After his big success with Monica Bellucci in Herodio, Tom Volf came again in Greece.
This time he had to present his book “María Callas: Letter & Memories”and a special projection for his movie María by Callas.
Le Soleil Foundation had the luck to organise at the Presidential suite of St. George Lycabettus hotel a special evening for Tom Volf- President of Callas Foundation in Paris, writer, film maker and producer of Maria Callas : Letters and memories and the movie María by Callas.
The President of Le Soleil Foundation Ms Ada Iliopoulou and the President of the foundation of Callas in Paris , Tom Volf organised a private dinner at the Presidential suite of St.George Lycabettus in Athens, Greece.
The famous writer signed his book “Maria Callas:letters and memories” by Ekdosis Papaki for 20 special guests.
The official presentation of the book by Ekdosis Pataki at Megaro Mousikis was the next day. But in this special night that Le Soleil Foundation organised the artist met important personalities and he sang his book especially for the many famous guests as the President of Marine Club , Irene Daifas, Katerina Panagopoulos -the national Ambassador of Greece to the Council of Europe on Sport, Tolerance and Fair Play , Irene Vassilopoulos, Tonia Vassilopoulos, Marilia Vazaiou, Mary Fix, Angie Margariti-Andrews, Andrea Psycharis , Domenica Daniel-Tsopelogiannis,Yiannis Amoryanos, Fotini Androulaki,Dorothea Mercuri,etc
Before the dinner there was a little surprise. The famous duet Duo violins had an outstanding performance with electrifying sound. Duo Violins that is a very hot duet in quality entertainment, they performed their own unique adaptations of rock, classic and modern repertoire and they can produce in demand music for special performances and private shows with custom repertoire.
Their musical journey is an amalgam of eclectic adaptations of ethnic, pop/rock, dance and cinematic soundscapes featuring alluring violin melodies.After their trips around the world, from Dubai to Paris and after their new video clip they came in St. George Lycabettus for this special moment!
The dinner :
La Divina dinner for Tom Volf was
by executive chef Vassilis Milios and the Italian wines by Fantinel, Winelife.gr and Sun Goddess by Mary J.Blige.
The Menu started with cocktails by Prosecco One &Only by Fantinel : Bellini, Casta Diva and Celeste Aϊda.
The names of the dishes were inspired by operas.
The welcome was Turandot, an Amuse Bouche (Chef’s choice)
The first course called Madame butterfly and it was a tender lobster with hollandaise sauce & asparagus sprouts.
The main course was Tosca, fresh Seabass with cream of aubergine, romane broccoli & masticha vinaigrette.
The awarded Italian wines Fantinel accompany the dinner: Borgo Tesis by Fantinel pino grigio ( white) and the awarded Sun Goddess by Mary J.Blige & Marco Fantinel. ( Pinot Grigio & Sauvignon Blanc )
The dessert was the favourite of Tom Volf, Rosa Ispahan, rose flavoured macaron filled with rose petal and lychee cream, embellished with fresh raspberries.
The Coffee came with a beautiful Migniardises called Carmen, a Rose garden’s memories with a real Rose.
The guests had an other surprise, a music box for the end , Tea Madame butterfly in music box by Mariage Frères.
Madame Butterfly is an opera in three acts (originally two) by Giacomo Puccini, with an Italian libretto by Luigi Illica and Giuseppe Giacosa. In this case we have some teas by Mariage Freres: Paris-Tokyo , the Deux Samourai, Madame Butterfly , kabuki. The 1955 Callas/Karajan EMI recording of Madama Butterfly is rightly regarded as one of the all-time classics. As the legendary Alan Blyth pointed out in his 1976 review of an LP reissue, it finds Callas at their "absolute peak of her vocal form" with taut, through-conceived support from Karajan "at every turn of the drama". However, Blyth also noted a number of technical short-comings: "recorded sound that is less than lustrous", a "confined" acoustic, "the occasional sound of studio movement" and "some momentary signs of overloading".To these we would add inconsistent tape speeds leading to drifting pitch, background rumble interspersed with accelerating traffic, and a general sense of a thin veil hanging over the sound.
The decor:
As you remember we had 300 red roses per day at the floor of Herodion Theatre for the performance of Monica Bellucci in Athens . So we would like to bring the powers of the red rose at the table for the private dinner at the Presidential suite of St. George Lycabettus hotel . The roses -especially the red ones- always are very classy and they give an elegant look that makes them a classic symbol for “I love you”. The meaning of red roses is universally understood to be love and passion. We would love to give this vibe for the guests as the life of Maria Callas was involved in a big love for Onassis.. The same time we really would like to remind the art and we made this installation with Antoinetta Koutsouradis because we wanted to bring a poetic mood and a reminder for the rose of “the phantom of the opera”, the “Beauty and the beast”, or “The Nightingale and the Rose” by Oscar Wilde. It’s a strong symbol of love and passion. Probably for this reason, it became a part of the original ”Phantom of the Opera” logo, with a white-gloved hand holding a red rose! And that was the reason for the migniardise that came as a heart of a real red Rose! As Shakespeare was saying at Sonnet 54 “The rose looks fair, but fairer we it deem for that sweet odour which doth in it live.’”
After the dinner the guests had also a present by famous designer Liana Vourakis a red lucky charm for true Love & happiness.