Ligeti: Le Grande Macabre (Barcelona 2011) (Chris Merritt/ Inés Moraleda/ Ana Puche/ Gran Teatre Del Liceu/ La Fura Dels Baus/ Michael Boder) (Arthaus: 101643)
Shipping time: Usually ships within 1-3 days
"The result is splendid [...] It is rare that everything fits so well".
El Pais"A rousing and compellingly presented, surreal spectacle, simply breathtaking!"
Frankfurter Allgemeine ZeitungLIVE RECORDING FROM THE GRAN TEATRE DEL LICEU, BARCELONA, 2011Staged by
LA FURA DELS BAUSPiet the Pot'
CHRIS MERRITTAmando'
INeS MORALEDAAmanda
ANA PUCHENekrotzar
WERNER VAN MECHELENAstradamors
FRODE OLSENVenus / Gepopo
BARBARA HANNIGANGRAN TEATRE DEL LICEUConducted by
MICHAEL BODERStage Directed by
ALEX OLLe, VALENTINA CARRASCOWorld Premiere Recording!Barcelona's Grand Teatre del Liceu presents Gyorgy Ligeti's sole opera "Le grand macabre" in a stunningly imaginative and highly theatrical production by
La Fura dels Baus - a production that already claimed enormous success in Brussels, London and Rome and - as
the Independent proclaimed -
"only comes along once a decade". Ligeti's (1923-2006) absurd-tragicomical masterpiece of the highest order blends popular theater, comics, pop art, cabaret, caricature and the Apocalypse with fascinating imaginativeness. The orchestra, for example, is enhanced with "instruments" such as car horns and doorbells. Ligeti himself - one of the great composers of the later 20th century - called his work an "anti-anti-opera." Premiered in Stockholm in 1978, the work is based on a play by Michel de Ghelderode (1898-1962) and unfolds in an imaginary land inspired by the famous Dutch painter Pieter Brueghel the Elder' Nekrotzar, the Grand Macabre, announces the end of the world; but in a land ruled by eros, alcohol and corruption, his plan to unleash the Apocalypse bursts like a soap bubble. The people continue to lead their lives as before and refuse to be frightened by thoughts of death and a dark future... Masterfully rendering the colorful score is conductor
Michael Boder and the orchestra and chorus of the Liceu. The top-notch cast includes
Werner Van Mechelen as
Nekrotzar,
Chris Merritt as
Piet the Pot,
Barbara Hannigan as Chief of the secret police, and
Brian Asawa as
Prince Go-Go.
Special Features' "Fear to Death" - Making Of Le Grand Macabre & Interview with Michael Boder.