Esa-Pekka Salonen and his Philharmonia Orchestra end their nine-month series, City of Dreams (Vienna 1900-1935) with this performance of Berg’s first opera, Wozzeck at Paris’ Théâtre des Champs-Elysées.
Built in 1913 for impresario Gabriel Astruc by Perralt, the Théâtre des Champs-Elysées is a rare example of Art Deco in Paris. It boasts an exterior bas relief by Antoine Bourdelle, a dome by Maurice Denis, Édouard Vuillard paintings and a Xavier Roussel curtain.
Simon Keenleyside sings the title role, with Katarina Dalayman as Marie. Alongside Keenlyside and Dalayman, Salonen’s cast includes Anthony Dean Griffey (Drum Major), Robert Murray (Andres), Peter Hoare (Captain), Matthew Best (Doctor), Anna Burford (Margret), David Soar and Leigh Melrose (workmen) and Ben Johnson (Idiot). The chorus is the Philharmonia Voices.
Wozzeck, composed between 1914 an 1922, follows our eponymous soldier as he is driven to murder, having become paranoid after he finds that his girlfriend, Marie, is having an affair.
Berg heightened the expressionist drama by composing almost deliberately non-lyrical music and there have been no more forceful marriages of music and story in the whole of opera.
While not as popular as Verdi or Bizet, Wozzeck is worth catching for its raw emotion.
Performing at the Théâtre des Champs-Elysées on the 12th October 2009, you’ll have to be quick to catch this last performance.
Photo 4JX Orchestra Sinfonica Nazionale della Rai by MITO Settembre Musica’s
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