Berg: Wozzeck (Opera in 3 Acts) ~ Grundheber / Behrens / Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra / Claudio Abbado

Berg: Wozzeck (Opera in 3 Acts) ~ Grundheber / Behrens / Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra / Claudio Abbado

Berg: Wozzeck (Opera in 3 Acts) ~ Grundheber / Behrens / Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra / Claudio Abbado
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CD Details

Composer: Alban Berg
Conductor: Claudio Abbado
Orchestra: Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra
Performer: Vienna State Opera Chorus
Edition: Music CD
Audio: German (Unknown); German (Published)
Format: Box set
CD Release Date: 1990-10-25
Music Label: Deutsche Grammophon
Soundtracks:
Music CD 1
  1. Wozzeck: Act One - Scene 1- 'Langsam, Wozzeck, langsam!' (Hauptmann, Wozzeck)
  2. Wozzeck: Act One - Scene 2 - 'Du, der Platz ist verflucht!' (Wozzeck, Andres)
  3. Wozzeck: Act One - Scene 3 - 'Tschin Bum...! Horst Bub? Da kommen sie!' (Marie, Wozzeck)
  4. Wozzeck: Act One - Scene 4 - 'Was erleb' ich, Wozzeck?' (Doctor, Wozzeck)
  5. Wozzeck: Act One - Scene 5 - 'Geh einmal vor Dich hin...' (Marie, Drum Major)
Music CD 2
  1. Wozzeck: Act Two - Scene 1 - 'Was die Steine glanzen!' (Marie, Wozzeck)
  2. Wozzeck: Act Two - Scene 2 - 'Wohin so eilig, geehrtester Herr Sargnagel?' (Captain, Doctor, Wozzeck)
  3. Wozzeck: Act Two - Scene 3 - 'Guten Tag, Franz.' (Marie, Wozzeck)
  4. Wozzeck: Act Two - Scene 4 - 'Ich hab' ein Hemdlein an, das ist nicht mein...' (Wozzeck, Marie, Drum Major, Andres)
  5. Wozzeck: Act Two - Scene 5 - 'Oh! Oh! Andres, ich kann nicht schlafen.' (Wozzeck, Andres, Drum Major)
  6. Wozzeck: Act Three - Scene 1 - 'Und ist kein Betrug in seinem Munde erfunden worden...' (Marie)
  7. Wozzeck: Act Three - Scene 1 - 'Und kniete hin zu seinen Fussen' (Marie)
  8. Wozzeck: Act Three - Scene 2 - 'Dort links geht's in die Stadt.' (Marie, Wozzeck)
  9. Wozzeck: Act Three - Scene 3 - 'Tanzt Alle; tanzt nur zu...!' (Wozzeck)
  10. Wozzeck: Act Three - Scene 4 - 'Das Messer? Wo ist das Messer?' (Wozzeck, Captain, Doctor)
  11. Wozzeck: Act Three - Scene 5 - 'Ringel, Ringel, Rosenkranz, Ringelreih'n!'

Music reviews of Berg: Wozzeck (Opera in 3 Acts) ~ Grundheber / Behrens / Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra / Claudio Abbado

Music Review: Outstanding recording!!! [This is based on samples + DVD of the Vienna State Opera production.]
Rating: 5 Stars

Why was the Böhm recording pulled for a while from the catalogue when this Abbado document was released? Often such things are done by recording companies to help boost new recordings done by different artists working for the same firms. While yours truly finds that practise hideous, the best older recordings will eventually come back - if the new ones prove themselves, they'll eventually co-exist with the older ones. So it has happened with the Böhm, which - while not far (if at all) inferior to the Abbado here being reviewed - is nevertheless NOT superior!! Indeed, this Abbado is so outstanding so as not to have needed such protection/boosting at the expense of the Böhm...

Abbado does a superb job with the Wiener Philharmoniker - some of the details Karl Böhm glosses over or ignores are brought out so beautifully here as to make this view of "Wozzeck" a revelation! While there are a few things I could like Böhm for in terms of individual instruments' expression (not that many, but they're there), there's no question that this recording beats it hands down - and the playing of the Vienna Philharmonic is stellar (although the Deutsche Oper for Böhm does him proud, the Viennese here prove why they're reckoned as amongst the world's top orchestras)!!! [Also, the balances by the same company, Deutsche Grammophon Gesellschaft, are here better and more natural - e.g., the solo-viola obbligato of Act I, Scene 1, or the military-band in Act I Scene 3, redressing the deficits present with the Böhm recording.] Some of the low notes of the tuba, 4th trombone and contrabassoon, sometimes not that easy to reach, make their full case here for inclusion (as Berg wanted) compared to Böhm's cheating them for the sake of his voice-favouring, "lightish" accompaniment.

As to the singers, I dare say that everybody does a superb job!! Top kudos for me go to Hildegard Behrens as Marie as well as to both Aage Haugland as the quack "Doktor" (he's absolutely a winner!!) and Heinz Zednik (in spite of a few wrong notes that want to go tonal...) as the Captain, though nobody is a slouch here in the least. Perhaps one could have wished for a little more poetry in the title rôle (something Fischer-Dieskau gives us with Böhm); however, there's no question of Franz Grundheber being outstanding here!

Definitely I'm most favourably impressed by Frau Behrens!! I not only love her voice and musicianship (also a superb actress on the DVD - she's more than totally believable in her rôle!), also most appealing is the way she handles the Sprechstimme portions in Act III Scene 1 - better in my opinion than Evelyn Lear for Karl Böhm (it's better to err on the side of singing when handling that ferociously-difficult kind of declamation than on the side of speaking, and Behrens' feeling for it is so classy {even if Lear's likely somewhat closer to Berg's intentions}!!!!). Bravissima, wirklich Prächtig!!! I detect no wobble or real strain on her - or anybody else's part in what's a fearsomely difficult opera (when performed properly). Whoever thinks otherwise, I'd like them to point out as much, ideally with score references (that's what the comments' feature for individual reviews are for!).

This is the version to get, no questions asked. QED.
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Description of Berg: Wozzeck (Opera in 3 Acts) ~ Grundheber / Behrens / Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra / Claudio Abbado

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This 1988 Vienna State Opera production of Wozzeck is, to my ears, vastly superior to the 1979 performance by Christoph von Dohnányi with the same orchestra. The entire emotional and dynamic range of the music is here, projected in striking relief. The anxieties of the tale are unflinchingly portrayed, but so, too, are the many moments of tenderness and rapturous beauty. The cast--Franz Grundheber plays the title role and Hildegard Behrens portrays Marie--are skilled dramatists as well as voices, even on record. The disc commemorates one of the rare instances when a company has done justice to the dazzling splendor of Berg's conception. --Joshua Cody

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