Almost
as alive as the town is during the day, it is at night... Athens
offers you a choice in whatever kind of entertainment you like.
In a lot of kafeneons, bars and ouzeries you will find live music,
sometimes even during the day. An evening out in the theater,
ballet, classical concert or a pop concert in one of the open
air amphitheaters will leave you with fond memories of Athens.
There are many places were you can enjoy typical Greek music and
can dance to it till dawn breaks.
The
golden rule of respecting others and they will
respect you, is as applicable to Athens and its
nightlife as it is everywhere else in the world.
Had one ouzo too many? Don't drink and drive.
Taxis are cheaper than a funeral.
Over
seventy-five years ago, in the slums of Piraeus and Athens, two
distinct musical styles began to merge: the rebetika music of
the outcasts and outlaws of mainland Greece and the smyrneika
of the Christian refugees from Asia Minor. Within this century,
these kinds of music have been shaped by several major historical
events: the expulsion of the Christians from Asia Minor, the Metaxas
dictatorship and finally World War II and the ensuing Greek Civil
War.
Early
rebetika was an amateur music, which the performers
played mainly for themselves and their friends
in the tekedhes (hash dens), prisons or other
gathering places. The primary instruments were
the bouzouki and baglama; rhythm might be tapped
out by foot or with spoons, glasses, komboloi
or on the soundboard of another bouzouki.
Due
to popularity of western music or perhaps the
desire to be associated with western things and
therefore not Eastern or Ottoman, Greece nearly
lost an important musical tradition. By the 1950's,
the dromous (modes) used by the rebetic and smyrneic
musicians were all but forgotten. Most new compositions
employed the western major and minor scales and
harmonies. Old songs were reworked, harmonized
in a western tradition. Fortunately, with the
re-emergence of rebetika and smyrneika, the old
traditions are being re-examined by today's Greek
musicians, and Greece's musical output will be
all the richer.
The Lyric Theater
(Greek National Opera)
The
Lyric Theater is known in Greece as the Lyriki Skini but is internationally
better know as the Greek National Opera. It is the only lyric
theater in Greece, established in 1939 as a part of the then called
Royal Theater, which matured during the years of the occupation
of Greece by the German forces. In particular during that period
the Greek National Opera was one of the very small free voices
left and since 1944 the Greek National Opera operates as an autonomous
organization.
It
presents its performances at the Olympia Theater. Various operas
are performed, often starring foreign artists. In summer, the
Lyriki Skini transfers its activities to the Odeion of Herod Atticus
(Herodeion) by participating in the Athens Festival.
The
neuralgic part of the Greek National Opera is its own ballet,
of which, apart from its participation to operas and operettas,
it has at least two autonomous "Evening Ballets" every
winter and one at the Athens Festival during the summer. The first
"Evening Ballet" has been presented during the year
1960. Since then many plays have been presented, not only of classical
and romantic repertory, but also from the space of contemporary
dancing of Greek and foreign professionals.
One
of the world's finest cultural centers, completed in 1991, able
to house concerts, opera, ballet with famous guest artists from
all over the world.
Specialist
companies and consultants from throughout Europe were brought
together, as a team, to create a cultural center to match the
exacting standards of the words finest orchestras and to create
a conferences center with technical abilities unrivalled by most
other European venues. In Megaron there are two halls: the Hall
of the Friends of Music and The Dimitris Mitropoulos Hall, a conference
center.
The
National theater, for which Hadrian's Library served as a model
for the structure of the facade, was built between 1895 and 1901
by the German architect Hernest Ziller. It served as the official
Royal Theater for the King's guests until 1908.
In
1924 it was renamed from Royal to National theater. The original
internal installations for the stage facilities, the lighting
and heating were among the most sophisticated of its kind for
their times. They were designed by Viennese mechanics and constructed
in Piraeus' factories.
Classical
and modern repertoire is presented in Athenian theaters all year
round. The two organized state theatrical companies, the National
Theater in Athens and the Northern Greece National Theater at
Thessaloniki, follow the festival program organized by the GNTO.
In winter, they present noteworthy plays by Greek and foreign
playwrights.
Hot
Athens Nights
Over
seventy-five years ago, in the slums of Piraeus and Athens, two
distinct musical styles began to merge: the rebetika music of
the outcasts and outlaws of mainland Greece and the smyrneika
of the Christian refugees from Asia Minor. Within this century,
these kinds of music have been shaped by several major historical
events: the expulsion of the Christians from Asia Minor, the Metaxas
dictatorship and finally World War II and the ensuing Greek Civil
War.
The Lyric Theater){kind=small}
Panapistimiou
One
of the world's finest cultural centers, completed in 1991, able
to house concerts, opera, ballet with famous guest artists from
all over the world. ){kind=small}
The
National Theater){kind=small}
