Christoforos Papakaliatis’s long-awaited series “Maestro” arrives in October. Shortly before the premiere, we step into the creator’s world, go behind the cameras and watch moments from the preparation of this major television production.
The story
Orestis travels to a small island during the pandemic to set up a music festival from scratch. Confronted with the island’s tight-knit community and all its ills, he finds himself entangled in an extreme love story that becomes the catalyst for all the social problems plaguing an entire group of people to come to the surface. They are all connected to one another and, in a way, complicit in what is to follow.
Among the leading cast we see: Haris Alexiou, Maria Kavogianni, Fanis Mouratidis, Marissa Triantafyllidou, Antinoos Albanis, Stefania Goulioti, Yannis Tsortekis, Klelia Andriolatou, Orestis Chalkias, Giorgos Benos, Dimitris Kitsos, Sandra Sarafanova, Tonia Maraki and Giorgos Biniaris.
Before the story begins to unfold, let us meet the characters of the series:
Orestis (Christoforos Papakaliatis): Orestis is a musician who has not achieved great things through his art. He accepts an invitation to organise the music festival on the small Ionian island and moves there straight after lockdown, out of a need to escape his life in Athens. His aim is to bring music back to the island and, through it, to make his own life, and the lives of the islanders, a little better. After all, for Orestis music is the answer to every dead end. On Paxos he will discover all the beauty and the people of a magical place, people who nonetheless hide quite a few dark secrets. He tries to keep his distance and not become emotionally involved with the islanders, but it is very hard. Meeting Klelia frightens him; he will try to stay away from her, he will struggle and resist what he comes to feel for her. Because the age difference is a hard reality, and Orestis knows it. Music brings them together, but reality keeps them apart.
Klelia (Klelia Andriolatou): Klelia is 19 and preparing to sit her exams at the Conservatory. She has grown up on Paxos, and her passion for the piano and for music is the only thing that gives her the strength to keep going. She is rather different from other young people her age, as she does not want to lose her romanticism. She is beautiful, strong, clever and determined to succeed in life. Meeting Orestis awakens in her a first true love and the will to fight for it.
Antonis (Orestis Chalkias): Klelia’s younger brother. He has humour, a self-deprecating streak, a talent for singing, an amazing voice and a zest for life. Antonis, like his sister, is different from his peers. He is at odds with his parents and has come to realise that everyone around him is pretending. For him, the festival and Orestis’s arrival are an escape from his problems.
Sofia (Marissa Triantafyllidou): The mother of Klelia and Antonis. She is sweet, gracious, cultured and hospitable. Deep down, however, she is trapped in a situation she does not know how to escape. She covers for Fanis out of necessity; there is an unspoken agreement between them. She tries to be a good mother, without always succeeding. For the sake of her family she sacrificed a great love, which she has still not got over.
Fanis (Fanis Mouratidis): Sofia’s husband and the father of Klelia and Antonis. He is running for mayor and everyone on the island holds him in high esteem. He looks after the good of his home place and is the one who brought Orestis to the island. He is likeable, good-natured, successful, clever and a natural communicator. But all this is for the sake of “appearances”. Fanis hides secrets that no one knows, except Sofia, with whom he now keeps up a marriage in name only. He dotes on his daughter and is in open conflict with his son.
Haris (Haris Alexiou): Sofia’s mother. She is the quiet strength of the household and the one who knows everything about the whole family. She is a free spirit, with a sense of humour and a quick wit. She clashes with her daughter, Sofia, and dotes on her grandchildren. Haris had a talent for singing but never managed to become a singer. She stayed on the island, leaving her dreams behind, and does not want Klelia to make the same mistake. The festival and Orestis affect her, opening a new door for her.
Charalambos (Yannis Tsortekis): Maria’s husband and Spyros’s father. He is uneducated and very harsh. When he drinks he becomes violent and abusive towards his wife and son. Charalambos is the kind of man who can go to extremes, as he believes that violence is the only way to impose himself. He does not like music and does not want his son or his wife to have anything to do with the festival or with Orestis.
Maria (Maria Kavogianni): She runs a taverna on the island and is loved by everyone. She is always sweet, good-natured, with a sense of humour and a zest for life. At the same time, though, she is a woman afraid to tell the community how much she is suffering, as she cannot escape her abusive husband. Orestis’s arrival and her involvement in the festival will give her strength and a different perspective on things. She wants to rebuild her life and, above all, she wants her son, Spyros, to be happy. But she knows that as long as she stays with Charalambos, this is impossible.
Spyros (Giorgos Benos): The son of Maria and Charalambos. He is oppressed and trapped in the model of the “tough” young man within the island’s small community. He wants to go to university but does not dare tell his father, with whom he has a very bad relationship. By contrast, he adores his mother and would do anything to protect her, especially from the constant rows with his father.
Michalis (Antinoos Albanis): The island’s doctor. Michalis came to do his rural service but stayed on. He is quiet and detached, despite knowing everything about everyone. The reason he never left the island was his love for Sofia. Their relationship, however, ended ingloriously because of her marriage, and now they try to be just friends.
Thanos (Dimitris Kitsos): A medical student. On the surface he is a nice young man, and Fanis considers him the ideal partner for his daughter. He is in love with Klelia, yet is unaware that she does not feel the same way.
