“Fin de Partie” wins International Opera Award 2019
With this opera, the 92-year-old composer Görgy Kurtág fulfilled his lifelong dream and composed his first opera based on Samuel Beckett’s play “Fin de partie”.
The opera is a coproduction of the Teatro alla Scala (Milan) and the Dutch National Opera (Amsterdam). The world première took place at the Teatro alla Scala in Milan on 15 November 2018. Markus Stenz was the conductor and Pierre Audi the stage director. Markus Stenz also led the Dutch première in Amsterdam on 6 March 2019.
Considered opera’s answer to the Oscars, the awards celebrate achievements in opera around the globe over the last calendar year in a wide range of categories. This year, the prestigious Lifetime Achievement award went to legendary soprano Leontyne Price, who is regarded as an inspiration to millions with her exceptional voice, huge repertoire and role as a fierce advocate for the civil rights movement in the US.
The evening included performances from Gareth Malone and the Opera Holland Park Community Chorus, reunited for the first time since Opera Holland Park’s Hope for Grenfell Memorial Gala last year, as well as past and present IOA winners and finalists and bursary recipients of the Opera Awards Foundation including Anna Patalong and Oliver Johnston, bolstered by the London Philharmonic Choir (pictured).
Highlights from the awards will once again be broadcast on BBC Radio 3 on Monday 6 May at 7.30pm.
