Swan Lake in Athens
Our attendance at the Greek National Ballet' 'Swan Lake' A family group on holiday in Athens wanted to visit the new (9 year old) Stavros Niarchos Opera House in Athens designed by Renzo Piano. Although far from the centre and quite inaccessible, it was sold out. With great difficulty we got all the tickets we needed. The staff at the GNO are very kind and good. I have to report that we had one of the most amusing evenings of our lives. The extraneous choreography and scenography were beyond terrible. There was added electronic music. On top of that, the ballet took place at a petrol station car wash. Siegfried appeared in swimming trunks (Swan Lake, geddit?). It was so bad it was good. It is a pity because the dancers are good and the orchestra, conducted by a Frenchman whose name was Forget (!), very much better than we expected. The theatre of course is stupendous. All in all w...