LYCOS RETRIEVER 
Constantinople: New Rome
built 282 days ago
Constantinople is the ruffled, double form of the Chinese Sacred Lily. The colors, sweet fragrance and growth habits are similar, but the flower shape is remarkably full and ruffled. If you've grown fragrant tazettas before and are ready for a charming new twist, Constantinople is it! For those fortunate enough to garden in warm weather zones 8-10, these fluffy beauties are outstanding additions to outdoor flowerbeds. Deer and rodent proof.
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Constantinople was for centuries one of the most important cities in the world. When the decline of Rome, Constantinople took over as the leading city. It allowed for a fusion of several cultures, in customs, art and architecture. The coin of Constantinople, solidus, was the dominating monetary standard of its time.
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All Constantinople was missing that Rome had was scheming, plotting and toadying. For this, Constantine formed a brand new Senate to loyally recognise each new Emperor and then agree with him until he died or was overthrown. This immediately created a fresh re-invigoration of political debate as the senates of Rome and Constantinople argued over who was the most loyal and willing to betray its own members to the secret police.
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Constantinople features the Gryphon Trio and Middle Eastern vocalist Maryem Hassan Tollar and soprano Patricia O'Callaghan. Conceived by celebrated Canadian composer Christos Hatzis, the projected visuals and theatrical elements were created by a cutting-edge team of Canadian designers and visual artists. Produced by the Gryphon Trio in partnership with The Banff Centre, Music Toronto, Tapestry New Opera Works and Ex Machina, Constantinople recently completed a sold-out run of performances at Toronto 's Premiere Dance Theatre.
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AÂ visitor to Constantinople soon after its foundation would have been struck by the fact that there was no public sign of pagan worship. The gods of Greece and Rome were conspicuously absent. If he were a pagan, he might walk to the Acropolis and gaze sadly on the temples of Apollo, Artemis, and Aphrodite, in which the men of old Byzantium had sacrificed, and which Constantine had dismantled but allowed to stand as relics of the past.34 From its very inauguration the New Rome was ostensibly and officially Christian.35 Nor did the statue of the founder, as a sun-god, compromise his Christian intention. In the centre of the oval Forum, which he laid out on the Second Hill just outside the wall of the old Byzantium, he erected a high column with porphyry drums, on the top of which he placed a statue of Apollo, the work of an old Greek master, but the head of the god was replaced by his own. It was crowned with a halo of seven rays, and looked towards the rising sun.36 The column, blackened by time and fire, and injured by earthquakes, still stands,37 the one monument of the founder which has survived. Within the pedestal beneath Constantine is said to have placed the Palladium of Rome and several Christian relics.
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Constantinople was premiered in July 2004 at the Banff Festival of the Arts, produced by the Gryphon Trio in partnership with The Banff Centre, Music Toronto and Tapestry New Opera Works with additional production assistance from Ex Machina. Following a sold-out run in Toronto and the US premiere at the International Festival of Arts and Ideas in 2005, the work will be seen at the Montreal Highlights Festival at Théâtre Outremont on February 28, March 2 & 3. Later in the month, Constantinople makes its European premiere at London’s Royal Opera House, then returns to Toronto’s Luminato Festival in June.
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