Alban Berg - Wozzeck / Adolf Dresen · Claudio Abbado - F. Grundheber · H. Behrens · Vienna State Opera

Rating:
Summary: For 20th century music fans, this is a must have title!
Review: Berg journies into the fracturing madness of a relationship where "Wozzeck" (a soldier undergoing experimental medical treatments to supplement his meager salarie) discovers that his lover has cheated on him with another soldier in his unit. This rest of the story unfolds to reveal the devastation and mental anguish of the entire affair. The final scene is easily the most heart wrenching and anguish filled of modern opera. WARNING: Composed in 12 tone atonality, excellent study work. At times the cinematography is less than perfect, but it was recorded live. EXCELLENT VOCAL PERFORMANCES of incredibly difficult music.

Rating:
Summary: First rate!
Review: Great performance, vocally and orchestrally. The acting is good as well. Staging is appropriate throughout, and visually at times quite lovely, as in the drowing scene.

One minor caveat, already noted by another reviewer: the images on the box have nothing to do with what's inside! They look like they were taken from a Disney version!

Rating:
Summary: Deceptive Packaging!
Review: Let's not be fooled, folks: the VHS reviews, which appear under the DVD listing, refer to an ENTIRELY DIFFERENT version. This is SUPPOSED to be a different staging, as you can tell from the cover of the DVD. It looked like it was done by the same people who did Yellow Submarine, or maybe by Julie Taymor (who did Oedipus Rex for the Tokyo Met, and Titus with Anthony Hopkins).

But here's the kicker: it ISN'T! The video case for the DVD SHOWS a different staging, but the actual video is of exactly the same staging featured on the VHS version, and recorded (in a slightly better performance) on the double-CD set released by Deutche Grammophon.

This is REALLY irritating. I was expecting a different staging, since i've already heard this one, and seen it as well. The whole point was to see a DIFFERENT one, and that's what the packaging implies is recorded on the enclosed DVD.

I don't know why they took the poorly-taped 1987 performance, and put it on a DVD with all these photos from an entirely different production (with even different actors, it appears) but that would be called fraud in almost any context. Having just watched this DVD production, i'm going to contact the company and demand an explanation.

You've been warned.

Rating:
Summary: an important opera an important performance
Review: Spiritual descendant of Gustav Mahler, Berg's expressionist materpiece is a watershed work and prime example of the 2nd Viennese's school's 'more palatable' side. The drama, like the music, appeals to the subconscious and 'free-form' while remaining ferociously complex in structure and execution. Berg casts the music in various established late Romantic idioms, such as the Theme and Variations or Symphony form, such that the drama almost seems to be a 'second layer' growing on top of the music--even so, the two mate perfectly. Anyone with an interest in the documented dissolution of tonality (an experiment that did indeed culminate in 12-tone serialism, but not for a decade--and an experiment that would not last past 1970) should investigate this work, best experienced in a staged format. A couple of the singers' intonation and clarity of diction leave a bit to be desired, but on the whole Cluadio Abaddo does a masterly job of guiding orchestra and singers alike through a complex maze of notes. Recommended to die-hard Wozzeck fans, those who enjoy contemporary music, music scholars, fans of opera, and those wishing to extend their musical palate.

--Justin Laird Weaver <[e-mail]>

Rating:
Summary: an important opera an important performance
Review: Spiritual descendant of Gustav Mahler, Berg's expressionist materpiece is a watershed work and prime example of the 2nd Viennese's school's 'more palatable' side. The drama, like the music, appeals to the subconscious and 'free-form' while remaining ferociously complex in structure and execution. Berg casts the music in various established late Romantic idioms, such as the Theme and Variations or Symphony form, such that the drama almost seems to be a 'second layer' growing on top of the music--even so, the two mate perfectly. Anyone with an interest in the documented dissolution of tonality (an experiment that did indeed culminate in 12-tone serialism, but not for a decade--and an experiment that would not last past 1970) should investigate this work, best experienced in a staged format. A couple of the singers' intonation and clarity of diction leave a bit to be desired, but on the whole Cluadio Abaddo does a masterly job of guiding orchestra and singers alike through a complex maze of notes. Recommended to die-hard Wozzeck fans, those who enjoy contemporary music, music scholars, fans of opera, and those wishing to extend their musical palate.

--Justin Laird Weaver <[e-mail]>

Rating:
Summary: +Perfect execution of a perfect opera
Review: This is a must buy for the discriminating Berg fan. I particularly like the live audience which only added to the realism so obviously heard in the music but sometimes missed in staged videos. The doctor and the Captain's street walk is particularly effective.

Rating:
Summary: A must-see opera
Review: WARNING! This is NOT composed in "12-tone atonality," as reviewed above. This is arguably the greatest opera of the twentieth century, and, consistent with Berg's other expressionistic works, embodies a wide range of styles, including some fairly standard late-romantic harmony. Franz Grundheber's Wozzeck is bone-chillingly gripping.