Programme of the Concert
Statement by H.E. Sheikha Haya Rashed Al Khalifa the President of the United Nations General Assembly at the United Nations Day concert
Mr. Secretary-General,
Excellency Minister of State of Greece,
Excellencies,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
I am honored to be here at this concert commemorating United Nations Day.
Sixty-one years ago, on 24 October 1945, the United Nations Charter came into force. World leaders rose to the challenges of their time, demonstrating by their actions that peace, security and prosperity are indivisible. And, for their benefits to be sustained, they need to be shared by all.
Today is a day of celebration. It is also a day of pause and reflection.
Today, we call on the United Nations to continue its mission to promote peace and security, eradicate poverty and remain a beacon of hope for millions around the world.
Today, let us also honor the tireless dedication and sacrifice of all those who have served to further the ideals of the United Nations family.
Let this be a day to reflect upon the true purpose and founding values of the United Nations.
Let this also be a day to celebrate the power of music in transcending all economic, social, and religious barriers; building bridges of love, peace and understanding among peoples of the world.
It is fitting that we celebrate in the company of the National Symphonic Orchestra of Greece and hear the words and music of renowned poets and composers. Over the millennia, Greek philosophy, literature and poetry have inspired the ideals of democracy, tolerance, and freedom of expression. I would like to pay particular tribute to the Government of Greece and the Alexander S. Onassis Public Benefit Foundation for graciously sponsoring this event.
As we enjoy the performance tonight, let us, once again be reminded of the purpose, dreams and ideals that inspired the founders of the United Nations.
Thank you.
Statement by Minister of State Theodore Rousopoulos
Madame President of the General Assembly.
Mr. Secretary General and Ms. Annan,
Excellencies,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
This year's United Nations' Day celebration has a special symbolism. That is because it coincides with the conclusion of the term in office of the Secretary General, Mr. Kofi Anan, a true "citizen of the world" who has honored with his personality and work the institution of the United Nations.
Mr. Secretary General,
On behalf of my country, I would like to take the opportunity to thank you, once more, for your contribution to the continuous effort for peace, security and prosperity in the world.
I would also like to acknowledge the valuable contribution of the Alexander S. Onassis Public Benefit Foundation and the National Broadcasting Corporation in bringing this concert to life.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
Music and poetry is a universal language. Culture is the most effective instrument to our joint effort in comprehending that despite our differences in nationality and ethnicity, in language and religion - we are all connected in a community of fundamental principles, upon which we can build a better future.
Today the great challenge we face is of engaging in an open and sincere dialogue among cultures, of building a capital of trust among our nations.
This is a sine qua non prerequisite for addressing global problems - such as insecurity, poverty and hunger, the degradation of the natural environment, epidemics - all those issues for which the UN was originally founded sixty one years ago.
Greece honors the United Nations' Day with a concert of poems set to music, by three of our most distinguished modern poets - Konstantinos Kavafis, Giorgos Seferis, Odysseas Elytis. We made this choice believing that these works are at the same time Greek and universal.
Kavafis, Saferis and Elytis write of desire and justice. The idea of Man is the cornerstone of their work. When Elytis prays "intelligible sun of justice [ ... ] I employ you, do not forget my country", he does not speak only of Greece. He speaks for every man and every woman, in every corner of the world who suffer injustice and lack of freedom.
The poetic concept that what a specific people in a corner of the world need and desire, fear and dream of, is, at the same time, a concern of each one of us individually and of humanity as a whole, it is the core concept of the idea of humanism. The idea that human dignity is the outmost value. The Greek word for universe - the word "cosmos" - originally means "ornament". In Greek thought, the universe is thought as an ornament when ruled by harmony; harmony between men and society, between society and the natural world.
Sixty one years since its founding, the UN is still our best hope that harmony and justice which transforms the world into "cosmos", will shine upon mankind. That is an effort and a commitment in which we ought to respond united.
Thank you.
Remarks byMr. Shashi Tharoor, United Nations Under-Secretary-General for Communications and Public Information, at the UN Day Concert held onWednesday 25 October 2006 at UN Headquarters
Excellencies,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
Good evening. I am Shashi Tharoor, the United Nations’
Under-Secretary-General for Communications and Public Information, and it is my very pleasant duty to bid you welcome to the United Nations this evening. And for those of you who are visiting us for the first time, or watching this concert on television in Greece, a very warm welcome indeed!
Yesterday, 24 October, was the sixty-first anniversary of the founding of the United Nations in 1945. Every year, on or around 24 October, we gather, as we are doing today, to remember and pay homage to the ideals and aspirations that, thanks to the UN Charter, now form part of the shared heritage of humanity.
Indeed, the UN plays host to people of every culture and from every country in the world, and if you visit us often you will hear many languages spoken in this building. There are six official languages at the UN, but there is a seventh that has become the traditional language of UN Day. It is, of course, the language of music.
Our thanks for the music we will hear this evening are due to the Government and people of Greece, and to the Alexander S. Onassis Public Benefit Foundation, who have brought the National Symphony Orchestra of ERT, conductors and soloists here to perform for us.
Efxaristoume para pouli.
Plato once described music “as a moral law” that “gives soul to the universe, wings to the mind, flight to the imagination, and charm and gaiety to life and to everything.” And so it is entirely appropriate that the country that gave birth to Plato is the sponsor of the UN Day concert this year -- and that too on the 61st anniversary of its admission to the UN on 25 October 1945.
Sadly, we know very little of the music of ancient Greece. But we do now that music has played a very important part in the lives of the Greek people since time immemorial, and that it was closely linked with poetry. Both the Iliad and the Odyssey make mention of vintners' songs, dirges, and hymns of praise to Apollo.
Very little of that music – only fragments – has survived, but no-one who has spent even a brief time in Greece, or with Greek people anywhere around the world, could imagine that the place that music holds in the hearts of Greeks has also vanished.
And for those of you who have not had even that opportunity, tonight will prove beyond doubt that Greece has lost nothing of its genius for writing and performing beautiful music, and that the link between poetry and music is as strong today as it was in the days of Aristotle and Aeschylus.
Tonight, the National Symphony Orchestra of ERT will present the poetry of Georges Seferis, winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1963, Odysseus Elytis, winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1979 and Constantine Cavafy, set to music by five renowned Greek composers;
Dimitris Laghios,
Dimitris Papadimitriou,
Manos Hadjidakis,
Mikis Theodorakis,
and Spyridon Samaras.
This evening’s programme will be in three parts.
In the first, we will hear from the internationally renowned tenor Rolando Villazón, who will be accompanied on the piano by Jonathan Kelly.
In the second part, the Hellenic Broadcasting Corporation National Symphony Orchestra, under the baton of maestro Andreas Pylarinos, will be joined by three soloists from Greece:
Foteini Darras,
Tasos Apostolou,
and Andreas Smyrnakis.
Maestro Pylarinos is currently the conductor of the Contemporary Symphony Orchestra of Greek Radio and Television. He has conducted many of the Greek symphony orchestras, as well as orchestras in Austria, England, Germany, Italy and the United States.
The third part of our programme will see the return of our tenor Rolando Villazón, who will rejoin the orchestra, now under the baton of Maestro Stephen White.
Maestro White is the General and Artistic Director of Opera Roanoke, and has previously conducted the New York City Opera, the Baltimore Opera and the Opera Colorado.
And now, please join me in welcoming Rolando Villazón and Jonathan Kelly . . .
Remarks by Mr. Shashi Tharoor, United Nations Under-Secretary-General for Communications and Public Information, at the UN Day Concert Receptionon Wednesday 25 October 2006 at UN Headquarters
Excellencies,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
I realize that to talk about a “tradition” in the presence of a people with as long and glorious a history as the Greeks is a dangerous thing, but I will take the risk. It has – at least in UN terms -- long been a tradition that around the time of United Nations Day each year, one of our Member States hosts a concert at UN headquarters.
You will recall my quoting Plato before the concert began. The music that filled our halls this evening has proven – far better than any Socratic dialogue could have – the truth of Plato’s words.
Once again, allow me to offer, on behalf of the United Nations, our profound thanks to the people and the Government of Greece for injecting a little extra charm and gaiety into our lives.
Because UN day this year coincided with Eid Al-Fitr, it was decided that our concert should took place, not on UN day itself – the 24th of October -- but on the 25th. I thought this was merely a coincidence, until I realized that it was on the 25th of October in 1945, sixty-one years ago today, that Greece joined the UN.
The contribution that ancient Greece has made to poetry, to architecture, to history and to philosophy is certainly known the world over. But I have no doubt that after our experience this evening in the General Assembly Hall, the music of modern Greece will have a whole world of new fans.
Our thanks are also due to the Alexander S. Onassis Public Benefit Foundation, and to its President, Anthony S. Papadimitrou, for bringing the National Symphony Orchestra of ERT, two
world-renowned conductors and a bevy of fine soloists here to
New York to perform for us.
Efxaristoume para pouli.
And now, I would like to invite the President of the Onassis Foundation, Anthony S. Papadimitrou, to say a few words.
Mr. Papadimitrou …
Thank you.
Greek Music and Poetry to Delight Listeners on the Occasion of the United Nations Day, to be Celebrated on 25 October
A concert by the National Symphony Orchestra of Greece will mark this year's celebration of United Nations Day on Wednesday, 25 October 2006, at 7 p.m., in the General Assembly Hall. Since 24 October is Eid Al-Fitr, an official holiday, the concert is being organized the following day. United Nations Day marks the anniversary of the entry into force of the United Nations Charter on 24 October 1945.
The concert is sponsored by the Government of Greece and the Alexander S. Onassis Public Benefit Foundation. The 62-member National Symphony Orchestra will present the poetry of Odysseus Elytis (Nobel Literature Laureate, 1979), Georges Seferis (Nobel Literature Laureate, 1963) and C. P. Cavafy, set to music by composers Manos Hadjidakis, Mikis Theodorakis, Spyros Samaras, Dimitris Laghios and Dimitris Papadimitriou.
The National Symphony Orchestra, since its establishment in 1938, has presented music by Greek and foreign composers in Athenian concert halls, radio and television broadcasts, as well as in cities such as Alexandria, Belgrade, Cairo, Cologne, Istanbul, Montreal and Paris.
The concert will be conducted by Steven White and Andreas Pylarinos, who is the conductor of the Contemporary Symphony Orchestra of the Greek Radio and Television. Mr. Pylarinos has also conducted major Greek symphony orchestras as well as orchestras in Austria, England, Germany, Italy and the United States. The internationally renowned tenor, Rolando Villazón, who will be accompanied on piano by Jonathan Kelly and perform as a soloist with the National Symphony Orchestra, has sung with the world's leading operas; including the Bayerische Staatsoper, in Munich; the Metropolitan Opera, in New York and the Royal, in London. He will be joined by three soloists from Greece; Foteini Darras; Tasos Apostolou and Andreas Smyrnakis.
In addition to the concert, an exhibition entitled “In Praise of the Olive”, emphasizing the mythology and history of the olive in the Mediterranean region and in Greek culture, is on display until 25 October 2006 in the North East Gallery of the General Assembly Visitors' Lobby. The exhibit explores the subject of the olive tree and its fruit at length, covering its role in daily life, habits, customs, social and economic relations, as well as its contribution as an inspiration in various forms of art and as an international symbol of peace.
Tickets to the concert will be made available to United Nations staff members through the Staff Union. United Nations accredited correspondents can obtain tickets through the Media Accreditation and Liaison Unit in Room S-0250A. For further information on the concert, please contact Nancy Thio at specialprojects2@un.org.