Violinist Patricia Kopatchinskaja Performs Ligeti’s “Mysteries of the Macabre”

In the concert, Kopatchinskaja stages her own interpretation of the work with the Tokyo Metropolitan Symphony Orchestra

The Tokyo Metropolitan Symphony Orchestra has released a concert video of violinist Patricia Kopatchinskaja’s theatrical performance of “Mysteries of the Macabre,” an arrangement of three coloratura arias from György Ligeti’s opera Le Grand Macabre reduced for chamber ensemble. 

Led by conductor Kazushi Ono and featuring the Ritsuyukai Choir and vocals by Kopatchinskaja herself, the concert was recorded at Suntory Hall on March 27, 2023. 

Other works on the program included Ligeti’s Études pour piano, Arc-en-ciel, which was a Japan Premiere, Ligeti’s Violin Concerto, and Bartók’s The Miraculous Mandarin, op.19 Sz.73. 

Le Grand Macabre is set in the mythical kingdom of “Bruegelland,” which is inhabited by the peasants, monsters and apocalypses as seen in the paintings of Pieter Bruegel, who was a significant artist of the Dutch and Flemish Renaissance. 

In the work, Gepopo comes to inform Prince Gogo and the citizens that the planet is in danger of destruction. However, she is so afraid and hysterical that her message cannot be understood by the prince and his court. 

In her performance, Kopatchinskaja presents her own take on the story alongside interactions with both the audience and members of the orchestra. The concert can be viewed below. 

“Gepopoʼs grotesque utterances and vain attempts to be understood are mimicked by instruments in the orchestra,” reads the program note. “She incorporates yells, screams, and phonetic explosions as well as whispers, which orchestral musicians contribute as well.”

Ligeti’s Le Gran Macabre (1977/1996) was commissioned by the Royal Opera in Sweden and is both a summary of the previous 25 years of his compositional work and an overview of the human condition. 

The opera made its debut in 1978 in Stockholm, and was revised by Ligeti before appearing in 1997 in a production directed by Peter Sellars in Salzburg.

Over the years, under the title of Mysteries of the Macabre, Elgar Howarth made various arrangements of three arias sung by the character Gepopo in Scene 3 of the opera for either coloratura soprano or solo trumpet accompanied by chamber orchestra or piano. Ligeti himself prepared a version with full orchestra, which premiered in Paris in 1994.

Having collaborated with living composers such as Francisco Coll, Luca Francesconi, Michael Hersch, Márton Illés, György Kurtág, Esa-Pekka Salonen, Aureliano Cattaneo, Stefano Gervasoni, and many others, Kopatchinskaja directs staged concerts at venues on both sides of the Atlantic and collaborates with leading orchestras, conductors, and festivals worldwide. 

Starting from the 2024/25 season, she will serve as the Artistic Partner of the SWR Symphony Orchestra. Highlights of Kopatchinskaja’s previous seasons included residencies at the London Barbican Centre, Berlin Philharmonic, Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France and Elbphilharmonie Hamburg. Her discography includes over 30 recordings, among them GRAMMY award-winning Death and the Maiden with the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra.