For the opening of the 2023-2024 season, the Athens State Orchestra welcomes to the podium an old friend: the outstanding Matthias Foremny, the German conductor who has been a leading light on the classical musical scene for many years and regularly conducts leading European orchestras. Two symphonic suites, one from Kurt Weill’s famous Mahagony and the other from Ravel’s fascinating impressionist ballet Daphnis et Chloé, reveal the unmatched musical riches of the first half of the 20th century. The two demanding piano concertos to be performed by Andrei Gavrilov, one of the most eminent representatives of the Russian piano school, also belong to the same period.