“Faust” is not only a very famous drama from the very famous German writer Wolfgang Goethe: DER FAUST is also the title of the most important award in German theatre. Awarded by the Deutscher Bühnenverein, alongside the Deutsche Akademie der Darstellenden Künste and the Kulturstiftung der Länder, DER FAUST honours those extraordinary artistic achievements that reflect the diversity of the theatrical landscape in Germany. The 2024 prize for the “Best Music Theatre Production” goes to Ingo Kerkhof for the German premiere of György Kurtág’s Fin de partie in March at the Oper Dortmund.

“Through his direction” the jury says, “Ingo Kerhof recognises the great challenge of a filigree chamber play, which Kurtág juxtaposes with a huge orchestra. He and set designer Anne Neuser placed the audience directly onstage, in the action among the singers. In contrast, he arranged the orchestra within the auditorium under the sensational direction of Johannes Kalitzke. Rather than form an acoustic wall between the audience and stage, it was instead able to expand across the entire gamut of sound – from the delicate to the eruptive. With the utmost precision in direction and the acoustic depth of this gigantic orchestra, the audience is drawn directly into the opera and experiences the acting and music not as separate levels, but rather both with the same intensity. Every gesture is adapted to this end, so that the music, text, and scene successfully merge into a single entity. The work itself, Kurtág’s opera, can thus penetrate into the hearts of the audience unadulterated. It is a significant contribution to the survival of this work.”

Two years before his 100th birthday, György Kurtág’s opera based on Samuel Beckett’s text has so far seen 37 stage and concert performances in eight countries.
In January and February 2025, the Staatsoper Berlin will present the work with a new production from Johannes Erath.

Photo: Thomas M. Jauk/StagePicture