Endgame by Kurtág, Fri 31 Jan 2025, From (2025/2025), Directed by Johannes Erath, Conductor Alexander Soddy, Staatsoper Unter den Linden, Berlin, Germany

A game. At the end. About the end. With the end. With four figures. Hamm and his servant Clov. Hamm's parents Nagg and Nell. A game with rules, rituals, memories. And with words. Words that are sung, which has only rarely happened with Samuel Beckett's lyrics. As the only full-length setting of one of his plays, György Kurtág's opera Fin de partie is a special exception. Beckett's Endspiel, which he experienced in its Paris premiere in 1957, has accompanied the Hungarian composer for more than half a century. In 2010, at the age of 85, Kurtág began composing his first opera, which premiered at La Scala in Milan in 2018. His musical language is closely based on Beckett's original French text, to which he opens up a fascinating sound space with his subtle instrumentation. This also echoes Beckett's preference for circuses, amusement parks and clowning, which Johannes Erath traces in his production.