Hungarian-born composer György Ligeti is one of the late 20th-Century’s most influential creative figures. This recording was made under the composer’s supervision & captures the live performance of the opera ‘Le Grand Macabre’ at Paris’ Theatre du Chatelet. Esa-Pekka Salonen, known for his brilliant interpretations of contemporary music, conducts the Philharmonia Orchestra, the London Sinfonietta Voices & soloists. This recording comes with full libretto. World-premiere recording of the 1997 version. Based on the theatre piece ‘La Balade du Grand Macabre’ by Michel de Ghelderode, Ligeti’s ‘Le Grand Macabre’ is a surreal, darkly whimsical vision of a modern world – much of the action is set in a place called Breughelland – that is approaching apocalypse. The libretto is by the composer & Michael Meschke (the great puppet theatre expert). The opera had its world premiere in Stockholm in 1978, but Ligeti made a number of revisions to the score over the next two decades. A final revised version had its premiere at the 1997 Salzburg Festival, in a production staged by Peter Sellars, which was later presented at the Theatre du Chatelet in February 1998, when this recording was made.