolo di Musica da Camera. The soprano was Gudrun Olafsdottir who sang pieces from Manuel de Falla, Vivaldi, Rossini and Federico Garcia Lorca. The ensemble also played pieces by Cesar Franck, Boccherini and Ligeti. Afterwards a champagne reception was given with wonderful food, a great parmigiano reggiano cheese carved out of a huge wheel of cheese, and sweets made for Carnival Season. The reception was in the great courtyard and it was a bit cold but the champagne warmed us.

The Palace was constructed between 1489–1513, being the first palazzo in Rome to be built from the ground up in the new Renaissance style. The long facade with its rhythm of flat doubled pilasters between the arch-headed windows is Florentine in conception, though the concept of drafted masonry is ancient Roman in its origin. The grand doorway was added in the 16th century by Domenico Fontana on the orders of Cardinal Alessandro Farnese.

The building's bone-colored travertine was scavenged from the nearby Roman ruins of the Theatre of Pompey,were Julius Caesar was assassinated. The theater of Pompey like the Eternal City was a field of ruins, built for a city of over a million people that now housed about thirty thousand. The forty-four Egyptian granite columns of the inner courtyard are from the porticoes of the theatres upper covered seating.

The Cancelleria was built for Cardinal Raffaele Riario who held the post of Cardinal Camierlengo to his powerful uncle, Pope Sixtus IV. The rumor was that the funds came in a single night's winnings at card playing. The Palace still houses the Papal Chancellery, and is part of the Vatican State, not subject to Italian sovereignty.

The concert was in the great room with its vast mural that Giorgio Vasari accomplished in a mere 100 days. We sat under the gaze of God the Father, who is always pictured in pale pastel colors with a triangle above his head. Since the late 17th century the Cancelleria has been the center of musical life of Rome, though nowadays it has stiff competition from the Parco della Musica.