Fin de partie (opera)

Fin de partie is a one-act opera by György Kurtág, set to a French-language libretto adapted by the composer from the play "Endgame" (French title: "Fin de partie") by Samuel Beckett, with the inclusion of a setting of Beckett's English-language poem "Roundelay" at the start of the opera. Kurtág fully titled this work, his first opera, as follows:
"Samuel Beckett: Fin de partie: scènes et monologues, opéra en un acte"
Kurtág dedicated the opera to the memory of ""mon professeur" Ferenc Farkas and of "mon ami ": "qui, dans ma jeunesse, m'ont appri sur l'essentiel sur l'opéra" [who, in my youth, taught me the essentials of opera].
History.
The Teatro alla Scala, Milan, commissioned the opera, and staged the premiere on 15 November 2018. The director of the premiere production was Pierre Audi, with set and costume designs by , and lighting design by Urs Schönebaum. The premiere production was a joint production between La Scala and Dutch National Opera (DNO), Amsterdam. The DNO staged the opera in March 2019.
On the recommendation of György Ligeti, 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 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.
Synopsis.
The setting is a house by the sea, where four people reside:
The tensions between the four characters exasperate each of them:
All four wait for an end to the inertia and claustrophobia of their situation.
Reception.
Both Andrew Clements and Fiona Maddocks of "The Guardian" awarded "Fin de partie" a full five stars. Alex Ross wrote in "The New Yorker" 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.