''Fin de partie'' is a one-act opera by

György Kurtág György Kurtág (; born 19 February 1926) is a Hungarian classical composer and pianist. He was an academic teacher of piano at the Franz Liszt Academy of Music from 1967, later also of chamber music, and taught until 1993. Biography György ...

, set to a French-language

libretto A libretto (Italian for "booklet") is the text used in, or intended for, an extended musical work such as an opera, operetta, masque, oratorio, cantata or Musical theatre, musical. The term ''libretto'' is also sometimes used to refer to the t ...

adapted by the composer from the play ''

Endgame Endgame, Endgames, End Game, End Games, or similar variations may refer to: Film * ''The End of the Game'' (1919 film) * ''The End of the Game'' (1975 film), short documentary U.S. film * ''Endgame'' (1983 film), 1983 Italian post-apocalyptic f ...

'' (French title: ''Fin de partie'') by

Samuel Beckett Samuel Barclay Beckett (; 13 April 1906 – 22 December 1989) was an Irish novelist, dramatist, short story writer, theatre director, poet, and literary translator. His literary and theatrical work features bleak, impersonal and tragicomic expe ...

, with the inclusion of a setting of Beckett's English-language poem "

Roundelay The rondelet is a brief French form of poetry. It contains a refrain, a strict rhyme scheme and a distinct meter pattern. The roundelay is a 24 line poem written in trochaic tetrameter. What they have in common is that they both only use two r ...

" at the start of the opera. Kurtág fully titled this work, his first opera, ''Samuel Beckett: Fin de partie: scènes et monologues, opéra en un acte''. Kurtág dedicated the opera to the memory of "''mon professeur''

Ferenc Farkas Ferenc Farkas (; 15 December 1905 – 10 October 2000) was a Hungarian composer. Biography Born into a musical family (his father played the cimbalom and his mother played the piano) in Nagykanizsa, Farkas began his musical studies in Budape ...

and of ''mon ami ": qui, dans ma jeunesse, m'ont appri (sic) l'essentiel sur l'opéra'' ho, in my youth, taught me the essentials of opera

History

The

Teatro alla Scala La Scala (, , ; abbreviation in Italian of the official name ) is a famous opera house in Milan, Italy. The theatre was inaugurated on 3 August 1778 and was originally known as the ' (New Royal-Ducal Theatre alla Scala). The premiere performan ...

, Milan, commissioned the opera, and staged the premiere on 15 November 2018. The director of the premiere production was

Pierre Audi Pierre Audi (born 1957 in Beirut, Lebanon) is a French-Lebanese theatre director and artistic director. Early life Audi is the son of the Lebanese banker Raymond Audi and Andrée Michel Fattal, the eldest of three children.Dutch National Opera The Dutch National Opera (DNO; formerly De Nederlandse Opera, now De Nationale Opera in Dutch) is a Dutch opera company based in Amsterdam, Netherlands. Its present home base is the Dutch National Opera & Ballet housed in the Stopera building, a m ...

(DNO), Amsterdam. The DNO staged the opera in March 2019. The production travelled to Paris in April–May 2022. On the recommendation of

György Ligeti György Sándor Ligeti (; ; 28 May 1923 – 12 June 2006) was a Hungarian-Austrian composer of contemporary classical music. He has been described as "one of the most important avant-garde composers in the latter half of the twentieth century" ...

, Kurtág had seen a production of Beckett's play in Paris in 1957. This experience greatly affected Kurtág, which he described to the American music critic Jeremy Eichler as "one of the strongest experiences of my life". For his opera, Kurtág condensed the play, retaining around 60% of the French text. He has acknowledged his studies of the operas of

Claudio Monteverdi Claudio Giovanni Antonio Monteverdi (baptized 15 May 1567 – 29 November 1643) was an Italian composer, choirmaster and string player. A composer of both secular and sacred music, and a pioneer in the development of opera, he is considered ...

as inspiration for his own opera. The original commission for the work arrived in 2010 from La Scala. Kurtág initially wished there to be no contract and no commission fee. The provided financial support for the commission. Kurtág spent eight years on the composition of the opera, with assistance from his wife Marta. Kurtág did not attend the world premiere performance because his frail health rendered him unable to travel from Budapest to Milan.

Roles

Synopsis

The setting is a house by the sea, where four people reside: *Hamm, an elderly gentleman confined to a wheelchair *Clov, servant to Hamm, who cannot sit down *Nagg and Nell, Hamm's very old parents, each trapped in a dustbin, without legs The tensions between the four characters exasperate each of them: *Hamm cannot abide his parents and their chatter. *Nell can barely tolerate Nagg. *Clov regards the others wearily. All four wait for an end to the inertia and claustrophobia of their situation. # Prologue: Nell is the first character to appear, and delivers the setting of 'Roundelay' to begin the opera. Her words hazily allude to memories, with the sound of footsteps as the only sound to be heard on the beach. # Clov's Pantomime: Clov and Hamm appear. Clov is troubled and uneasy on his legs. He makes repetitive gestures, the same gestures every day, during his domestic chores, interspersed with short, nervous laughter. # Clov's First Monologue: Clov speaks of the possibility that the current situation may come to some sort of end soon. # Hamm's First Monologue: by contrast, Hamm thinks about his and his parents' sufferings. With feelings of despondency and exhaustion, he claims that he cannot resolve the current circumstances. # Bin: Nagg and Nell, both severely handicapped, are tired out from their long-term bickering, and their mutual incomprehension. During their conversation, they recall the cycling accident in the Ardennes that caused them both to lose their legs. Memories also surface of a boat trip on Lake Como. These memories are their sole happy memories and, at least superficially, give them a little nostalgia for their life spent together. Yet, Hamm, who wants to sleep, finds his parents' chatter irritating, and orders Clov to throw the bins, including Nagg and Nell, into the sea. Nell dies in the meantime, apparently unnoticed by the others. # Novel: Hamm wants to tell Nagg a story. In past days, a father had come to him on Christmas Eve asking for bread for his son. Hamm had decided to take him on. # Nagg's Monologue: Nagg remembers when Hamm was young and needed him. # Hamm's Penultimate Monologue: Hamm ponders his difficult relations with others. # Hamm and Clov's Dialogue: Hamm asks Clov for his tranquilliser. Clov replies that no tranquillisers are left. # "It's over, Clov" and Clov's Vaudeville: Hamm tells Clov that he no longer needs him, but then asks Clov to say something that he may remember before departing. Clov remarks that Hamm had never spoken to him until that moment. Only now, as he is about to leave, does Hamm pay any notice of him. # Clov's Last Monologue: Clov reflects on his condition. He has never understood what words like 'love' and 'friendship' mean. He also feels old, tired, and unable to form new habits. He is bound to his repetitive, never-changing daily routine. # Transition to the Finale: Hamm thanks Clov as Clov is about to leave. # Hamm's Last Monologue: Clov is about to leave, but has not yet moved. Hamm realises that he has been left alone. # Epilogue: Hamm grasps that it is now up to him – and him alone – to continue playing the endgame.

Reception

Both Andrew Clements and

Fiona Maddocks Fiona Maddocks is a British music critic and author who specializes in classical music. Described as "one of the UK's leading writers and commentators on classical music", Maddocks has been chief music critic of ''The Observer'' since 2010. She ...

of ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'' awarded ''Fin de partie'' a full five stars.

Alex Ross Nelson Alexander Ross (born January 22, 1970) is an American comic book writer and artist known primarily for his painted interiors, covers, and design work. He first became known with the 1994 miniseries ''Marvels'', on which he collaborated wi ...

wrote in ''

The New Yorker ''The New Yorker'' is an American weekly magazine featuring journalism, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons, and poetry. Founded as a weekly in 1925, the magazine is published 47 times annually, with five of these issues ...

'' that "it seems the equal of the celebrated text on which it is based. Beckett has been waiting for Kurtág all this time." The opera later ranked fourth in a poll by ''The Guardian'' of the greatest 21st century works of classical music.

References

External links

Teatro alla Scala page on ''Fin de partie''

Libretto of ''Fin de partie''

Teatro alla Scala, English-language synopsis of ''Fin de partie''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fin de partie Compositions by György Kurtág 2018 operas French-language operas Opera world premieres at La Scala Operas based on plays Music dedicated to family or friends Samuel Beckett Operas