Monday, November 16, 2015

Wozzeck

Tonight David and I saw a remarkable production of Alban Berg's Wozzeck at the Chicago Lyric Opera.

Image result for tomasz konieczny Tomas Konieczny

The stellar cast included Gerhard Siegel as The Captain, Tomasz Konieczny in the title role, David Portillo as Andres, Angela Denoke as Marie, Jill Grove as Margret, Brindley Sherratt as The Doctor, Stefan Vinke as the Drum Major, and Zachery Uzararaga as Marie's son.



Image result for angela denoke Angela Denoke

The lead singers have all performed tonight's roles in previous performances of Wozzeck and sang with fervor and excitement. I would class all their voices as 'Nordic'; several have also sung Wagnerian roles. Ms. Denoke in particular sang the brutal tessitura of Marie with ease, and all the men covered their roles equally well.

Vicki Mortimer designed the amazing set and Paul Constable did the lighting. Sir Andrew Davis was the admirable conductor, smoothly handling Berg's difficult score, getting every ounce of drama from it.

I may have seen Wozzeck at the Met years ago but I'm not sure. At any rate this production is world-class!