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Organization

Sänger

Bariton

Christian Gerhaher

Wozzeck

Leigh Melrose

Tenor

Brandon Jovanovich

Tambourmajor

Mauro Peter

Andres

Wolfgang Ablinger-Sperrhacke

Hauptmann

Bass

Lars Woldt

Doktor

Pavel Daniluk

Erster Handwerksbursch

Cheyne Davidson

Zweiter Handwerksbursch

Martin Zysset

Der Narr

Sopran

Gun-Brit Barkmin

Marie

Irène Friedli

Margret

Dirigat

Fabio Luisi

Regie

Andreas Homoki

Kostümbild

Yulia Levin

Bühnenbild

Lichtgestaltung

Franck Evin

Chordirektion

Jürg Hämmerli

Dramaturgie

Kathrin Brunner

Tae-Jin Park

Handwerksburschen

Opernhaus Zürich

Others

Kinderchor der Oper Zürich

Chor der Oper Zürich

Orchestra

Philharmonia Zürich

Statistenverein am Opernhaus Zürich

Deutsch

Zürich

Schweiz

The soldier Wozzeck (Christian Gerhaher) flits through a world that he is unable to decipher. The doctor torments him with absurd medical experiments; the captain humiliates and ridicules him. And Wozzeck’s lover, Marie (Gun-Brit Barkmin), with whom he has a child, cuckolds him with the drum major. Wozzeck becomes a murderer, stabbing Marie to death. Georg Büchner’s drama fragment, on which Alban Berg based his first opera, is an unflinching case study of social injustice and human suffering. But it is also a grotesque piece that thrives on exaggeration – and in which only a fine line separates the unfathomable from the ridiculous. Accordingly, director Andreas Homoki forgoes all realism.

His nightmarishly radical production is inspired by puppet theatre. Christian Gerhaher’s role debut as Wozzeck can only be described as sensational: his capacity for vocal and dramatic subtlety is simply breath-taking. At the rostrum of the Philharmonia Zurich, Fabio Luisi explores both the expressionistic and the more intimate aspects, reminiscent of chamber music, in Berg’s seminal score.

Opernhaus

Studiobühne

“This Wozzeck, even more spectacular than Tcherniakov’s powerful vision, was one of the strongest artistic gestures of 2015. You should see it on film as soon as possible, a production that from now on is considered the touchstone performance of one of opera history's seminal works.” (Tutti Magazine) What higher praise can there be for this production of Berg’s celebrated opera? The masterpiece of 20th-century musical drama, Wozzeck is adapted from Büchner’s unfinished 1837 play, a dark tale inspired by a true story. The poor Wozzeck—a simple soldier whose only joy in life is his devotion to his lover Marie—progressively sinks into madness and commits the ultimate and unthinkable act...

Deeply moved by the destiny of the real Woyzeck, an old soldier condemned for having stabbed his mistress, Büchner wanted to use his play to condemn society as bearing the true responsibility for the soldier’s “criminality”. Berg builds on this vision, opening his opera with the captain’s admonishing his subordinate for having fathered a child outside of wedlock. Wozzeck responds that it is easier to be honest when one has money. To illustrate this tragic social determinism, Andreas Homoki recasts the opera’s protagonists as marionettes, each playing his role and perceiving his social status as an unavoidable destiny. A true story and unforgettable drama transformed into a fable musical for the ages.

Winner of the 2017 International Classical Music Award and BBC's Music Magazine Award. Alban Berg’s “Wozzeck” is an indispensable work in the repertoire of any opera house. In Zurich, critics and audience celebrated director Andreas Homoki, General Music Director Fabio Luisi and baritone Christian Gerhaher for their intriguing interpretation of this masterpiece of operatic history.

Wozzeck Berg

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