Ligeti:  Le Grand Macabre
Buy
 
More releases by Esa-Pekka Salonen
More releases by London Voices
More releases by The Philharmonia Orchestra
Ligeti: Le Grand Macabre
Release Date: March 23, 1999
S2K62312
CD Longplay
Made under the composer's supervision, this world-premiere recording captures live performances of the 1997 version of György Ligeti's opera Le Grande Macabre at Paris' Theatre du Chatelet. Based on the theatre piece "La Balade du Grand Macabre" by Michel de Ghelderode, Ligeti's Le Grand Macabre is a surreal, darkly whimsical vision of a modern world -- much of the action is set in a place called Breughelland -- that is approaching apocalypse. The libretto is by the composer and Michael Meschke, the great puppet theater expert. The opera had its world premiere in Stockholm in 1978, but Ligeti made a number of revisions to the score over the next two decades. A final revised version had its premiere at the 1997 Salzburg Festival, in a production staged by Peter Sellars, which was later presented at the Theatre du Chatelet in February 1998, when this recording was made. The cast features Laura Claycomb, soprano; Charlotte Hellekant and Jard van Ness, mezzo-sopranos; Derek Lee Ragin, countertenor; Graham Clark, tenor; Wilar White, bass-baritone; and Frode Olsen, bass. The György Ligeti Edition is one of the most acclaimed contemporary series of recordings available. Made under the composer's and conductor's supervision, the series continues to receive accolades and awards. Piano Etudes (SK 62308) received the Gramophone Award for Best Contemporary Recording 1997 and Diapason D'Or 1997; Vocal Works (SK 62311) won Diapason D'Or 1997; and Chamber Music (SK 62309) received a 1998 Grammy nomination for Best Chamber Music Performance.  

Track listing for CD Longplay


Le Grand Macabre (1997 Version) (Voice)
     
1    Act I: Car Horn Prelude
     
2    Scene One: Dies Irae
     
3    Away, you swag-pot!
     
4    Shut up!
     
5    Oh...! - Amanda! Can do no more!
     
6    Ha-ha-ha-ha! Hey! Give me my requisites, slave
     
7    Melting snow is thy breast
     
8    Second Car Horn Prelude
     
9    Scene Two: One! Two! Three! Five!
     
10    Shapely and attractive figure
     
11    Venus! Venus!
     
12    Stop! - Sh!... Quiet, for heaven's sake!
     
13    Who's there? A Man? - A Man!
     
14    Finale: Fire and death I bring
     
1    Act II, Scene Three: Door Bell Prelude
     
2    Arse licker, arse-kisser!
     
3    Posture exercises!
     
4    Tsk... - Pssst! Ha! Head of my Secret Service
     
5    Ahh! ...Secret cypher!
     
6    Hurray, hurray! My wife is dead, hurray!
     
7    Nekrotzars Entrance
     
8    Woe! Ooh! For the day of wrath
     
9    There's no need to fear
     
10    Up! - Drink! - Up!
     
11    Galimatias: Hmm! It's delicious
     
12    Where am I? What time is it?
     
13    Interlude
     
14    Scene Four: Ghost Astradamors, are you dead?
     
15    Mirror Canon
     
16    Finale. Passacaglia: Ah, it was good