Ligeti: Le Grand Macabre: ENO UK premiere

[MDL]

I'm not sure if this has been posted elsewhere. I'm a tad tired and, ahem, not entirely focused, it being late on a Friday night after a few post-work drinkies, but I found out today that Ligeti's Le Grand Macabre is getting its first proper staging in the UK, at the ENO. Covent Garden dumped this piece a few years ago in favour of some dull-but-it-plays-to-the-bankers operatic yawn when last-minute technical hitches buggered up their reopening. So kudos to the ENO.

Dates:



September 17 | September 22 | September 25 |

October 01 | October 03 | October 09 |

[CRCulver]

Who is the producer? I remember that Ligeti was furious at Peter Sellar's treatment of the opera a decade ago.

[MDL]

Who is the producer? I remember that Ligeti was furious at Peter Sellar's treatment of the opera a decade ago.

Didn't Ligeti have a history of losing his rag with people? I have a vague, and possibly phantom, memory that the Sony Ligeti Edition was rudely terminated after the composer slagged off some of Salonen's orchestral recordings. Teldec bravely stepped in to finish off the series. Anyway, a cut 'n' paste job from the ENO website. Crikey, I hope it isn't shite.


La Fura dels Baus, the Catalan 'total theatre' company that famously created the opening ceremony for the 1992 Barcelona Olympics, makes its ENO debut with a production of the darkly comical masterpiece of the late György Ligeti. With its outrageous cross-gender casting and wildly virtuosic (often erotic) vocal writing, Le Grand Macabre is a crazy surrealist farce set in a fantasy world, that laughs in the face of death and points the moral: eat, drink and make love, for who knows when the world might end. ENO gave the work's UK premiere in 1982 and now proudly presents the composer's 1996 revision with an international cast conducted by the Company's Olivier Award-winning Music Director, Edward Gardner.

Sep 17 • 22 • 25 & Oct 1 • 9 at 7.30pm | Oct 3 at 6.30pm

6 performances. Running time: 2hrs 15mins

New production supported by the 20 / 20 Group

A co-production with La Monnaie Brussels, Gran Teatro del Liceu Barcelona and Teatro dell' Opera di Roma

Pre-performance talk by Richard Steinitz: Sep 22, 5.30pm, London Coliseum, £4

Venus/Geppo Susanna Andersson; Mescalina Susan Bickley; Prince Go-Go Andrew Watts; Piet the Pot Wolfgang Ablinger-Sperrhacke; Nekrotzar Pavlo Hunka; Astradamors Frode Olsen

Conductor Edward Gardner; Directors Alex Ollé and Valentina Carrasco; Set Designer Alfons Flores; Video Designer Franc Aleu; Costume Designer Lluc Castells; Lighting Designer Peter van Praet; Translator Geoffrey Skelton
   

[CRCulver]

Didn't Ligeti have a history of losing his rag with people? I have a vague, and possibly phantom, memory that the Sony Ligeti Edition was rudely terminated after the composer slagged off some of Salonen's orchestral recordings. Teldec bravely stepped in to finish off the series.

Ligeti was a hard taskmaster, but he did approve the Sony recordings. If I recall correctly, the end of the György Ligeti Edition came when none of the large orchestras that could record on Sony proved affordable.

[MDL]

If I recall correctly, the end of the György Ligeti Edition came when none of the large orchestras that could record on Sony proved affordable.

Really? How depressing. Having heard Salonen conduct the Requiem twice, once at the Festival Hall and once, an utterly stunning performance, at the Proms, I wish his interpretation of Ligeti's masterpiece had been immortalised on CD rather than Nott's, good as the Teldec recording is (but not as good as Gielen's Wergo account).

[pjme]

I just saw this production , this afternoon, at La Monnaie/De Munt in Brussels. Definitely a well made and fascinating production. Excellent singers all round : Alexander Kravets, Frances Bourne, Ilse Eerens, Pavlo Hunka, Frode Olsen, Ning liang and the stupendous Barbara Hannigan as Venus and Gepopo...Brian Asawa was excellent as Prince Gogo.
In the orchestra pit ( belching bass trombones, shrieking woodwinds, spectacular - and hilarious/riotous - percussion !) Leo Hussain lead the Monnaie orchestra & chorus ( with the help of sirens, organ, harpsichord & piano) in this sarcastic Danse de la mort.
I can imagine that a more "earthy" ( primitif/ Flemish...) vision of this burlesque is possible ( closer to de Ghelderode's play?). But La Fura dels Baus ( setdesign, costumes, concept & mise en scène) have made a visually arresting show.



Peter

[pjme]

[pjme]

[MDL]

Amazing pics. Thanks for posting.