Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra, Nicholas Collon, Sarah Aristidou, Heidi Melton, Andrew Watts, Wolfgang Ablinger-Sperrhacke, Leigh Melrose, Karl Huml, Elisabeth Freyhoff, Jingjing Xu, Luke Terence Scott, Tuomas Katajala, Jussi Merikanto, Tomi Punkeri, Sakari Topi, Vokalhelden, Helsinki Chamber Choir, Nils Schweckendiek, Frederic Wake-Walker, Sasha Balmazi-Owen, Jonna Jokelainen, Ari Haapaniemi, Pia Lasonen, Siiri Koistinen

The Musikfest Berlin opens with Le Grand Macabre by György Ligeti and at the same time celebrates the 75th anniversary of the Berliner Festspiele. Ligeti’s only opera is a profoundly-black parable of war and the end of the world, but ultimately humour gains the upper hand and indirectly also helps in overcoming the fear of death. It is therefore no surprise that this satire is one of the most frequently performed works of contemporary music theatre. Nicholas Collon leads the way through Ligeti’s grotesque doomsday scenario as the chief conductor of the Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra, assisted by the Helsinki Chamber Choir and an international ensemble of soloists. Thanks to the Helsinki Festival, Ligeti’s “anti-anti-opera”, as the composer himself called it, will be heard for the first time in Finland just a few days previously.

Programme

György Ligeti
Le Grand Macabre