Ligeti’s two-act opera in four scenes, Le grand macabre, is an entertaining, taut example of musical theater residing somewhere between parody and ominous seriousness, between clowning and wisdom. The opera’s hero, Nekrotzar (Dracula), alias Le grand macabre, has not only ambitions to suck blood but also apocalyptic visions: he wants to bring about the end of the world personally (but fails to do so).

This production received the quarterly German Record Critics' Award.

Artists

Dieter Weller (Nekrotzar), Penelope Walmsley-Clark (Amanda), Olive Fredricks (Amando), Peter Haage (Piet vom Faß), Christa Puhlmann-Richter (Mescalina), Kevin Smith (Fürst Go-Go), Ude Krekow (Astradamors), Eirian Davies (Chef der Geheimpolizei), Herbert Prikopa (Weißer Minister), Ernst Leopold Strachwitz (Schwarzer Minister), Johann Leutgeb (Ruffiak), Ernst Salzer (Schobiak), Laszlo Modos (Schabernack)

Arnold Schönberg-Chor, Symphonieorchester des Österreichischen Rundfunks, Elgar Howarth