Opera

THE FALL OF THE HOUSE OF COMMONS

Orestis Papaioannou / Alekos Lountzis

70'

From 24/10/2025 to 24/06/2026

Description

The contemporary opera The Fall of the House of Commons, a futuristic and bold work about the mysterious co-existence of human and artificial intelligence, is coming to GNO TV. With music composed by Orestis Papaioannou, based on a concept and dramaturgy by Alekos Lountzis, and with a libretto penned by Alekos Lountzis and Orfeas Apergis, this work brought to life a fantasy world in the Alternative Stage of the Greek National Opera, a reality not far from our own, inspired by Edgar Allan Poe’s archetypal short story The Fall of the House of Usher, through the directorial perspective of Alexandros Eflkidis. The six-member instrumental ensemble will be conducted by Michalis Papapetrou.

A contemporary opera about the “broken ecosystem of postmodern cities”, as envisioned by its creators. The inner space of modern apartments increasingly reminds us of a reflection on a turned-off high-definition screen, where human and artificial intelligence coexist in a mysterious way. All the goods are home delivered, relationships are formed and break indoors, and fantasies sound like phone ringtones.

The funding body of the project is the Ministry of Culture, within the framework of the National Recovery and Resilience Plan "Greece 2.0" with funding from the European Union - NextGeneration EU.

The recording of the production took place at the Greek National Opera’s Alternative Stage at the Stavros Niarchos Foundation Cultural Center on May 8 and 10, 2025.

Creative team – Cast

Music: Orestis Papaioannou
Concept, dramaturgy: Alekos Lountzis
Libretto: Alekos Lountzis, Orfeas Apergis
Musical direction: Michalis Papapetrou
Stage direction: Alexandros Efklidis
Set, costumes: Giannis Katranitsas
Video designers: Marios Gampierakis, Chrysoula Korovesi
Lighting design, projection mapping: Christos Tziogkas

Erika_7: Chrissa Maliamani
He: Georgios Iatrou
Danae: Miranda Makrynioti
Debater: Alexios Zervanos

Kostas Tzekos clarinet, saxophone, Spyros Arkoudis trumpet, George Krimperis trombone, Haris Pazaroulas double bass, Kazuyo Tsunehiro percussion, Frixos Mortzos keyboard

Director's note

In this work, we focus on our relationship with the new age, our daily life in a new world, where people and machines co-exist and interact with one another. The House of Usher, in our version of the story, transforms into a common house. The house of ordinary people who lead predetermined lives inside identical apartments. A life of confinement and loneliness.