Alban Berg’s Wozzeck is opera’s great case of PTSD. Written during and immediately after The Great War it is an exemplar of the insanity that produced the war and that which followed it. The libretto, by the composer, is taken from Georg Büchner’s unfinished play Woyzeck. The author died in 1837 at age 23. Berg selected 15 scenes from the play and arranged them in the order that suited him. They are divided into three acts each containing five scenes. As the opera is short – about 90 minutes – it was given without intermission. Each of Berg’s 15 scenes is based on a musical form, eg scene 4 is a passacaglia. I’ve never believed that knowing this adds anything to the audiences appreciation of the piece.

William Kentridge’s production sponsored by the Met and half of the world’s other companies, is set around the time of WW I. Though the riotous setting of Berg’s opera could be anywhere at any time; only Wozzeck’s uniform depicted the era Kentridge had in mind. Wozzeck is like a movie Alfred Hitchcock might have made while high on speed and alcohol and employed Erich Korngold, even higher on speed and alcohol, to write the music while suffering from an acoustic neuroma. Korgold also would have had to lose all his keys.

I attended the Met premiere of Wozzeck on March 5, 1959. What I remember from that distant event was the power of Hermann Uhde’s portrayal of the daft soldier and Kurt Baum’s strutting Drum Major – a part that was perfect for his stage persona; the only part in which Baum excelled. Uhde was also the best Grand Inquisitor (Verdi’s Don Carlo) I ever saw . The reason he did not have a more prominent career at the Met was that he dropped dead in the middle of a performance in Copenhagen in 1965. Though I’d listened to this opera many times, today’s show was only the second time I saw it.

The Met did the opera in English until 1980 when the original German replaced the translation. It doesn’t matter what the language used is, the audience won’t understand a word of it.

Kentridge made such extensive use of videos and projections that the show seemed a mobile Rorschach. I often couldn’t tell the real performers from those in the projections. The real sets looked like a trailer park after a tornado. And then there were the puppets. The Met is on a stupid jag of depicting children with bunraku puppets. Franz (Wozzeck’s first name) and his partner (I’m trying to be woke or whatever) Marie have a toddler child. Kentridge turned him into a puppet which makes hash out of the “Hopp hopp” finale. The doll was also wearing a gas mask as were a lot of other characters.

Peter Mattei and Elza van den Heever sang (I don’t know if sprechstimme qualifies as singing) quite well, but they are too large for their parts. Ordinarily, weight and size don’t matter much in opera; but Wozzeck and Marie must be thin – verging on malnourished. Uhde was very thin. His Marie (Eleanor Steber) was slim, at least by the standards of opera. These characters are too poor and troubled to have even an extra pound on them.

Christopher Ventris was the Drum Major. He looked like he belonged in front of The Ohio State University marching band or perhaps in a pinball machine. He, the Captain, and the Doctor all failed to convey the sense of delirious menace that this work demands. In fact, the whole production felt off. This cacophonous sport of an opera has held the stage for almost a century. The Met’s new production doesn’t tell someone new to to the work why. The audience knows they’re supposed to appreciate this work if they want to be among the enlightened, but there were empty seats. Wozzeck has never been a ticket seller throughout its 73 appearances at the New York museum.

The orchestra under music director Yannick Nézet-Séguin played brilliantly, yet even here I have a quibble. I liked James Levine’s gentler reading better. I realize that gentle and Wozzeck are hard to put in the same sentence, but it’s the best I can do. I have a recording of this performance, but I wonder if I’ll listen to it. I have listened to Levine’s interpretation numerous times.

In summary, an interesting – though not definitive – staging of one of opera’s strangest works. Worth seeing every 60 years or so. Gary Halvorson’s video direction was unobtrusive, ie good.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Metropolitan Opera
January 11, 2020

WOZZECK
Alban Berg–Alban Berg/Georg Büchner

Wozzeck……………..Peter Mattei
Marie……………….Elza van den Heever
Captain……………..Gerhard Siegel
Drum Major…………..Christopher Ventris
Doctor………………Christian Van Horn
Andres………………Andrew Staples
Margret……………..Tamara Mumford
Apprentice…………..David Crawford
Apprentice…………..Miles Mykkanen
Fool………………..Brenton Ryan
Soldier……………..Daniel Clark Smith
Townsman…………….Gregory Warren
Child……………….Eliot Flowers
Actor……………….Frank Colardo
Actor……………….Tina Mitchell
Piano Solo…………..Jonathan C. Kelly

Conductor……………Yannick Nézet-Séguin

Production…………..William Kentridge
Co-Director………….Luc De Wit
Projection Designer…..Catherine Meyburgh
Set Designer…………Sabine Theunissen
Costume Designer……..Greta Goiris
Lighting Designer…….Urs Schonebaum
Puppeteer……………Andrea Fabi
Puppeteer……………Gwyneth E. Larsen
Video Directo………Gary Havlvoson