dianelukeman 15 Oct 2009 at 9:46pm (Report this message)

“Berg’s Wozzek – that’s the opera for which you never have difficulty booking seats!”  So we heard once from an opera buff.  This was not borne out when, last Thursday (8^th October) we arrived at a packed Royal Festival Hall to attend a semi-staged version of the opera with Esa-Pekka Salonen conducting the Philharmonia Orchestra.  This was the last concert in the City of Dreams: Vienna 1900-1935 Season which started in February this year. 

It was an outstanding experience.  The story, based on a book by Georg Buchner is one of misery – of people in a cycle of poverty and victimhood – put upon by those above them marginally in the social ladder.  Berg wrote “I simply wanted to compose good music to develop musically the content of Georg Buchnner’s immortal drama.....”  and that is what he has done.  The music reflects and drives the narrative forward.  It is exciting and stimulating with much of the emotion in the lyrical orchestral interludes.  The singing with Simon Keenlyside as Wozzeck and Katarine Dalayman is superb together with the rest of the cast and a Chorus from Philharmonia Voices and a chorus of children from local schools.   The large orchestra leaves a narrow strip of stage for the action – which somehow seems to reflect appropriately the narrowness of their lives with little room for manoeuvre.

The screen with a projection of swirling colours and shapes and distorted faces of the cast seems to be conveying the Wozzeck’s decreasing grasp on reality.  There have been criticisms of it but I reserve my opinion.    We had chosen, as we usually do in the Festival Hall, seats on the side – fine for orchestral works but not ideal for this performance.    I did not find the images distracting but thought they might have added to the overall impression.

As I started to write this, I turned on the radio to find that the performance was being broadcast this evening and i had not realised.   I listened again to Act 3 and was impressed again.   Maybe you can catch it on Listen Again