Search - Alban Berg, Anja Silja, Karl Bohm :: Berg: Wozzeck

An Astonishing Performance!

Patrick W. Crabtree | Lucasville, OH USA | 03/08/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Classical music collectors should not be, in the slightest, put off by the fact that this is a live performance of Wozzeck -- the sound quality is incredible, all the singers come across with great clarity and there are no distractions (such as audience coughing) during the opera. My feeling is manifest that the fact that it is live surely, in this instance, must have added to the electricity of this particular performance.



Wozzeck is the only atonal (12 tone system) opera which remains in the repertoire and it is fairly well known that even people who don't care much for atonal music typically enjoy a presentation of Wozzeck -- and this presentation is particularly addicting. In fact, this is a great starter CD for those previously unapprised of atonal music.



Just a note about the composer, Alban Berg certainly outdid himself with this particular work. The complexity of composing an opera and conveying it at all in a sensical manner within the parameters of 12-tone "rules" calls for complete genius at the least.



This is a 2 CD set that runs in three acts with brief applause at the end of each. That is the only way that the listener can determine that it is a live recording, short of reading the CD notes. The performance itself was rendered in 1971 by the Vienna Philharmonic, Karl Bohm conducting. It is incredibly difficult to keep the orchestra and singers in sync on this opera and Bohm keeps it nice and tight. Of course, the opera is sung/spoken in German.



The story itself is darkly hilarious and is better read from Buchner's original play, "Woyzeck," which was based upon a fascinating but tragic true story. In any case, my favorite performer in this masterpiece is Helmut Melkert (tenor) who plays "The Captain," but all the players are professionally excellent in their respective roles.



For the price, you will find neither a better buy nor a better performance of Wozzeck. I listen to this 2 CD set with great frequency."

Historic performance

Osvaldo Colarusso | Curitiba, Paraná Brazil | 09/30/2007

(5 out of 5 stars)

"If you want to hear this magnificent opera in a good sound you have a lot of possibilities : the records of Dohnanyi , Abbado, Segerstam .... As sound are perfect. And we have great singers in these records. This one isn't perfect as sound. But, more than Abbado , that is a living recording too, this one played in Salzburg in 1971 ,make we have the impression to hear something really sounding in a live performance . The singers are all very good. The Orchestra is fantastic .And the conductor make this music in a magnificent way. Bohm is very important for the history of Wozzeck : he did the premiere of the work in Paris ( the first staged performance in Paris at the Champs Elisee theater ),Buenos Aires , New York ( the first production of the Metropolitan ), etc. The studio record of Wozzeck conducted by Böhm is very good, with Dieskau, Lear and......Wunderlich. But this time Böhm is realy exceptional . Like the Tristan of 1966 we have here the impression of a real theater. The sound isn't good. Who cares ????"

A visceral, gritty Wozzeck, with some glitches

Santa Fe Listener | Santa Fe, NM USA | 03/10/2008

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Wozzeck is fiendishy difficult to perform accurately under live conditions, and this Salzburg production directed by Karl Bohm does as well as one can expect. The conductor's way with the score is markedly more visceral, gritty, and unbuttoned than it was in his famous studio account for DG, which came out six years earlier. Yet that version has the edge in a better cast all around. Here is the cast list for the Opera d'Oro release.



Wozzeck - Geraint Evans

Marie - Anja Silja

Drum Major - Fritz Uhl

Andres - Laurent Driscoll

The Captain - Helmut Melkert

The Doctor - Hans Kremmer

First Artisan - Zoltan Kelemen

Second Assistant - Klaus Hirte

Idiot - Jan Van Ree

Margret - Gertrude Jan



Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra

Karl Böhm, conductor

Live performance, Salzburg, August 8, 1971



Everyone does a commendable job, but Evans doesn't have the most incisive German, and Silja's high notes can be hit or miss. What stands out is the excitement of a staged performance and the execution of the Vienna Phil., which plays magnificently. It's too bad the microphones favor the singers over the orchestra, but that's certainly understandable. (The singers tend to fade when they move away from the mike, however.) I wouldn't substitute anyone in this cast for DG's Fischer-Dieskau, Evelyn Lear, Gerhard Stoltze, and Fritz Wunderlich (what a lineup!), yet as a bargain introduction to the opera, this is nearly ideal. The sound is mono but generally clear and detailed."