“Fin de partie” comes to Germany

“Anyone who has ever experienced his delicately intricate music knows what it means to reduce music to its essential essence. It is no coincidence that Kurtág carried the idea of creating an opera about Samuel Beckett's play 'Fin de partie' ('Endgame') for decades until it came to fruition." (Hamburger Abendblatt)

It was only in 2018, around 60 years after Kurtág saw the play in Paris, that his opera of the same name premiered at the Scala in Milan. Markus Stenz previously worked closely with him in Budapest, and directed the premiere as well as the first performances in Amsterdam, Valencia and Paris.

Kurtág‘s opera is now coming to Germany in a semi-staged version: the German premiere will take place on the 14th of October 2023 in the Elbphilharmonie Hamburg, followed by another performance at the Cologne Philharmonic on the 15th October 2023. Shortly before that, on the 12th of October 2023, the Hungarian premiere will open in Müpa, Budapest.

In both the Cologne Philharmonic magazine and concerti, Markus Stenz spoke about his experience of working with Kurtág, the psychology of the characters, and the extent to which chess plays a role.