Some composers die far too young, others amply outlive their artistic peak, and then there is György Kurtág… The Hungarian composer was 93 when his very first opera premiered in 2017. The libretto is an adaptation of Samuel Beckett’s revolutionary play Endgame about the end of times. With Beckett, theatre is reduced to its essence and it is primarily about the passing of time. In the opera Fin de Partie we follow four characters who are waiting for their end, and end that does not want to come. The result is at once moving and astonishing. Kurtág’s sober and modest musical language fits beautifully with Beckett’s bald and pared-down writing. The world premiere of this opera in 2018 garnered unanimous praise. The end game of a musical grand master - a modern classic, now being performed in Belgium for the first time.