Berg's 'Wozzeck', reviewed by Robert Anderson. '... quite convincing enough ...'

<< -- 4 -- Robert Anderson SIMPLE ATTRACTIONS

A blood-red moon rises as Wozzeck and Marie walk together. Driven to a desperation of jealousy, Wozzeck has with him the knife with which he slits Marie's throat [watch and listen -- chapter 35, 84:40-86:00]. In a futile attempt to dispose of the knife, Wozzeck himself perishes. The captain and doctor have heard his agonised cries but hurry on. It remains only for the local urchins to try to convince the little boy his mother is dead while he plays on his hobby-horse [watch and listen -- chapter 42, 98:08-99:45]. This Frankfurt performance under the painstaking Sylvain Cambreling is quite convincing enough to convince me another decade can happily pass before I need see the opera again.

Alban Berg: Wozzeck

102 031 DVD9 NTSC 16:9 Region 0 (worldwide) PCM Stereo FIRST RELEASE 103' 1996 ZDF

Dale Duesing, Wozzeck; Ronald Hamilton, Drum Major; Barry Banks, Andres; Dieter Bundschuh, Captain; Frode Olsen, Doctor; Bodo Schwanbeck, Workman I; Alexander Spemann, Workman II; William Saetre, Idiot; Kristine Ciesinski, Marie; Linda Ormiston, Margaret; Frankfurter Museumsorchester; Choir and Children's Choir of the Frankfurter Oper; Sylvain Cambreling, conductor; Peter Mussbach, director and set design; Johannes Mikkelsen, chorus master; Benedikt Ramm, costumes

Alban Berg (1885-1935): Wozzeck (opera in three acts and fifteen scenes, 1914-25, libretto by Alban Berg after the play by Georg Büchner). Recorded in 1996 at the Frankfurter Oper, under studio conditions

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