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10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
GREAT Wozzeck film re-issue - get it for good traditional production!!, June 10, 2010
For once, here is a film of a live performance (in the Wiener Staatsoper - Vienna State Opera) where the stage-director has truly submitted himself to Berg's demands and needs. Herr Dreser manages it all without needing in the least to change time-periods (or costumes) or impose his ideas upon Berg's grisly yet appropriate (at times even beautiful! - try the lullaby section of Act I Scene 3, or Scenes 1 and 2 of Act 3 for proof thereof!!) score for this awful tale. This production truly brings out the whole truth in each one of the characters (truly, the Captain, "Doctor" and Drum-Major richly come across as the slime they are!!!) such that one can't but sympathise with the poor loser of an anti-hero that Franz Wozzeck is (all his circumstances are so totally against him and Marie even as they try to be good! - those inescapable realities combined with their intrinsic weaknesses as characters - Marie's lust, Wozzeck's insanity - finally overwhelm them both). It only could be improved upon (aside from some stage-movements and sequences related thereto) by an actual studio Hollywood-style film (under the directorship of a Franco Zeffirelli or Cecil B. DeMilne, perhaps Mel Gibson {not knowing this last-mentioned's work at this time} in terms of cine-video/photography); otherwise it's excellently done - and those of us interested in the orchestral workings get to benefit seeing this beautiful ensemble (the parent-ensemble of the Vienna Philharmonic!) and Abbado's work in the critical interludes.
In an era where directors are encouraged to trample all over composers' directions (even in the most ludicrous ways imaginable!), this film is a salutary shot in the arm and a joy to see for those more traditionally minded like myself!! Only one set I could criticise as being somewhat too stark (Act I Scene 2 could have been a bit more elaborate with its background depiction of the town...); also, there are a few cases where the composers' directions could have been followed even more stringently - however, although it's not perfect, it's very good indeed!!!
While I could wish for a few things likewise to be different with the conducting (personal taste - also, am I right in my growing suspicion that, somehow, DVD audio isn't quite completely as good as that of a real CD?!??), I think 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" 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, Grundheber does a fine job, nothing to complain about. Most certainly I'm most favourably impressed by Frau Behrens!! I not only love her voice and musicianship (also a superb actress - 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!!!!). Bravissima, wirklich Prächtig!!!
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17 of 20 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
an important opera an important performance, March 23, 1999
This review is from: Alban Berg - Wozzeck - Claudio Abbado [VHS] (VHS Tape)
Spiritual descendant of Gustav Mahler, Berg's expressionist materpiece is a watershed work and prime example of the 2nd Viennese's school's 'more palatable' side. The drama, like the music, appeals to the subconscious and 'free-form' while remaining ferociously complex in structure and execution. Berg casts the music in various established late Romantic idioms, such as the Theme and Variations or Symphony form, such that the drama almost seems to be a 'second layer' growing on top of the music--even so, the two mate perfectly. Anyone with an interest in the documented dissolution of tonality (an experiment that did indeed culminate in 12-tone serialism, but not for a decade--and an experiment that would not last past 1970) should investigate this work, best experienced in a staged format. A couple of the singers' intonation and clarity of diction leave a bit to be desired, but on the whole Cluadio Abaddo does a masterly job of guiding orchestra and singers alike through a complex maze of notes. Recommended to die-hard Wozzeck fans, those who enjoy contemporary music, music scholars, fans of opera, and those wishing to extend their musical palate. --Justin Laird Weaver <uweavj02@umail.ucsb.edu>
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11 of 13 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
First rate!, October 12, 2002
By A Customer
Great performance, vocally and orchestrally. The acting is good as well. Staging is appropriate throughout, and visually at times quite lovely, as in the drowing scene. One minor caveat, already noted by another reviewer: the images on the box have nothing to do with what's inside! They look like they were taken from a Disney version!
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