Last staged by the Canadian Opera Company as its final production at the old Hummingbird Centre (now Meridian Hall) in 2006, Wozzeck is making a triumphant return to the COC, in the celebrated production by South African artist William Kentridge that opened last Friday at the Four Seasons Centre.
This production premiered at the Salzburg Festival in 2017, reaching the Paris Opera and the Met later. Met Live in HD fans may well have seen it in the Cineplex cinemas at the time. I, for one, was blown away at the time by its powerful score, searing drama and two leads, Swedish baritone Peter Mattei and South African soprano Elza van den Heever. This year marks the 100th anniversary of Wozzeck, a perfect time to bring this masterpiece of early 20th-century German Expressionism back to Canadian opera audiences.
Alban Berg saw the play Woyzeck by Georg Büchner in Vienna in 1914. Legend has it that Berg served – unhappily – in the military during World War One, and the misfortunes of Wozzeck the central character resonated with him. It inspired Berg to turn the play into an opera, which he completed in 1922. The premiere took place at Berlin’s Staatsoper Unter den Linden in 1925. It was a critical success until it was banned by the Nazi’s as “Entartete Musik.”
Wozzeck is a poor and downtrodden soldier, abused by his superiors, the Captain and the Doctor. Meanwhile, his beloved common-law wife Marie is forced to yield to the advances of the Drum Major. All these misfortunes contribute to Wozzeck’s eventual descent into madness. He ends up killing Marie and eventually drowning himself in the lake. Not exactly a fun evening at the opera!
On top of it all is the astringent atonal score, not exactly the pretty tunes and hummable melodies that many opera lovers have come to expect. Yet Wozzeck, with its gritty story and raw emotions, has earned the pride of place as one of the greatest works in the operatic canon. Together with Lulu, these two Berg operas are part of the core repertoire. Love it or hate it, I dare say that no audience member of Wozzeck can remain indifferent.
Photo Credit: Michael Cooper
Anthony Robin Schneider as the Doctor and Michael Schade as the Captain in the COC’s Wozzeck
The Kentridge production has time-shifted the work from the 19th century to World War One, which works well in the storytelling. The set, by Sabine Theunissen, is made up of a jumble of platforms and walkways, slanted every which way, some serving as entrances and exits. There are also non-stop video projections as well as many voiceless characters, some wearing gas masks, appearing and disappearing. The dominant colours are black, white and grey. Striking? Absolutely. But at times, there’s so much going on that it’s almost visually overwhelming.
For Wozzeck aficionados, there’s one major departure from the original – the absence of the famous opening scene when Wozzeck is shaving the Captain. Instead, Wozzeck brings on a projector and proceeds to run some film footage. To my eyes and ears, this is one Kentridge touch that doesn’t work – it’s much less dramatically compelling than showing Wozzeck’s servitude to the Captain in the shaving scene. At the risk of nitpicking, turning Marie’s son into a mannequin with a gas mask also doesn’t do it for me, as it takes away the mother-son tender moments.
On the musical side of things, this Wozzeck opening night was a total triumph. It boasts a superb cast of singing actors, without a weak link down to the smallest cameo roles. This run reunites German baritone Michael Kupfer-Radecky and Canadian soprano Ambur Braid after their superb Jochanaan and Salome two seasons ago. Kupfer-Radecky sang well and was a heartfelt, if rather dramatically understated, Wozzeck. Braid was quite the exuberant Marie, singing and acting with a controlled abandon, not to mention her huge, searing top notes.
As the Captain, veteran tenor Michael Schade has the ideal character tenor sound for the role. He gave his all vocally and acted up a storm. Austrian bass Anthony Robin Schneider made an auspicious COC debut as the Doctor. Canadian tenor Matthew Cairns was a suitably flamboyant Drum Major. All the small roles were well taken, with special kudos to Owen McCausland (Andres) and Krisztina Szabó (Margret).
COC Music Director Johannes Debus led the orchestra in a marvellous performance, one that combined power and lyricism, always well-judged and in service to the music. In climactic moments, such as the brief fortissimo passage near the very end, the sound coming out of the pit was truly awe-inspiring. All in all, a memorable start to the 2025 spring season. Even if you are not a Wozzeck fan, this show just might convert you!
Photo Credit: Michael Cooper
The company of Wozzeck, with Krisztina Szabó and Michael Kupfer-Radecky in light at the top, on Sabine Theunissen’s set
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Joseph So is Professor Emeritus at Trent University. He is also a long-time contributor to La Scena Musicale and Opera (London, UK). His interest in music journalism focuses on voice, opera as well as symphonic and piano repertoires. He appears regularly as a panel member of the Big Canadian Opera Company Podcast. He has co-edited a book, Opera in a Multicultural World: Coloniality, Culture, Performance, published by Routledge (Taylor & Francis Group).
