Musical Destinations
Claire Jackson heads for the sun in Molyvos, Greece
The distinctive dark sands on the northern coast of Lesbos are peppered with sun worshippers. A parasol sways in the breeze; children laugh in the shallows. An announcement calls over a tannoy across the village: the voice reveals that a ‘musical moment’ is about to take place. A group of young people hold aloft a banner, directing passers-by to the designated impromptu location.
A clarinettist and bassoonist appear on the beach, joined by strings and a horn player, and Adolphe Blanc’s septet fills the air. Some holiday makers look pleasantly confused but most join the quickly forming semi-circle around the musicians. Seeing orchestral instruments playing Wigmore Hall-level chamber music against azure waters is delightfully bizarre. The audience responds warmly and shopkeepers return to their former positions. These musical moments – known as ‘MMS’ – are part of the Molyvos International Music Festival (MIMF), dreamed up by co-founders Dimitris Tryfon and Danae and Kiveli Dörken.
‘We wanted to involve the whole village,’ explains Danae Dörken. ‘We try to keep
the cost of tickets for the main concerts as low as possible to ensure it is accessible, but we also wanted to provide street concerts free of charge.’ In addition to the beach, there are poolside performances at Delfinia, a former olive farm that has since been turned into a hotel, and outside shops on cobbled streets and by the harbour.
Although Lesbos has a particularly rich cultural life, performances of Western classical music are still rare. When Tryfon and the Dörken sisters first proposed the idea of an international festival, reactions were mixed. ‘To begin with, some people thought we were perhaps a little naïve: from the start we thought big, having the vision of youth,’ says Athens-based Tryfon, who met his co-founders during their annual summer visits; both have grandparents who were born on the island. Danae and Kiveli are both pianists and were seeking a piano and some support to put on a concert. Tryfon, an entrepreneur and keen amateur pianist himself, offered to loan them his, precipitating a long-term collaboration with MIMF as the result.
Although the event attracts significant local support, the goal is to develop a dedicated international audience and encourage visitors to Lesbos. Tryfon explains that ‘around 20 per cent of the audience is currently foreign; in future years we want this to be 60 per cent’. On top of Greece’s financial crisis, Lesbos has suffered a further decline in visitors since the refugee crisis of 2015. Thousands of asylum seekers propelled by wars in Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan found themselves in limbo on the island, unable to move toward the opportunities they had hoped to find in Europe and with the island struggling under the weight of the influx. While the camps remain, the peak of migratory movement has passed, and Lesbos is keen for its tourists to return.
In 2016 the MIMF expanded its reach to include pre-festival activities, organising events around Lesbos. ‘Last year [2018] we were even more ambitious; including locations that even people who live on the island had not visited,’ says Kivali. These included ancient sites like Thermi, built in 3,000 BC, and the Sanctuary of Napean Apollo in Klopedi, as well as the Metochi Study Centre and Museum-library Teriade. The atmosphere at all four prefestival concerts – free to attend, with a complimentary bus service provided, in collaboration with the local authorities – was thrilling. The majority of concerts at the festival itself are held at Molyvos Castle, a mighty Byzantine edifice overlooking the Aegean.
Kivali and Danea are careful curators. ‘We knew that we wanted themes [for the festival] that relate to the island,’ says Kivali. ‘The first was “Metamorphosis”. Then, in 2015 we had “Crossroads”, followed by “Catharsis” and “Genesis”, which represents recovery.’ The theme for the 2019 festival, which takes place from 16-19 August, is ‘Dia-logos’. Musicians will include the pianist Lars Vogt, violinist Christian Tetzlaff and clarinettist David Orlowsky, while repertoire ranges from Telemann and Brahms to klezmer.
As well as MIMF, there’s also August’s Arion International Guitar Festival, named after the first-known guitar player. Traditional Greek music also can be heard from the restaurants, often including the laouto, a stringed lute-like instrument. With high-quality performances on offer, Molyvos ticks a lot of the right boxes for the sun-seeking music lover.
The majority of festival concerts are held at the mighty Molyvos Castle
Further information:
www.molyvosfestival.com