Maestro in Blue

Maestro in Blue (also known as Maestro in Greece) is a Greek drama television series airing on Mega Channel in Greece and through Netflix worldwide. The series consists of three seasons with a total of 19 episodes.

Synopsis
Orestis, a troubled musician, travels to the Greek island of Paxos to direct a revival of the local music festival. There he meets Klelia, an ambitious 19-year-old woman who wants to study music in Athens. A murder takes place which will change the plans.

Main characters

 * Christoforos Papakaliatis (Orestis): A musician who accepts the invitation to organize a music festival on the small Ionian island and moves there immediately after the lockdown period.
 * Klelia Andriolatou (Klelia): Klelia is 19 years old and is preparing to take exams at the Music School. She grew up in Paxos and has a passion for piano and music. She is quite different from other children her age, as she does not want to lose her romance. Her acquaintance with Orestis awakens her first true love.
 * Orestis Chalkias (Antonis): Klelia's younger brother. Antonis, like his sister, is different from their peers and is at odds with his parents. For him the festival and the arrival of Orestis is an escape from his problems.
 * Marisha Triantafyllidou (Sophia): The mother of Klelia and Antonis and the wife of Fanis.
 * Fanis Mouratidis (Fanis): Husband of Sophia and father of Klelia and Antonis. He is a candidate for mayor and is the one who brought Orestis to the island. Fanis hides secrets that no one knows, except for Sofia.
 * Haris Alexiou (Haris): Sophia's mother. She is the calm power of the house and the one who knows everything about the whole family. She is at odds with her daughter, Sophia, and has a weakness for her grandchildren. Harris had a talent for singing, but she never got to sing. She stayed on the island leaving her dreams behind and wants Klelia not to make the same mistake.
 * Yannis Tsortekis (Charalampos): Husband of Maria and father of Spyros. When he drinks he becomes violent and abusive towards his wife and son. He doesn't like music and doesn't want his son and his wife to have anything to do with the festival or Orestis.
 * Maria Kavoyianni (Maria): She runs a tavern on the island and is the wife of Charalampos and mother of Spyros. She is a woman who is afraid to tell society how much she is suffering, as she cannot escape from her abusive husband. The arrival of Orestis and her involvement in the festival will give her strength and another perspective on things. Haris Alexiou 2080202.JPG singer and actress Haris Alexiou, who portrayed Sophia's mother in the series]]
 * Yorgos Benos (Spyros): Son of Maria and Charalambos. He is oppressed and trapped in the model of the "tough" young man in the small society of the island.
 * Antinoos Albanis (Michalis): The island doctor. The reason he never left the island was his love for Sophia. But their relationship ended ingloriously, because of her marriage, and now they try to be friends.
 * Dimitris Kitsos (Thanos): He is a medical student. Seemingly he is a good boy and Fanis considers him an ideal partner for his daughter. He is in love with Klelia, but he is unaware that she is not.
 * Stefania Goulioti (Alexandra): Orestis' wife.

Production
The series was written by Christoforos Papakaliatis and directed by him together with Akis Polizos. Casting for the series began in 2020 in Athens, while the overall production of the series lasted two years. Filming began in July 2021 and ended in February 2022, taking place in Paxos, Corfu and Athens. The filming of the second season is expected to begin in the spring of 2023.

The series was the second most expensive series per episode on the Mega Channel, with a budget of eligible expenses of €2,318,570, while each episode of the series cost €257,618. A few days before the official premiere of the series, a special screening of the first episode was organized for actors, contributors and journalists at the Benaki Museum.

Release
The series premiered on Greek television from Mega Channel under the title Maestro on 13 October 2022, and the first season ended on 15 December with nine episodes. In November, Papakaliatis announced that the series had been renewed for a second season.

On 11 November 2022, the global subscription platform Netflix acquired the rights to the series. It then became available on the platform on 17 March 2023 under the title Maestro in Blue, making it the first Greek television series to viewed from the platform.

Reception
Reviewing the series for the Greek audience Lifo's Alexandros Diakosavvas wrote "Maestro's achieves, already from its first 45 minutes, the sense of discomfort of the closed place, of the small Greek society, the impossibility of escape that foreshadows a violent outbreak." Vasiliki Geronikou of Athinorama mentions that "the script simultaneously approaches many difficult themes (love with a large age difference, homophobia, domestic violence, etc.), risking not finding the space they need to develop equally properly and in depth." Klelia Fatourou reviewing for Jenny.gr praised the aesthetics, the photography and the direction but called the series outdated, criticizing the age gap between the leads and the «pick me» mentality of the leading female character.

Following its release to Netflix on 17 March 2023, the show entered the global top 10 most-watch shows list.