โAn exhilarating success, a brilliant presentation of Ligeti's commanding score and a disarming production.โ This was the verdict of the New York Times after three sold-out performances of Gyรถrgy Ligeti's opera โLe Grand Macabreโ, with which Alan Gilbert, in collaboration with director Doug Fitch, brought this milestone of modern music theater to New York for the first time in May 2010. For the Hamburg International Music Festival - which focuses on Ligeti's music - the NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchestra is now bringing the highly acclaimed production to Hamburg in a version adapted for the Elbphilharmonie. โLe Grand Macabreโ is a grotesque parable on the downfall of humanity, โan opera about the existential crisis in the modern world, about the search for the meaning of life - with all its nonsense and crazinessโ, states Alan Gilbert. It is no coincidence that this pitch-black musical theater spectacle is the most frequently performed contemporary opera in the world.