Musical Director and Conductor: Teodor Currentzis
Director: Anna Guseva
Chief Choirmaster: Vitaly Polonsky
Choreographer: Anastasia Peshkova

Performers:
musicAeterna Choir
soloists of the musicAeterna Orchestra
musicAeterna Dance company

Details

The concert-performance Esperia, featuring the musicAeterna choir, orchestra soloists, and dance company under the direction of Teodor Currentzis, continues a long-standing tradition of the Diaghilev Festival: the program will remain a mystery until the end of the evening.

This concept of “pure perception” — where the audience experiences the performance without prior knowledge — is especially important for this piece. Esperia is a kind of modern mystery play, touching the deepest human emotions and hopes through sacred music from different styles and eras, subtle choreography, and carefully crafted lighting.

15,06 Diaghilev’s house, Perm, 23:59

For many years, Greek cellist, composer, improviser, and researcher Yiorgos Kaloudis has been exploring the expressive potential of the Cretan lyra, one of the world’s oldest bowed string instruments. He has released seven albums and given solo performances at the Athens Concert Hall (Megaron), as well as at prominent early music, classical, and jazz festivals across Europe and Russia. He is a regular collaborator with the Diaghilev Festival and the musicAeterna Orchestra.

The Cretan lyra is a teardrop-shaped, traditionally threestringed bowed instrument, often accompanied by sympathetic strings. Unlike the violin, its strings are stopped not by pressing with the fingertips, but by touching them with the nails — a technique that produces a distinctive, ethereal tone with whistling overtones. This ancient method of sound production has survived thanks to the lyra’s continued role in Cretan folk traditions, where it was primarily played at social dances, often with bells attached to the bow, and remained outside the domain of professional classical music for centuries.

Kaloudis began his in-depth study and performance practice of the lyra in 2004. Drawing upon his background as a cellist, he expanded the traditional instrument by adding a fourth string, adapting the baroque techniques of the bow thus specially cello techniques for the left hand, but also extending its range and adaptability. His innovations and transcriptions have enabled the classical Cretan lyra to interpret Baroque and Early music repertoire, most notably the Cello Suites by Johann Sebastian Bach, with clarity and emotional depth.

At the Diaghilev Festival, Yiorgos Kaloudis performs two works from this iconic collection. Written during Bach’s time in Kothen, the six suites are often regarded as the Bible of modern cello playing. Each suite blends dance forms with intricate polyphony, offering a sublime balance between technical mastery and expressive power — a balance that Kaloudis brings to life through the voice of a uniquely ancient instrument.

Johann Sebastian Bach (1685–1750)

Cello Suite No. 2 in D minor, BWV 1008 (1720–1723)
Prelude
Allemande
Courante
Sarabande
Minuet I / II
Gigue

Cello Suite No. 4 in E-flat major, BWV 1010 (1720–1723)
Prelude
Allemande
Courante
Sarabande
Bourree I / II
Gigue

9&10/06 Dom Radio
13&14/06 Perm | House of Music (Shpagin plant)

musicAeterna orchestra and choir
musicAeterna Dance company
artists from the Anton Rubinstein Academy

Conductor – Teodor Currentzis

Details

Opening the 2025 Diaghilev Festival on June 13, Hændel is a theatrical and musical dedication to the great composer on the 340th anniversary of his birth. Performed by the festival’s headliners — the musicAeterna orchestra and choir under the direction of Teodor Currentzis — the concert presents a pasticcio: a collage of arias, ensembles, orchestral and choral scenes from Handel’s operas and oratorios.

A pasticcio (Italian for “pie” or “mash-up”) was a popular 18th-century stage practice — an artfully crafted mix of musical pieces, often from different works, assembled into a new dramatic whole. In Hændel, this form brings together excerpts from Handel’s powerful Old Testament oratorios, dramatic arias from his Italian operas (Rinaldo, Giulio Cesare in Egitto, Orlando, Teseo), and dazzling instrumental pieces.

All music will be performed on period instruments and in historical baroque tuning by musicAeterna artists, known for their thoughtful and detailed work with historically informed performance and their pursuit of authentic sound. The semi-staged format and collage-like nature of the production follow the spirit of baroque spectacle — full of illusion, shifting perspectives, scale play, and a deep focus on the voice and space.

HENRY PURCELL (1659 – 1695)
”The Indian Queen”
(Concert Performance)

Semi-opera in a prologue and five acts Z 630 (1695)
Libretto after the play of the same name by John Dryden and Robert Howard
In a version by Peter Sellars (2013/2016)

In 2022, Currentzis fulfilled a dream when he founded a new orchestra, the »Utopia« orchestra. The members come together from various international orchestras for »Utopia« concerts on a project-related basis. This is also the case for the 2023 Salzburg Festival and a concert performance of Henry Purcell's semi-opera (a special form of English baroque opera in the 18th century)
»The Indian Queen«. Together with director Peter Sellars, Currentzis has created a version of this work, which is set in Central America and deals with fictional conflicts between the Aztecs and the Incas in a prologue and five acts. This version supplements the original score with songs, arias and sacred choral pieces by Purcell and places it in a new context. Using passages from Rosario Aguilar's novel "La niña blanca y los pájaros sin pies" ("The White Girl and the Birds Without Feet"), British-French actress Amira Casar narrates the story of the Spanish conquest of Central America from the perspective of three women.

Soloists
Jeanine De Bique, Teculihuatzin / Doña Luisa
Dennis Orellana, Hunahpú
Andrey Nemzer, Ixbalanqué
Nicholas Newton, Mayan shaman
Amira Casar, speaker,
among others.
 
Utopia Orchestra & Choir
Teodor Currentzis — Conductor

“LA RÊVEUSE” Early Music on the Classical Cretan Lyra

On February 01, Yiorgos Kaloudis will present the recital titled
LA RÊVEUSE: Early Music on the Classical Cretan Lyra.
This highly anticipated solo recital will commence with a beautifully crafted hymn that is dedicated to John the Baptist, which is attributed to Guido D’Arezzo, who is recognized as the founder of the entire European musical system. Notably, the hymn's initial syllables—ut, re, mi, fa, sol, la—continue to serve as the foundational representation of the musical scale that many musicians still utilize today.

Following this introduction, the programme will feature a poignant 13th-century English song that bids a heartfelt farewell to the warmth of summer. Additionally, selected vocal compositions from the esteemed medieval poet and composer Guillaume de Machaut will be showcased, further enriching the recital's repertoire.
The performance will then transition into a selection of notable pieces from 17th and 18th-century French music for viola da gamba. Among these works is a remarkable one-part concerto for two violas da gamba, which has been skillfully transcribed for the Cretan lyra by the accomplished composer Jean de Sainte-Colombe, alongside several extraordinary works by his illustrious pupil Marin Marais.

Thesis Trio is a project by three friends, a mezzo-soprano Irini Tsirakidis, a pianist Dimitra Kokkinopoulou and a cellist, composer and Classical Cretan Lyra virtuoso Yiorgos Kaloudis. Established in 2018, the trio is focusing on the performance of chamber compositions by modern Greek composers.

The programme Alpha F represents a collection of songs by major Greek composers of the 20th century, as well as music pieces by our contemporaries:

Yiannis Constantinidis (1903–1984)
Nikos Skalkottas (1904–1949)
Stathis Giftakis (b.1967)
Valerio Matola (b.1975)
Yiorgos Kaloudis (b.1973)

Irini Tsirakidis, mezzo-soprano
Yiorgos Kaloudis, cello, classical Cretan lyra, arrangements
Dimitra Kokkinopoulou, piano

22/06, The House of Diaghilev, 01:30 am

Dimensions
Concert-enigma

Night-time enigma concerts are one of the traditions of the Diaghilev Festival that define its atmosphere. This is a rare opportunity to spend the shortest nights of the year listening to music of different eras.
It is only after the end of the concert that the music works the musicians have performed are revealed. Such a procedure helps to focus attention — the motion of the senses in response to the course of musical events are the subject of careful observation for all participants in the event. Guessing the composer and the style of a particular composition may also be fascinating: the answers to an enigma will be found in the programme that everyone will receive after the concert.
This year, enigma concerts are taking place in the historic reception room of the House of Diaghilev — the concert hall of the mansion where the great impresario spent his childhood years.

Yiorgos Kaloudis: violoncello, classical Cretan lyra

25/11, Oslo Konserthus, Norway, 19:00

ARTience by PhonoQuest

We are thrilled to announce that The Classical Cretan Lyra Project is hitting the road!
Our musical journey begins in the prestigious Oslo Concert Hall, and we can't wait to share an unforgettable evening with you.

Mark your calendars and get ready for the concert on Saturday, 25th November 2023.
Prepare to be captivated by the mesmerizing sounds of the Classical Cretan Lyra, as the extraordinary Yiorgos Kaloudis take the stage in the magnificent Oslo Concert Hall.

The Classical Cretan Lyra Project is an innovative proposal by Yiorgos Kaloudis, a cellist, lyra player, and composer, aiming to introduce the Cretan Lyra into the realm of classical music. Yiorgos Kaloudis transcribes works from the classical repertoire and performs them with his Classical Cretan Lyra, an instrument specially modified to interpret classical music.
This project blends the tradition of Greece with the music of Europe, creating a striking fusion of two musical worlds. Yiorgos Kaloudis convey the rich heritage of Crete through the essence of classical music, offering a unique and captivating musical experience.

Don't miss out on this extraordinary musical journey!
Save the date, spread the word, and get ready to be transported by the magical sounds of The Classical Cretan Lyra Project. We can't wait to see you at the Oslo Concert Hall!

#ClassicalCretanLyraProject #MusicJourney #Concert #OsloConcertHall #yiorgoskaloudis #yiorgoskaloudismusic #larêveuse #artiencebyphonoquest

13, 14/10, St. Petersburg | Dom Radio

Yiorgos Kaloudis and musicAeterna4 vocal ensemble: European music of the Middle Ages and Renaissance

performers:
Yiorgos Kaloudis (Greece) – artistic concept, arrangements, Classical Cretan Lyra, bendir, tambourine
musicAeterna4 vocal ensemble
Elena Podkasik, soprano
Alfiya Khamidullina, soprano
Elena Shestakova, mezzo-soprano
Anastasiya Gulyaeva, contralto
Elena Gurchenko, mezzo-soprano

The musicAeterna4 vocal ensemble with the participation of the Greek instrumentalist, master of the classical Cretan lyra Yiorgos Kaloudis presents a new programme of Western European music of the Middle Ages and Renaissance.

The vocal cycle opens with the earliest Western European hymns whose authorship we know: these are “Kyrie Eleison” and “O Virtus Sapientiae” of Saint Hildegard von Bingen – a visionary, a writer, an extraordinarily independent composer and an active abbess of the 12th century. Other early polyphonic medieval works are anonymous: the very institution of authorship was of no importance to the monks-musicians who combined new motifs, texts, and rhythms with old, well-known Gregorian chorales or folk melodies. We know their motets and virelais by the names of the codices — manuscripts in which they were recorded (often between other records of the monastic household needs and, as a rule, much later than these works had been created). The Spanish Codex Las Huelgas, the Catalan Ell Llibre Vermell, the French Codex Montpellier, forgotten for hundreds of years and found in the 19th century, serve as inexhaustible sources of music of the 13th century, in which the spiritual and the secular were often mixed literally, vertically (when three or four voices simultaneously sang three or four different texts, including spiritual hymns on Latin, and love songs in national languages).
The polyphonic and one-voiced compositions of the most important medieval author that is known to us — the poet and composer of the 14th century Guillaume de Machaut — serve as a kind of bridge to a new era, when it became customary to sign musical works with the name of the composer. However, the opuses of “folk” origin – popular songs and dances, like the famous English ballad “Greensleeves” or the French tourdion “Quand je bois du vin clairet” — still remained anonymous and allowed the publication of many textual and musical variations. As for the opuses of John Dowland, Thomas Tallis, Orlando di Lasso or Claudin de Sermisy, published in collections or transmitted in handwritten lists, such liberties were no longer permissible.
Reaching the pinnacle of Renaissance polyphony, the musicAeterna4 concert programme turns back to Guillaume de Machaut and anonymous music of the 13th century, as if saying: “Come again …”.

Many of the arrangements resulted from improvisation that arose in the rehearsal process of the musicAeterna4 ensemble with Yiorgos Kaloudis, a virtuoso who masterfully plays the classical Cretan lyra, cello and viola da gamba, percussion, etc. The original arrangements according to the ensemble are designed to bring warmth, joy and romantic moods to the exquisite garlands of medieval and Renaissance polyphony.

6,10 St. Petersburg | Dom Radio, 20:00

Yiorgos Kaloudis (Greece).
DIMENSIONS: author's compositions for cello, classical Cretan lyra, voice and electronics

From October 5 to 14, Dom Radio will host a series of concerts by the famous cellist and composer Yiorgos Kaloudis (Greece). For many years he has been exploring the possibilities of playing the Cretan lyra, one of the most ancient musical instruments. Combining the techniques of cello playing and the features of the traditional Cretan lyra, he improved the instrument by adding a fourth string (lower cello C).

Yiorgos Kaloudis will give four concerts at Dom Radio presenting the rich possibilities of the lyra and an extensive repertoire: from Baroque music to modern compositions in which the unusual timbre of the Cretan lyra is enriched with electronics.

APTERA is the last concert of the cycle, revealing the extensive repertoire and performing possibilities of the Cretan lyre, an ancient instrument which descended from the Byzantine lyra of the 9th century, the ancestor of most European string bow instruments.

Yiorgos Kaloudis will present a collection of original compositions for classical Cretan lyra, cello, voice, and electronics. The classical Cretan lyra presents itself not only as a bow, but also as a percussion instrument, and meditations on its slightly whistling timbre and melodic possibilities turn into melancholic, airy soundscapes.

5/10, St. Petersburg | Dom Radio, 20:00

Yiorgos Kaloudis (Greece).
APTERA: author's compositions for classical Cretan lyra, cello, voice and electronics

From October 5 to 14, Dom Radio will host a series of concerts by the famous cellist and composer Yiorgos Kaloudis (Greece). For many years he has been exploring the possibilities of playing the Cretan lyra, one of the most ancient musical instruments. Combining the techniques of cello playing and the features of the traditional Cretan lyra, he improved the instrument by adding a fourth string (lower cello C).

Yiorgos Kaloudis will give four concerts at Dom Radio presenting the rich possibilities of the lyra and an extensive repertoire: from Baroque music to modern compositions in which the unusual timbre of the Cretan lyra is enriched with electronics.

APTERA is the last concert of the cycle, revealing the extensive repertoire and performing possibilities of the Cretan lyre, an ancient instrument which descended from the Byzantine lyra of the 9th century, the ancestor of most European string bow instruments.

Yiorgos Kaloudis will present a collection of original compositions for classical Cretan lyra, cello, voice, and electronics. The classical Cretan lyra presents itself not only as a bow, but also as a percussion instrument, and meditations on its slightly whistling timbre and melodic possibilities turn into melancholic, airy soundscapes.

Diaghilev Festival – 2023

01.07 / sa / The House of Diaghilev, 23:30—00:45

Yiorgos Kaloudis (Greece)
LA RÊVEUSE: Early Music on the Classical Cretan Lyra

For many years Greek cellist, composer, improviser, researcher Yiorgos Kaloudis has been exploring the possibilities of playing the Cretan lyra, one of the most ancient musical instruments. Combining the techniques of cello playing and the features of the traditional Cretan lyra, he upgraded the instrument by adding the fourth string (lower cello C).

In the LA RÊVEUSE programme, the Cretan lyra appears as an ideal solo and accompanying the vocal (performed by Yiorgos Kaloudis himself) instrument for the music of the Middle Ages. At the same time, due to the author's improvements and author's transcriptions, the classical Cretan lyra brilliantly copes with Baroque masterpieces written for viola da gamba.

musicAeterna4 vocal ensemble, featuring Yiorgos Kaloudis: “Come Again... Sweet Love”

At the Diaghilev Festival–2023, the musicAeterna4 vocal ensemble with the participation of the Greek instrumentalist, master of the classical Cretan lyra Yiorgos Kaloudis presents a new programme of Western European music of the Middle Ages and Renaissance. Its title, taken from the song of the great English composer John Dowland "Come Again ... Sweet Love", elegantly alludes not only to the main theme of the programme — earthly love as a reflection of heavenly love — but also to its circular structure.

16-25/2/2023, Dom Radio, musicAeterna, St. Petersburg

From February 16 to 25, Dom Radio will host a series of concerts by the famous cellist and composer Yiorgos Kaloudis (Greece). For many years he has been exploring the possibilities of playing the Cretan lyra, one of the most ancient musical instruments. Combining the techniques of cello playing and the features of the traditional Cretan lyra, he improved the instrument by adding a fourth string (lower cello C).

Yiorgos Kaloudis will give four concerts at Dom Radio presenting the rich possibilities of the lyra and an extensive repertoire: from Baroque music to modern compositions in which the unusual timbre of the Cretan lyra is enriched with electronics.

16/2 Lecture “Classical Cretan Lyra on the Western European Music”
Yiorgos Kaloudis will give four concerts at Dom Radio presenting the rich possibilities of the lyra and an extensive repertoire: from Baroque music to modern compositions in which the unusual timbre of the Cretan lyra is enriched with electronics. But first, on February 16, Yiorgos Kaloudis will meet the audience and talk about the centuries-old history of the Cretan lyra, demonstrate the peculiarities of performing technique and the upgrades he did to the traditional instrument.

18/2 Recital “LA RÊVEUSE” Early Music on the Classical Cretan Lyra
On February 18, Yiorgos Kaloudis will perform the programme LA RÊVEUSE. It opens with a hymn dedicated to John the Baptist. The music is attributed to the founder of the entire European musical system Guido D’Arezzo: the initial syllables of the lines of the Latin hymn Ut queant laxis – ut, re, mi, fa, sol, la – still signify the steps of the scale. The English song of the 13th century about saying goodbye to summer is placed side by side with a selection of famous vocal compositions by the greatest poet and composer of the Middle Ages, Guillaume de Machaut. These are followed by outstanding examples of French music of the 17th and 18th centuries for viola da gamba – a one-part concerto for two violas da gamba (transcribed for one Cretan lyra) by Jean de Sainte-Colombe and pieces by his famous pupil Marin Marais.

19/2 Recital: J.S.BACH Cello Suites on the Cretan Lyra PART I
On February 19 and 21, Yiorgos Kaloudis (Greece) will perform four Cello suites by Johann Sebastian Bach in two concerts. The cycle of six solo suites, written by Bach in his Köthen period, is akin to the Bible for modern cellists where hidden polyphony saturates the dance basis of the suite parts, and the performing complexity is subordinated to the creation of a melodic current of enormous emotional power.

21/2 Recital: J.S.BACH Cello Suites on the Cretan Lyra PART II
On February 19 and 21, Yiorgos Kaloudis (Greece) will perform four Cello suites by Johann Sebastian Bach in two concerts. The cycle of six solo suites, written by Bach in his Köthen period, is akin to the Bible for modern cellists where hidden polyphony saturates the dance basis of the suite parts, and the performing complexity is subordinated to the creation of a melodic current of enormous emotional power.

25/2 Recital: “APTERA” author's compositions for lyra, cello, voice and electronics
APTERA is the last concert of the cycle, revealing the extensive repertoire and performing possibilities of the Cretan lyre, an ancient instrument which descended from the Byzantine lyra of the 9th century, the ancestor of most European string bow instruments.

Yiorgos Kaloudis will present a collection of original compositions for classical Cretan lyra, cello, voice, and electronics. The classical Cretan lyra presents itself not only as a bow, but also as a percussion instrument, and meditations on its slightly whistling timbre and melodic possibilities turn into melancholic, airy soundscapes.

o7/12 MEGARON The Athens Concert Hall, 20:30 - Dimitris Mitropoulos Hall

La Rêveuse: Early Music on the Classical Cretan Lyra
Yiorgos Kaloudis, classical Cretan lyra, transcriptions
Special Guest:
Irini Tsirakidou, mezzo-soprano

Ο Γιώργος Καλούδης, μετά την ιδιαίτερα επιτυχημένη συναυλία J. S. BACH: Cello Suites on the Cretan Lyra τον Μάρτιο του 2017 στο Μέγαρο Μουσικής Αθηνών, ξετυλίγει τον μίτο της Παλαιάς Μουσικής μέσα από τον ήχο της κλασικής κρητικής λύρας και της ανθρώπινης φωνής, την Τρίτη 7 Δεκεμβρίου, στις 8:30 μ.μ. στην Αίθουσα Δημήτρης Μητρόπουλος. 
Αυτή τη φορά, στο ρεσιτάλ του La Rêveuse – H κλασική κρητική λύρα στην Παλαιά Μουσική, ο γνωστός δεξιοτέχνης, συνθέτης και ερευνητής ταξιδεύει μέσα στους αιώνες προς την εποχή της γέννησης της κρητικής λύρας. Με σταθμούς στον Μεσαίωνα, την Αναγέννηση και το Μπαρόκ, παρουσιάζει μεταγραφές από το 1000 μ.Χ. μέχρι το 1700 μ.Χ., μέσα από συνθέσεις των Guido d’Arrezzo [Γκουίντο ντ’ Αρρέτσο], Guillaume de Machaut [Γκιγιώμ ντε Μασώ], Jean de Sainte–Colombe [Ζαν ντε Σαιντ-Κολόμπ], Marin Marais [Mαρέν Μαραί], Claudio Monteverdi [Κλάουντιο Μοντεβέρντι], Barbara Strozzi [Μπάρμπαρα Στρότσι], αλλά και ενός ανώνυμου άγγλου συνθέτη του 13ου αιώνα.
Μαζί του, η διεθνής μετζοσοπράνο Ειρήνη Τσιρακίδου, η οποία θα ενώσει τα τραγούδια του χθες με την ερμηνεία του σήμερα, τολμώντας μια προσωπική ερμηνευτική αισθητική που στηρίζει στην αυθεντικότητα των συναισθημάτων.

Ο Γιώργος Καλούδης κάνει μεταγραφές αλλά και αισθητικές παρεμβάσεις στα έργα, ώστε να τα προσαρμόσει με τον καλύτερο τρόπο στην ερμηνευτική ιδιαιτερότητα της κλασικής κρητικής λύρας, προσεγγίζοντας με καινούργια ματιά το αρχικό μουσικό κείμενο.

22/8 ARCH. SITE OF ROKKA, Crete, 21:00

Chamber Music Concert

The escalation of this year’s events happens with the chamber music concert, with Yorgos Kaloudis & Thesis Trio, on 22 August 2021.

In detail, in the archaeological space of Rokka, the visitor will be carried away by the sounds of the solo classical cretan lyra, in renaissance and baroque sound.
Thesis Trio presents a concert that unites yesterday with today, the beginning of vocal art in the western european music, with vocal pieces of contemporary Greek composers.
Yiorgos Kaloudis integrates the classical Cretan lyra and the Cello in the repertoire, and creates inspiring and aesthetic interventions in the pieces that are presented, attempting a fresh approach in the musical texts, with respect to the aesthetics of the original musical piece.

Pieces of contemporary Greek composers will be presented, in tonic/tropic style, based on poetry pieces of the international and national literature.

Like every year, the full moon of August at Giortes Rokkas promises to be magical, with sounds that will enthralls us and take us on a journey in a period that we need it the most, over a gorge of unparalleled beauty.

Credits:
Irini Tsirakidis, mezzo soprano
Dimitra Kokkinopoulou, piano
Yiorgos Kaloudis, cello, classical Cretan lyra, arrangements

E-mail: info@giortesrokkas.gr

Rokka and Kera villages are located in the northwest of the Prefecture of Chania, in the Municipality of Kissamos, 12 km from Kissamos, 39 km from Chania and 55 km from Chania airport.
Following the E65 National Road from Chania to Kissamos, and turning to the Nopigia to Kera – Rokka hub, you will not have difficulty finding us. Rokka’s Square is located in the center of the village, right next to the main street from which you will come.

3/4, Kharkiv Philharmonic, Ukraine, 18:30
Concert program:

Yiannis Constantinides
TWENTY SONGS OF THE GREEK PEOPLE (1937 - 1947)

Yiorgos Kaloudis
Aptera (for solo classical cretan lyra)

Irini Tsirakidis, mezzo-soprano
Christina Panteli, piano
Yiorgos Kaloudis, classical cretan lyra, cello, arrangments

4/4, Lecture at the Kharkiv I.P. Kotlyarevsky National University of Arts
13:00-14:00 “Classical Cretan Lyra”, with Yiorgos Kaloudis