Theodorakis, Mikis: Rhapsodie

At the request of the Berlin Comic Opera Theodorakis wrote the song cycle „Romancero Gitano“ based on a poem by Federico Garcia Lorca in a translation by Odysseus Elytis. The original work is for symphony orchestra, mixed choir, mezzo-soprano and solo guitar and was premiered in 1983 in Berlin by the orchestra of the ‘Komische Oper’, the singer Maria Farandouri and the guitarist Kostas Kotsiolis. In this version, written in 1995, the composer has omitted the mezzo-soprano and the choir, and has re-worked the orchestral part in order to add more weight to the guitar part. As a consequence, the work has become more idiomatic and easier to play.