Fin de partie | |
---|---|
Opera by György Kurtág | |
Librettist | György Kurtág |
Based on |
Endgame by Samuel Beckett |
Premiere | 15 November 2018
La Scala, Milan |
Fin de partie is a one-act opera by György Kurtág, set to a French-language libretto adapted by the composer from the play Endgame (French title: Fin de partie) by Samuel Beckett, with the inclusion of a setting of Beckett's English-language poem " Roundelay" at the start of the opera. [1] Kurtág fully titled this work, his first opera, [2] Samuel Beckett: Fin de partie: scènes et monologues, opéra en un acte. Kurtág dedicated the opera to the memory of "mon professeur Ferenc Farkas and of mon ami Tamás Blum ": qui, dans ma jeunesse, m'ont appri (sic) l'essentiel sur l'opéra [who, in my youth, taught me the essentials of opera].
The Teatro alla Scala, Milan, commissioned the opera, and staged the premiere on 15 November 2018. [1] [2] [3] The director of the premiere production was Pierre Audi, with set and costume designs by Christof Hetzer , and lighting design by Urs Schönebaum. The premiere production was a joint production between La Scala and Dutch National Opera (DNO), Amsterdam. The DNO staged the opera in March 2019. [4] The production travelled to Paris in April–May 2022.
On the recommendation of György Ligeti, [5] Kurtág had seen a production of Beckett's play in Paris in 1957. [2] This experience greatly affected Kurtág, which he described to the American music critic Jeremy Eichler as "one of the strongest experiences of my life". [5] For his opera, Kurtág condensed the play, retaining around 60% of the French text. [1] He has acknowledged his studies of the operas of Claudio Monteverdi as inspiration for his own opera. [6]
The original commission for the work arrived in 2010 from La Scala. Kurtág initially wished there to be no contract and no commission fee. [6] The Ernst von Siemens Music Foundation provided financial support for the commission. Kurtág spent eight years on the composition of the opera, with assistance from his wife Márta. [6] Kurtág did not attend the world premiere performance because his frail health rendered him unable to travel from Budapest to Milan. [1] [2]
Role | Voice type | Premiere cast, 15 November 2018 Conductor: Markus Stenz |
---|---|---|
Hamm | bass-baritone | Frode Olsen |
Clov, Hamm's servant | baritone | Leigh Melrose |
Nell, Hamm's mother | contralto | Hilary Summers |
Nagg, Hamm's father | tenor buffo | Leonardo Cortellazzi |
The setting is a house by the sea, where four people reside:
The tensions between the four characters exasperate each of them:
All four wait for an end to the inertia and claustrophobia of their situation.
Both Andrew Clements [1] and Fiona Maddocks [2] of The Guardian awarded Fin de partie a full five stars. Alex Ross wrote in The New Yorker that "it seems the equal of the celebrated text on which it is based. Beckett has been waiting for Kurtág all this time." [5] The opera later ranked fourth in a poll by The Guardian of the greatest 21st century works of classical music. [7]
Fin de partie | |
---|---|
Opera by György Kurtág | |
Librettist | György Kurtág |
Based on |
Endgame by Samuel Beckett |
Premiere | 15 November 2018
La Scala, Milan |
Fin de partie is a one-act opera by György Kurtág, set to a French-language libretto adapted by the composer from the play Endgame (French title: Fin de partie) by Samuel Beckett, with the inclusion of a setting of Beckett's English-language poem " Roundelay" at the start of the opera. [1] Kurtág fully titled this work, his first opera, [2] Samuel Beckett: Fin de partie: scènes et monologues, opéra en un acte. Kurtág dedicated the opera to the memory of "mon professeur Ferenc Farkas and of mon ami Tamás Blum ": qui, dans ma jeunesse, m'ont appri (sic) l'essentiel sur l'opéra [who, in my youth, taught me the essentials of opera].
The Teatro alla Scala, Milan, commissioned the opera, and staged the premiere on 15 November 2018. [1] [2] [3] The director of the premiere production was Pierre Audi, with set and costume designs by Christof Hetzer , and lighting design by Urs Schönebaum. The premiere production was a joint production between La Scala and Dutch National Opera (DNO), Amsterdam. The DNO staged the opera in March 2019. [4] The production travelled to Paris in April–May 2022.
On the recommendation of György Ligeti, [5] Kurtág had seen a production of Beckett's play in Paris in 1957. [2] This experience greatly affected Kurtág, which he described to the American music critic Jeremy Eichler as "one of the strongest experiences of my life". [5] For his opera, Kurtág condensed the play, retaining around 60% of the French text. [1] He has acknowledged his studies of the operas of Claudio Monteverdi as inspiration for his own opera. [6]
The original commission for the work arrived in 2010 from La Scala. Kurtág initially wished there to be no contract and no commission fee. [6] The Ernst von Siemens Music Foundation provided financial support for the commission. Kurtág spent eight years on the composition of the opera, with assistance from his wife Márta. [6] Kurtág did not attend the world premiere performance because his frail health rendered him unable to travel from Budapest to Milan. [1] [2]
Role | Voice type | Premiere cast, 15 November 2018 Conductor: Markus Stenz |
---|---|---|
Hamm | bass-baritone | Frode Olsen |
Clov, Hamm's servant | baritone | Leigh Melrose |
Nell, Hamm's mother | contralto | Hilary Summers |
Nagg, Hamm's father | tenor buffo | Leonardo Cortellazzi |
The setting is a house by the sea, where four people reside:
The tensions between the four characters exasperate each of them:
All four wait for an end to the inertia and claustrophobia of their situation.
Both Andrew Clements [1] and Fiona Maddocks [2] of The Guardian awarded Fin de partie a full five stars. Alex Ross wrote in The New Yorker that "it seems the equal of the celebrated text on which it is based. Beckett has been waiting for Kurtág all this time." [5] The opera later ranked fourth in a poll by The Guardian of the greatest 21st century works of classical music. [7]