#unsukchin — Public Fediverse posts
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Happy 100th birthday, György Kurtág!
On 19 February, György Kurtág hopes to celebrate his 100th birthday. That very day the Muziekgebouw aan het IJ will organise the concert Happy 100 György!, featuring music by Kurtág himself and kindred spirits, as well as three new pieces by Dutch composers. The day after, Die Stechardin, his second opera, will premiere in Budapest.
György Kurtág, the Hungarian grandmaster of incisive aphorisms (Budapest, 1926), is no stranger in the Netherlands. As early as the 1970s, pianist Geoffrey Madge and the Residentie Orkest championed his existentialist music. Yet he rose to true fame in the 1990s, when Reinbert de Leeuw started advocating his music, dedicating many memorable concerts to the amiable composer, with whom he forged a close bond.
In 2016, the Muziekgebouw honoured Kurtág on the occasion of his 90th birthday. During a festive portrait concert, De Leeuw conducted the Asko|Schönberg through works by Webern (a great inspiration for Kurtág), György Ligeti, his namesake and compatriot, and works by Kurtág himself. In the birthday concert on 19 February 2026 again a work by Ligeti will be played: his groundbreaking Poème Symphonique, whose music consists of the ticking of 100 metronomes wound to different tempos.
Kurtág and Reinbert de Leeuw
In 2016, Kurtág and his inseparable wife Márta were too frail to travel from Budapest to Amsterdam for the concert. However, they did appear in a preview of the documentary The Three Kurtágs, made by their niece Judit. This was unique: György and Márta Kurtág often performed as a piano duo, but they never became public figures like Ligeti; they lived a secluded life.
Sitting comfortably together on their sofa, the two discuss the progress of the CD recordings of a large part of Kurtág’s work, which Reinbert de Leeuw has been working on since 2013. They charmingly bounce off each other in a lively conversation, in which a sentence started by one is naturally finished by the other – as if they were literally speaking with one voice. Their love for each other and for De Leeuw is palpable.
They regret not being able to be physically present during the recordings, but because Reinbert plays these back over the phone after each session and also visits them regularly in person, they are still able to comment on them. The notoriously critical Kurtág, who sometimes calls out ‘Nein, nicht so!’ when Reinbert merely raises his arms to begin a piece, is now full of praise. ‘It’s as if they recorded the music in their mother tongue,’ he says with shining eyes.
Musical mother tongue
The three-disc CD box containing all of Kurtág’s conducted choral and ensemble works was released a year later. In the accompanying booklet Kurtág gratefully refers to it as “a royal gift”. That is no exaggeration, because on this release from the German label ECM, Reinbert de Leeuw once again surpassed himself. With his relentless determination to get to the heart of the matter, he leads Asko|Schönberg, Groot Omroepkoor, Cappella Amsterdam and a selection of soloists to intense performances, that allow Kurtág’s soul-piercing sounds to penetrate to the very core.
This unique historical document is still available for purchase for less than forty euros – a bargain. Kurtág’s suggestion that the musicians and singers perform his music as if it were their own mother tongue is no idle chatter. Language is extremely important to the sensitive Hungarian composer – in more ways than one.
He often refers to Béla Bartók as “my musical mother tongue”. But he has created his own unique grammar from poignant, aphoristic bursts of sound that spring from a deep inner necessity. He is a great lover of poetry and literature: of the eleven pieces on the compilation, seven are vocal. Kurtág even learned Russian so that he could read Dostoevsky; three cycles on the CD box set are in this language.
The best known of these is Messages from the Late Miss R.V. Trussova, with which he made his breakthrough in Western Europe in the 1980s. In 21 miniatures, a soprano sings of bitter experiences of love. The longest song lasts 3 minutes, the shortest 22 seconds. In that short span of time, Kurtág sketches an entire novel. Unfortunately none of the three vocal cycles will be performed in the concert Happy 100 György! on 19 February. Het Muziek, successor to Asko|Schönberg, will however perform Akrostichon – Wortspiel for soprano and ensemble by Unsuk Chin.
Kurtág’s first opera causes a sensation
In 2016 the 90-year-old Kurtág was still working on his first and so far only opera, Fin de Partie (Endgame), based on Samuel Beckett’s play of the same name. He had seen it in Paris in 1957 on Ligeti’s recommendation and called it “one of the most powerful experiences of my life”. The opera was commissioned by Teatro alla Scala Milan in 2010, and he had been working on it ever since. Together with Mártá, he significantly condensed the story; only sixty percent of the original text remained. On the other hand, they added Beckett’s poem Roundelay as a prologue.
This prologue premiered during a festival in honour of his 90th birthday at the Liszt Academy in Budapest, where he himself once studied. The world premiere of the complete opera took place in November 2018 at the Teatro alla Scala, directed by Pierre Audi, who died last year, with Markus Stenz conducting. Kurtág and his wife Mártá were again unable to attend; she died a year later.
This first work by the then 92-year-old composer caused a real sensation. The absurd libretto, which barely has any plot and revolves around four people waiting for an indeterminate ending, was immediately hailed as a classic by the international press. In March 2019, the opera was also performed at the Dutch National Opera in Amsterdam, with the Radio Philharmonic Orchestra and again Markus Stenz. Theaterkrant called it “a true musical masterpiece”, while de Volkskrant saw how “supreme aimlessness can lead to supreme beauty”. Unfortunately, I had to miss the performance due to illness.
Fin de Partie (c) Ruth WaltzEver-expanding piano series Jatékok (Games)
For Kurtág’s 95th birthday in 2021, the Muziekgebouw organised an ambitious three-day festival, which was unfortunately cancelled due to the Covid pandemic. Instead, pianist Pierre-Laurent Aimard played excerpts from Jatékok (Games) via a live stream. In this ever-expanding series of miniatures for one and/or two pianos – which he himself calls “pedagogical performance pieces” – Kurtág explores a musical idea or portrays a friend.
He frequently played these with Mártá, and they recorded a number of them on CD. In 2021, Aimard presented several brand-new miniatures, because even at the age of 95, Kurtág was still composing every day. During the concert Happy 100 György! on 19 February, Het Muziek will play a selection from Jatékok in an arrangement by Olivier Cuendet. This organist and composer previously made an orchestral version of Zwiegespräch for string quartet and electronics, which Kurtág composed together with his son of the same name.
The icing on the cake is the rarely performed Lebenslauf for two pianos tuned a quarter-tone apart and two basset horns. Kurtág’s works are placed in context with Ligeti’s Poème symphonique mentioned above and works by Unsuk Chin and Thomas Adès. There are also three world premieres, inspired by the number one hundred. Mayke Nas wrote 100 seconds, Huba de Graaff composed 100 notes, and Jasper de Bock made 100 years (I, II, III, IV).
Kurtág finishes second opera at the age of 99
Kurtág completed his first opera when he was 92 years old, but he did not rest on his laurels afterwards. Commissioned by the Budapest Music Centre, he composed a new opera, Die Stechardin, which will premiere on 20 February 2026 during a birthday festival in Budapest.
The libretto is based on letters and writings by the German scientist Georg Christoph Lindberg, who had a relationship with his student Maria Dorothea Stechard, twenty years his junior. Although she died at the age of seventeen and he later remarried, she always remained his great love. ‘She reconciled me with all of humanity,’ Lindberg wrote to a friend.
The libretto poses recognisable questions about life. Is there an afterlife? Does our soul live on after our death? Is there love that transcends the grave? The action is set in another world – heaven, an alternative reality? – where Maria waits for her beloved to rejoin her.
Kurtág completed this three-part monologue for soprano and orchestra in June 2025 and orchestrated it together with Zsolt Serei. Maria Husmann, who has been working with Kurtág for decades, sings the title role, accompanied by the Concerto Budapest Orchestra under András Keller.
Farewell
It is not surprising that Kurtág was drawn to this theme: in 2019, he lost Mártá, who had been his partner for 72 years and remained his inspiration throughout his life. While his opera Fin de partie can be viewed as an artistic testament, Die Stechardin may be considered a farewell, celebrating the beauty of life and love. It expresses reconciliation with death and Kurtág’s hope for a speedy reunion with his beloved.
May he be able to attend the world premiere on 20 February 2026 in Budapest, and then join Márta, wherever she may be.
On 19 February, I will moderate the introduction to the birthday concert Happy 100 György in the Muziekgebouw aan ‘t IJ. Starting at 7.15 p.m., admission free. I will speak with Fedor Teunisse, artistic director of Het Muziek, and the composers De Bock, De Graaff and Nas.
#DieStechardin #GyörgyKurtág #GyörgyLigeti #HubaDeGraaff #MaykeNas #UnsukChin -
@classicalmusic
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@womencomposers#UnsukChin (진은숙 #ChinEunsuk) b. 1961
#ViolinConcerto No. 2, „Scherben der Stille“ (2021)
#LondonSymphonyOrchestra
#SimonRattle#classicalmusic #contemporarymusic
#womencomposers #musik #music #musique #musica #Chin -
@classicalmusic
@contemporarymusic
@womencomposers#UnsukChin (진은숙 #ChinEunsuk) b. 1961
#ViolinConcerto No. 2, „Scherben der Stille“ (2021)
#LondonSymphonyOrchestra
#SimonRattle#classicalmusic #contemporarymusic
#womencomposers #musik #music #musique #musica #Chin -
@classicalmusic
@contemporarymusic
@womencomposers#UnsukChin (진은숙 #ChinEunsuk) b. 1961
#ViolinConcerto No. 2, „Scherben der Stille“ (2021)
#LondonSymphonyOrchestra
#SimonRattle#classicalmusic #contemporarymusic
#womencomposers #musik #music #musique #musica #Chin -
@classicalmusic
@contemporarymusic
@womencomposers#UnsukChin (진은숙 #ChinEunsuk) b. 1961
#ViolinConcerto No. 2, „Scherben der Stille“ (2021)
#LondonSymphonyOrchestra
#SimonRattle#classicalmusic #contemporarymusic
#womencomposers #musik #music #musique #musica #Chin -
@classicalmusic
@contemporarymusic
@womencomposers#UnsukChin (진은숙 #ChinEunsuk) b. 1961
#ViolinConcerto No. 2, „Scherben der Stille“ (2021)
#LondonSymphonyOrchestra
#SimonRattle#classicalmusic #contemporarymusic
#womencomposers #musik #music #musique #musica #Chin -
@classicalmusic @contemporarymusic
@womencomposers#UnsukChin (진은숙 #ChinEunsuk) b. 1961
Piano Concerto (1997)
#HelsinkiPhilharmonicOrchestra
#AntonyHermus#classicalmusic #contemporarymusic
#womencomposers #musik #music #musique #musica #Chin -
@classicalmusic @contemporarymusic
@womencomposers#UnsukChin (진은숙 #ChinEunsuk) b. 1961
Piano Concerto (1997)
#HelsinkiPhilharmonicOrchestra
#AntonyHermus#classicalmusic #contemporarymusic
#womencomposers #musik #music #musique #musica #Chin -
@classicalmusic @contemporarymusic
@womencomposers#UnsukChin (진은숙 #ChinEunsuk) b. 1961
Piano Concerto (1997)
#HelsinkiPhilharmonicOrchestra
#AntonyHermus#classicalmusic #contemporarymusic
#womencomposers #musik #music #musique #musica #Chin -
@classicalmusic @contemporarymusic
@womencomposers#UnsukChin (진은숙 #ChinEunsuk) b. 1961
Piano Concerto (1997)
#HelsinkiPhilharmonicOrchestra
#AntonyHermus#classicalmusic #contemporarymusic
#womencomposers #musik #music #musique #musica #Chin -
@classicalmusic @contemporarymusic
@womencomposers#UnsukChin (진은숙 #ChinEunsuk) b. 1961
Piano Concerto (1997)
#HelsinkiPhilharmonicOrchestra
#AntonyHermus#classicalmusic #contemporarymusic
#womencomposers #musik #music #musique #musica #Chin -
@classicalmusic @contemporarymusic
@womencomposers#UnsukChin (진은숙 #ChinEunsuk) b. 1961
Gougalōn - Scenes from a Street Theater. (2009-2011)
#Ensembleintercontemporain
#DuncanWard#classicalmusic #contemporarymusic
#womencomposers #musik #music #musique #musica #Chin -
@classicalmusic @contemporarymusic
@womencomposers#UnsukChin (진은숙 #ChinEunsuk) b. 1961
Gougalōn - Scenes from a Street Theater. (2009-2011)
#Ensembleintercontemporain
#DuncanWard#classicalmusic #contemporarymusic
#womencomposers #musik #music #musique #musica #Chin -
@classicalmusic @contemporarymusic
@womencomposers#UnsukChin (진은숙 #ChinEunsuk) b. 1961
Gougalōn - Scenes from a Street Theater. (2009-2011)
#Ensembleintercontemporain
#DuncanWard#classicalmusic #contemporarymusic
#womencomposers #musik #music #musique #musica #Chin -
@classicalmusic @contemporarymusic
@womencomposers#UnsukChin (진은숙 #ChinEunsuk) b. 1961
Gougalōn - Scenes from a Street Theater. (2009-2011)
#Ensembleintercontemporain
#DuncanWard#classicalmusic #contemporarymusic
#womencomposers #musik #music #musique #musica #Chin -
@classicalmusic @contemporarymusic
@womencomposers#UnsukChin (진은숙 #ChinEunsuk) b. 1961
Gougalōn - Scenes from a Street Theater. (2009-2011)
#Ensembleintercontemporain
#DuncanWard#classicalmusic #contemporarymusic
#womencomposers #musik #music #musique #musica #Chin -
@classicalmusic @contemporarymusic
@womencomposers#UnsukChin (진은숙 #ChinEunsuk) b. 1961
Akrostichon-Wortspiel (1991/1993)
#HelsinkiPhilharmonicOrchestra
#PaoloBortolameolli#classicalmusic #contemporarymusic
#womencomposers #musik #music #musique #musica #Chin -
@classicalmusic @contemporarymusic
@womencomposers#UnsukChin (진은숙 #ChinEunsuk) b. 1961
Akrostichon-Wortspiel (1991/1993)
#HelsinkiPhilharmonicOrchestra
#PaoloBortolameolli#classicalmusic #contemporarymusic
#womencomposers #musik #music #musique #musica #Chin -
@classicalmusic @contemporarymusic
@womencomposers#UnsukChin (진은숙 #ChinEunsuk) b. 1961
Akrostichon-Wortspiel (1991/1993)
#HelsinkiPhilharmonicOrchestra
#PaoloBortolameolli#classicalmusic #contemporarymusic
#womencomposers #musik #music #musique #musica #Chin -
@classicalmusic @contemporarymusic
@womencomposers#UnsukChin (진은숙 #ChinEunsuk) b. 1961
Akrostichon-Wortspiel (1991/1993)
#HelsinkiPhilharmonicOrchestra
#PaoloBortolameolli#classicalmusic #contemporarymusic
#womencomposers #musik #music #musique #musica #Chin -
@classicalmusic @contemporarymusic
@womencomposers#UnsukChin (진은숙 #ChinEunsuk) b. 1961
Akrostichon-Wortspiel (1991/1993)
#HelsinkiPhilharmonicOrchestra
#PaoloBortolameolli#classicalmusic #contemporarymusic
#womencomposers #musik #music #musique #musica #Chin -
@classicalmusic @contemporarymusic @womencomposers
#UnsukChin (진은숙 #ChinEunsuk) b. 1961
'Chorós Chordón" (2017)
#SymphonyOrchestraofThePrincipalityOfAsturias
#contemporarymusic
#womencomposers #musik #music #musique #musica #Chin -
@classicalmusic @contemporarymusic @womencomposers
#UnsukChin (진은숙 #ChinEunsuk) b. 1961
'Chorós Chordón" (2017)
#SymphonyOrchestraofThePrincipalityOfAsturias
#contemporarymusic
#womencomposers #musik #music #musique #musica #Chin -
@classicalmusic @contemporarymusic @womencomposers
#UnsukChin (진은숙 #ChinEunsuk) b. 1961
'Chorós Chordón" (2017)
#SymphonyOrchestraofThePrincipalityOfAsturias
#contemporarymusic
#womencomposers #musik #music #musique #musica #Chin -
@classicalmusic @contemporarymusic @womencomposers
#UnsukChin (진은숙 #ChinEunsuk) b. 1961
'Chorós Chordón" (2017)
#SymphonyOrchestraofThePrincipalityOfAsturias
#contemporarymusic
#womencomposers #musik #music #musique #musica #Chin -
@classicalmusic @contemporarymusic @womencomposers
#UnsukChin (진은숙 #ChinEunsuk) b. 1961
'Chorós Chordón" (2017)
#SymphonyOrchestraofThePrincipalityOfAsturias
#contemporarymusic
#womencomposers #musik #music #musique #musica #Chin -
@classicalmusic @contemporarymusic @womencomposers
#UnsukChin (진은숙 #ChinEunsuk) b. 1961
#ClarinetConcerto (2014)
I - Mirage - Fanfare - Ornament
II - Hymnos
III - Improvisation on a Groove#NewYorkPhilharmonic
#AlanGilbert#contemporarymusic
#womencomposers #musik #music #musique #musica #Chin -
@classicalmusic @contemporarymusic @womencomposers
#UnsukChin (진은숙 #ChinEunsuk) b. 1961
#ClarinetConcerto (2014)
I - Mirage - Fanfare - Ornament
II - Hymnos
III - Improvisation on a Groove#NewYorkPhilharmonic
#AlanGilbert#contemporarymusic
#womencomposers #musik #music #musique #musica #Chin -
@classicalmusic @contemporarymusic @womencomposers
#UnsukChin (진은숙 #ChinEunsuk) b. 1961
#ClarinetConcerto (2014)
I - Mirage - Fanfare - Ornament
II - Hymnos
III - Improvisation on a Groove#NewYorkPhilharmonic
#AlanGilbert#contemporarymusic
#womencomposers #musik #music #musique #musica #Chin -
@classicalmusic @contemporarymusic @womencomposers
#UnsukChin (진은숙 #ChinEunsuk) b. 1961
#ClarinetConcerto (2014)
I - Mirage - Fanfare - Ornament
II - Hymnos
III - Improvisation on a Groove#NewYorkPhilharmonic
#AlanGilbert#contemporarymusic
#womencomposers #musik #music #musique #musica #Chin -
@classicalmusic @contemporarymusic @womencomposers
#UnsukChin (진은숙 #ChinEunsuk) b. 1961
#ClarinetConcerto (2014)
I - Mirage - Fanfare - Ornament
II - Hymnos
III - Improvisation on a Groove#NewYorkPhilharmonic
#AlanGilbert#contemporarymusic
#womencomposers #musik #music #musique #musica #Chin -
My friend Juliana Zara is making her Carnegie Hall debut with the US premiere of “Puzzles and Games” from Unsuk Chin’s “Alice in Wonderland”!
SEJONG SOLOISTS – 30th ANNIVERSARY CONCERT
🗓️ May 22
🕢 7:30 pm
📍 Carnegie HallConductor: Earl Lee
Violin: Frank Huang, David Chan, Andrew Wan, Daniel Cho
Soprano: Juliana Zara🗞️ https://operawire.com/juliana-zara-to-make-carnegie-hall-debut-with-sejong-soloists
🎟️ https://www.carnegiehall.org/calendar/2024/05/22/sejong-here--now-festival-0730pm#opera #classicalMusic #operaSinger #CarnegieHall #SejongSoloists #UnsukChin #JulianaZara #NewYork #NYC