Photo, Sisi Burn
Thursday, August 17, 2023
Royal Albert Hall, London
Commissioned by and premiered at La Scala on November 15, 2018, conducted by Markus Stenz (some pre-performance articles at the time cited Ingo Metzmacher as the maestro; Pierre Audi directed), the first opera by Hungarian composer György Kurtág (born 1926) – fully titled as Samuel Beckett: Fin de partie: scènes et monologues, opéra en un acte – here made its UK debut. Requiring four singers and orchestra (including two accordions, and a continuo group of grand & upright pianos, harp, cimbalom and celesta), the synopsis is as follows:
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.
Musically, the work is compelling, with expressive writing for the singers and carefully gauged use of numerous instruments and varied dynamics, not least subito fortissimos, in what is essentially a slow-moving yet tension-filled opera of character-drawing, sometimes with a dry wit or heartfelt poignancy, and correspondences to late Stravinsky and Webernian clarity. Three of the cast have been involved from the beginning (Morgan Moody joining later) and Ryan Wigglesworth has had intensive study of the score with Kurtág. In turn, this continuous one-hour-fifty-minute performance was exactingly prepared, the exposed orchestral writing played with total assurance as an integral part of the scenario and complementary to personalities. Keenly awaited, this Prom did not disappoint.
Frode Olsen …. Hamm
Morgan Moody …. Clov
Hilary Summers …. Nell
Leonardo Cortellazzi …. Nagg
Semi-staging by Victoria Newlyn
I thought it was at times a tough listen, but a magnificent performance last night, the orchestra seemed to me, to cope really well with a demanding score.
It felt interminable and more or less without tension . It’s as if Kurtag had to vanquish a texture as soon it arrived . 30 mins maybe , but not 135mins . And yet , it was often very captivating. The singers a mere adjunct to the exquisite range of colours in the orchestra.
It was 110 minutes, 1 hour & 50 minutes.
Endgame was 90 minutes of sumptuous music, given a deeply rehearsed and sensitive performance. The opera sounded fabulous in the Albert Hall displaying Kurtàg’s genius for blending language, human voices and orchestral timbre into always polished unified and elegant brushstrokes. The BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra orchestra sounded otherworldly in their technical mastery and balance. Other aspects of this stage work were slightly underserved by a concertante performance. The lack of an available libretto to take home, and the missing intimacy of an opera house foyer, meant the potential for collective discussion and contemplation of a relatively new Opera was largely absent from the Prom’s presentation. The BBC Proms could recognise this difficulty for putting on stage works and find ways to mitigate listeners’ isolation within the collosal building they are stuck with! The stalls seats and standing arena were largely filled, but the empty areas in the numerous higher tiers of the Albert Hall left this production yearning for repetition in smaller theatres. The performance of all 4 characters was exemplary with the virtuosity of Nag and Nell outstanding. Those two were oddly allowed to steal the show by being placed centrally. Nag’s final multi octave extended downward glissando “Nell!” as he finally notices his wife’s demise was worth the price of admission alone! Every bar of Kurtàg’s music transcended any doubts for this UK Premiere.
Please add 20 minutes to your 90.
The interplay between Nell and Nagg was just beautiful, as were their voices (albeit miked – noone’s commenting on that). But after Nell died I’m afraid I had had to have a little sit down. Twice.
Kudos to Ryan Wigglesworth and the (cut down?) orchestra though for learning it (two of the double basses were practising a sliding passage continuously until tuning time), and coordinating all those tricky percussion interjections and brass snarls. Some amazing orchestral fireworks.
You mean the singers were amplified? If so, that wasn’t evident on R3.
Yes. Particularly noticeable on fricatives and sibilants.