New York Philharmonic: Le Grand Macabre

Last night I saw György Ligeti’s Le Grand Macabre at Lincoln Center. This “anti-anti-opera” is not for easy listening enthusiasts, but the visual production was amazing; puppeteers from Giants Are Small performed live on stage in front of a camera and projected the results in real time — all in sync with the orchestra and singers.

During the exchange below, the live animation provided comic book-style speech bubbles above the performers’ heads (especially helpful since there were no supertitles):

Piet: Ghost Astradamors, are you dead?
Astradamors: Yes.
Piet: Am I dead too?
Astradamors: Yes, ghost Piet.
Piet: Since when?
Astradamors: Since midnight last.
Piet: Sincerest condolences!
Astradamors: Thank you, likewise!

If you ever find yourself dead and conversing with a fellow ghost, I can’t think of a better response to “sincerest condolences!” than “thank you, likewise!”