Le Grand Macabre (première 1978) is György Ligeti's only opera. The opera has two acts and is sung in German or English. The libretto is loosely based on a play by the Belgian author Michel De Ghelderode. György Sándor Ligeti (May 28, 1923 – June 12, 2006) was a Jewish Hungarian composer born in Romania who later became an Austrian citizen. ... Sydney Opera House: one of the worlds most recognizable opera houses and landmarks Opera refers to a dramatic art form, originating in Europe, in which the emotional content or primary entertainment is conveyed to the audience as much through music, both vocal and instrumental, as it is through the... A libretto is the complete body of words used in an extended musical work such as an opera, operetta, masque, sacred or secular oratorio and cantata, musical, and ballet. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... An author is the person who creates a written work, such as a book, story, article or the like. ... Michel De Ghelderode (1898 - 1962) was an avante-garde Belgian dramatist, writing in French. ...

After having seen Kagel's anti-operatic work "Staatstheater", Ligeti came to the conclusion that it was not possible to write any more anti-operas. He therefore resolved to write an "anti-anti-opera", an opera with an ironic recognion of both operactic traditions and anti-operatic criticism of the genre. From its brief overture, a mixture of rhythmic sounds scored for a dozen car horns, to the closing Passacaglia in mock classical style, the work evolves as collage of sonorities ranging from an ensemble of urban sounds to snippets of manipulated Beethoven, Rossini and Verdi. Ligeti's opera is replete with irony and ambiguities, conveying a deadly serious message in a lightened humorous way. Mauricio Kagel (born Buenos Aires, December 24, 1931) is an Argentine composer who has lived in Germany for most of his career. ... Overture is also a song by the rock band The Who Overture (French ouverture, meaning opening) in music is the instrumental introduction to a dramatic, choral or, occasionally, instrumental composition. ... In music a passacaglia (French: passacaille, Spanish: pasacalle) is a musical form and the corresponding court dance. ... Collage (From the French, coller, to stick) is regarded as a work of visual arts made from an assemblage of different forms, thus creating a new whole. ... The word ensemble can refer to a musical ensemble an ensemble cast (drama) a statistical ensemble in mathematical physics, for example a thermodynamic ensemble a quantum ensemble a fluid mechanical ensemble a Climate Ensemble ensemble forecasting (meteorology) ensemble averaging a distribution ensemble (maths) a neural ensemble a DAB ensemble Ensemble... Ludwig van Beethoven Ludwig van Beethoven (baptized December 17, 1770 – March 26, 1827) was a German composer of Classical music, the predominant musical figure in the transitional period between the Classical and Romantic eras. ... Gioacchino Antonio Rossini (February 29, 1792 — November 13, 1868) was an Italian musical composer who wrote more than 30 operas as well as sacred music and chamber music. ... Giuseppe Verdi, by Giovanni Boldini, 1886 (National Gallery of Modern Art, Rome). ... Irony is best known as a figure of speech (more precisely called verbal irony) in which there is a gap or incongruity between what a speaker or a writer says, and what is understood. ...

Its central subject is mortality and its central character is Death, in the form of the character Nekrotzar (meant to be sung by a bass-baritone), who arrives in a city of skyscrapers. The streets are strewn with litter and populated by vagrants, giving the audience the impression that they are in a land on the verge of an apocalypse. Along with the drunkard and the astrologer, Nekrotzar proceeds to the court of Prince Go-Go, and a series of disjointed scenes raises the question of whether they are witness to the impending doom or it has all been a farce. Death is the cessation of life. ... A bass-baritone is a singing voice that shares certain qualities of both the baritone and the bass. ... Taipei 101, the worlds tallest skyscraper by roof height on high rise. ... Litter in the habitat of a lizard. ... Look up Apocalypse in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... This article or section should be merged with intoxication Drunkenness, in its most common usage, is the state of being intoxicated with alcohol (i. ... An astrologer, in modern times, is a person who practices a form or forms of astrology; in earlier times, they were observer of the stars. ... A court is an official, public forum which a sovereign establishes by lawful authority to adjudicate disputes, and to dispense civil, labour, administrative and criminal justice under the law. ... Doom (or DOOM)[1] is a 1993 computer game by id Software that is among the landmark titles in the first-person shooter genre. ... A farce is a comedy written for the stage, or a film, which aims to entertain the audience by means of unlikely and extravagant - yet often possible - situations, disguise and mistaken identity, verbal humour of varying degrees of sophistication, which may include puns and sexual innuendo, and a fast-paced...

Dramatis Personæ

• Piet The Pot

• Amando (Spermando)

• Amanda (Clitoria)

• Nekrotzar

• Astradamors

• Mescalina

• Venus

• Gepopo, Chief of Secret Police

• Prince Go-Go

• White Politician

• Black Politician

Listing

Act I

1. 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

Act II

1. 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. Nekrotzar's 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

External links

• Illusions and Allusions (An interview with Ligeti about the opera)