Upcycling Memories - TRIETHNÉS International Music Festival

UPCYCLING MEMORIES is based on works by Salvatore Sciarrino, Luciano Berio, and Gustav Mahler. Each of these works, in its own way, explores the relativity of time and memory in musical creation, opening a multifaceted reflection on temporality and musical heritage.

In the selected pieces of this program, the three composers focus on the reuse and transformation of pre-existing material. In recent popular culture, music often lacks originality and relies on recycling as a cost-effective strategy, reflecting the priorities of postmodern society.

By contrast, in so-called “art music,” this process is often used to reveal and strengthen echoes of the past. Sciarrino, Berio, and even Mahler rework “old” musical material, ranging from historical art music and folk traditions to compositional archetypes, in order to draw attention to elective affinities across time, highlighting or dissolving the links between past and present.

Within this context, the versatile singer Natassa Tsakiridou performs, in a complementary and contrasting role, traditional music from the tri-border region in Greek, Albanian and Macedonian. The result is an unexpected creative encounter in open dialogue with the place and its history.

CONCERT PROGRAM

Salvatore Sciarrino
Gesualdo senza parole (1998–99)
for flute, oboe, clarinet, violin, viola, cello, and percussion

Salvatore Sciarrino
Le voci sottovetro (1998–99)
for flute, oboe, clarinet, violin, viola, cello, piano, percussion, and mezzo-soprano

Luciano Berio
Folk Songs (1964)
for flute, clarinet, viola, cello, guitar, percussion (2), and mezzo-soprano

Gustav Mahler
Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen (1884/1885)
for flute, clarinet, two violins, viola, cello, double bass, piano, accordion, percussion, and baritone

CONCERT CREDITS

Mezzo-sopranos: Elena Marangou, Artemis Bogri
Baritone: Giorgos Iatrou
Traditional music performer: Natassa Tsakiridou

The ensemble consists of:
Zacharias Tarpagkos (flute), Kostas Giovanis (oboe), Spyros Tzekos (clarinet), Faidon Miliadis (violin I), Kostas Panagiotidis (violin II), Ilias Sdoukos (viola), Maria Skandali (cello), Nikos Tsoukalas (double bass), Konstantinos Raptis (accordion), Ptolemaios Armaos (guitar), Anton Gerzenberg (piano), Panagiotis Ziavras / Marinos Tranoudakis (percussion)

The traditional ensemble includes:
Giannis Mavros (clarinet), Marinos Tranoudakis (daouli), Stamatis Pasopoulos (accordion / bagpipes)

The orchestra is conducted by the festival’s Artistic Director, Yorgos Ziavras.