WE ARE LIVING IN AN AGE OF PENURY. Incredible penury, both spiritual and otherwise. What we once knew and loved, what nurtured us, shaped us, and was once taken for granted has now completely vanished. It has been flattened, demolished, and nothing remains to remind us of the significant events that once occurred in this place. With the end of the first post-war generation, things and qualities began to be forgotten automatically. One by one, as these individuals left us, they left behind an irreplaceable void, resulting in a lack of genuine intellectual leadership today. Memory has been lost, erased... Those of us who were fortunate enough to know some of these significant individuals, to walk beside them, to speak with them, even to collaborate with them, those of us who are still fortunate to survive, I believe we have a duty, in any way possible, to try to keep this memory alive. I was one of the lucky ones who met, conversed with, and collaborated with some of the greats of the post-war Greek scene, and I feel it is my obligation to speak about some of them. Specifically, about four people who marked their era: the painter and set designer YIANIS TSAROUHIS, the composer MANOS HATZIDAKIS, the actress MAIRI ARONI, and the painter and set designer NIKOS GEORGIAKIS. I present my experience from my encounters with them, as a tribute to qualities that have been lost – I hope not irretrievably.

BIOGRAPHICAL DETAILS

VASILIS NIKOLAIDIS was born in Athens. He studied archaeology at the University of Athens and theater studies at the Sorbonne, focusing on opera directing. In 1982, his book "Maria Callas: The Transformations of an Art" was published, which was reissued in 1995. In 1985, he began to direct primarily musical works. Since 1991, he has been collaborating with the National Opera, since 1993 with the Athens Concert Hall, since 1995 with the Regional Theaters, since 2000 with the National Theater, and since 2004 with the State Theater of Northern Greece. In 2016, he collaborated for the first time with the Cyprus Theatre Organization. To date, he has directed about eighty-five works of all kinds, from one-act plays to grand operas. In 1998, his production "The Fate of Maroula and Barbalinardos" by Koromilas and Kokkos (Regional Theater of Kozani) was honored with the Critics' Award. In 2000, he received the "Karolos Koun" Directing Award for Aristophanes' "Peace" (National Theater, Epidaurus). From October 2007 to September 2014, he served as the artistic director of the Agrinio Regional Theater. From 1984 to 2006, he worked as a producer of music programs on the Third Program of ERT. He also worked as a music producer on ERT2 and at Athens 9.84. Since 1988, he began directing for radio. He was a member of the Board of Directors of the Hellenic National Opera (1994) and of the Aetopouleio Cultural Center of Chalandri, responsible for artistic programming. He was an assistant director under Jules Dassin for Chekhov's "The Seagull" (National Theater, 1988). He supervised the programs of the Colors Orchestra under Manos Hatzidakis during his direction. He has written dozens of musical and theatrical articles in magazines such as "Tetarto" (while M. Hatzidakis was directing), "Sound hifi," "Audiovisual," and "Diphon." He has supervised numerous record publications with archival material for the companies Seirios, Sony, Lyra, and the Aetopouleio Cultural Center. He has taught acting to young singers at the Athenaeum and Philippos Nakas conservatories. Today, he teaches acting at the Tranga Dramatic School.