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Wozzeck 1966

August 19 - 24, 1966

Beauty from madness…

The quintessential “modern” opera. Berg’s masterpiece combines music of intense emotional power and lyricism with a profoundly dramatic story.

Music By
Alban Berg
Text Adapted by the Composer from Drama by
Georg Buechner
English Translation By
Eric Blackwell and Vida Harford

Synopsis

Act I

WOZZECK AND HIS WORLD (5 Character Studies)

Scene 1. (Suite) Wozzeck is shaving the Captain, who is rambling on about life and making fun of the poor fellow. It is evident the Captain is disturbed by Wozzeck.

Scene 2. (Rhapsody) Wozzeck and Andres are cutting sticks. Andres sings to keep gay, but Wozzeck sees strange spectral visions and finally succeeds in frightening Andres.

Scene 3. (March; lullaby) Marie, Wozzeck’s mistress, is watching a parade. She comforts her child by Wozzeck. Wozzeck, still distracted, comes in and, shortly after, goes out again, without noticing his child.

Scene 4. (Theme with variations) The Doctor pays Wozzeck three cents a day to use him as a guinea pig. He theorizes about the state of the world. Wozzeck tries to confide in him, but the Doctor sees Wozzeck only as a specimen he will use to become famous.

Scene 5. (Rondo) Marie is infatuated with the handsome Drum Major. He responds, and Marie, after a short struggle, gives in.

Act II

DEVELOPMENT (Symphony in 5 Movements)

Scene 1. (Sonata form) Marie is looking at earrings the Drum Major has given her. Wozzeck comes in and notices them: Marie says she found them. Wozzeck gives her money.

Scene 2. (Fantasy and fugue) The Captain and the Doctor are bantering with each other: the Doctor frightens the Captain with his diagnoses. Wozzeck goes by, and they both begin making fun of him, slyly referring to the Drum Major.

Scene 3. (Largo) Wozzeck accuses Marie of seeing the Drum Major She does not deny it. Wozzeck broods.

Scene 4. (Scherzo with trio) Townsfolk are dancing in the cavern garden. Wozzeck sees Marie dancing with the Drum Major. An apprentice gives a drunken sermon. The village idiot says the place reeks of blood.

Scene 5. (Rondo) Everyone but Wozzeck is asleep in the barracks. He wakes Andres to have someone to talk to. The Drum Major comes in, boasting of his conquest. Wozzeck only whistles in reply. The Drum Major throws him to the ground and goes out. “One after the other,” says Wozzeck.

Act III

CATASTROPHE (6 Inventions)

Scene 1. (Invention on a theme) Marie is reading the Bible and turns to the story of the adulterous woman. She cannot look at her child. She prays for mercy.

Scene 2. (Invention on a tone: B) Wozzeck takes Marie for a walk beside a pool. He talks of old times. She begins to be frightened as the moon rises red. He plunges a knife into her throat.

Scene 3. (Invention on a rhythm) Wozzeck watches the frenetic activity in a cheap bar. He pulls Margret onto his lap, and she notices blood on his hand. Wozzeck rushes off.

Scene 4. (Invention on a chord) Wozzeck has returned to the pool to find the knife. He retrieves it and throws it into the water. The water seems to turn to blood. Wozzeck thinks the knife is too near the shore. He wades in to find it and drowns. The Captain and the Doctor, passing by, hear groans. They pause, listening. The groans fade, and they flee.

Orchestral lntermezzo (Invention on a key) – Homage to Wozzeck.

Scene 5. (Invention on a quarter-note rhythm) Children are playing. A child runs in to say that Marie’s body has been found. Another tells Marie’s child his mother is dead. The children run off to see. Marie’s child continues riding his hobby-horse and then follows them.

Artists

Adib Fazah

Baritone

Wozzeck

Marguerite Willauer

Soprano

Marie

Donald Gramm

Bass-baritone

The Doctor

Charles Bressler

Tenor

The Captain

Don Jones

Tenor

Andres

Jean Kraft

Mezzo-soprano

Margret

Michael Trimbel

Tenor

The Drum Major

John West

Tenor

First Apprentice

John Duykers headshot

John Duykers

Tenor

Second Apprentice

Rico Serbo

Tenor

The Fool

Anastasios Vrenios

Tenor

A soldier

Robert Craft

Conductor

Lotfi Mansouri

Director

Lawrence Reehling

Scenic Designer

Costume Designer

Joan Larkey

Lighting Designer

R. Whitman Procter

Chorus Master