Music

Pytheas Travels | Hypercomf & Maja S. K. Ratkje with Ergon Ensemble

Dates

Tickets

5 — 24 €

Venue

Athens, Onassis Stegi

Time & Date

Day
Time
Venue
Day
Friday - Sunday
Time
20:30
Venue
Main Stage

Tickets

Type
Price
Full price
24 €
Reduced, Friend & Groups 5-9 people
19 €
Groups 10+ people
17 €
Neighborhood residents
7 €
Unemployed, People with disabilities
5 €
Companions
10 €

Onassis Stegi Friends presale: from Thursday, 21 September 2023, 17:00

General presale: from Friday, 22 September, 17:00

Introduction

Four musicians, a video with landscapes of Tinos and Northern Norway, a party on board, and AI developers meeting in the belly of a whale. A surrealistic cruise from the Mediterranean to the northern countries, with the journey of Pytheas the Greek—the unassailable explorer of antiquity—in its very center.

Performance photos

Image1/4
Photo: Andreas Simopoulos

Do you find it hard to float through life? Do you feel tangled in the nets of your daily routine and seek escape? Embark on one of the state-of-the-art vessels of Pytheas Travels cruise fleet and become part of the most oceanic experience of your life. A musical cruise with four musicians of the Ergon Ensemble as passengers and a video screening as a backdrop: a compilation of animation, live shootings on board and in various locations in Tinos and Northern Norway, as well as green screen footage, all inspired by the sea element. The immersive experience of “Pytheas Travels” includes furthermore many surrealistic touches that involve opulent parties, a great wildfire, as well as AI developers that meet in the belly of the whale. Shall we hop on board?

The title of the performance refers to the historical journey of Pytheas the Greek—the Columbus of antiquity—where in 325 BC sailed north from Marseilles to a place he called Ultima Thule, the mythical island, to reach the “frozen seas.” Unable to extend the exploration of the mythical lands of Northern Europe, Pytheas returned to the Mediterranean to document his legendary journey in a manuscript titled “On the Ocean” which vanished forever in the great fire of the Library of Alexandria.

“Pytheas Travels” is a staged audiovisual simulation of the experience of being on board a passenger vessel, traveling from the Mediterranean to the Northern Seas. It is a maritime story, an imaginary journey, and a critical insight into the mass tourism industry and its consequences on environmental, cultural, and societal structures.

The music score is courtesy of pioneering Norwegian composer and performer Maja Solveig Kjelstrup Ratkje, for whom in 2015 the Financial Times noted that “she brings a feral disregard for conventional form, combined with an extravagant imagination, linking it all to a fascination with the human voice and its communicative possibilities. Her works are dramatic, engaging, and wildly diverse.”

A maritime story, an imaginary journey, and a critical insight into the mass tourism industry and its consequences on environmental, cultural, and societal structures.

Credits

Created by
Hypercomf and Maja S. K. Ratkje
Art Direction & Film Direction
Hypercomf
Music Composition
Maja S. K. Ratkje
Greek Performing Ensemble
Ergon Ensemble: Manos Ventouras (French horn), Andreas-Rolandos Theodorou (bass trombone), Konstantinos Panagiotidis (violin), Dimitris Travlos (cello)
Norwegian Performing
Ensemble
Tøyen Fil og Klafferi: Hanne Jones Rekdal (flute/bassoon), Elena Perales Andreu (bass clarinet), Eira Bjørnstad Foss (violin), Marianne Baudouin Lie (cello), Tove Margrethe Erikstad (cello/onstage Oslo)
Other Musicians in Recording
Amund Sjølie Sveen, Craig Snowden, Richard Burrows
Speakerphone Narrator Voice
Guri Glans
Norwegian Pytheas Narrator Voice (Norwegian version)
Torbjørn Davidsen
Greek Pytheas Narrator Voice (Greek version)
Kostas Berikopoulos
Musicians’ Recording, Athens
Jacopo Fokas at Antart Studios
Greek Narrator Recording Studio, Athens
Bounce Music Productions / Nasos Stergiou
.
.
Animation, Modelmaking &
VFX by
Out . There
Animation Direction
Fokion Xenos
VFX Direction & Production Design
Stefanos Pletsis
Lead VFX Art & Modelmaking
Christos Panagiotou
VFX Assistance
Yiannis Rallis
.
.
Shrimp Puppetmaking
Stathis Markopoulos
Art Department Assistance
Christos Fousekis, Nikos Mpourloukas & Dimitra Chasiaki
.
.
Director of Photography
Alexandros Tiniakos
Colorist
Dimitris Karteris
Make-up
Sissi Petropoulou
Model
Iasonas Laios
Live Sound, Video & Light Synchronization
Trond Kjelsås
.
.
Stage Design Credits
.
Light Design
Eliza Alexandropoulou
Costume Design
Lita Kokkonari
.
.
Onassis Stegi Credits
.
Senior Consultant
Christos Carras
Transmissions Program general coordination
Theodora Vougiouka, Vera Petmeza
Head of Productions
Vassilis Panagiotakopoulos
Producer
Despoina Sifniadou
“Pytheas Travels” is a co-production of Onassis Stegi and Ultima Oslo Contemporary Music Festival (Norway), in the framework of the TRANSMISSIONS project, funded by the EEA Grants and the Norwegian Financial Mechanisms 2014-2021.
Sponsors/Partners
Within the framework
With the support