First report: Vienna’s Endgame

The Israel composer Oded Zehavi attended the dress rehearsal today of György Kurtag’s late opera, Fin de Partie:

There are similarities between Endgame and Wozzeck. Musical interpretation of great literary text is not easy: it takes great compositional skill and a thorough understanding of the text. Kurtag created a score that gave Beckett’s drama its necessary space and added a whole musical universe that unfolded in front of our eyes and ears.

From abrupt short phrases and musical “events” to more lyrical and expressive musical passages, Kurtag’s music was always interesting: extremely well-orchestrated and dramatically fit. A wonderful cast, headed by Simone Young, gave a mesmerizing performance. It is the second time I hear Ms Young in a live concert, and (just as I felt in her reading of Brahms 2nd with the National Symphony Orchestra in Washington DC) I thought that she performs the piece as if she wrote it. It was beyond just understanding, it was living the score. 

Cast: Philippe Sly is Hamm, Georg Nigl Clov, Charles Workman Nagg and Hilary Summers Nell.