Customer Reviews

Berg - Wozzeck

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Rolf Liebermann, the legendary Intendant of the Hamburg Opera, filmed a number of operas but always said that this film of 'Wozzeck' was his favorite and I can see why. It is beautifully filmed in claustrophobic style in the grounds and buildings of a decrepit Bavarian castle, and sung gloriously. Of course, since it is a film, not a studio or stage production (although it was based on a stage production of the Hamburg Opera), the musical score was recorded in a studio and the singers lip-synched their parts while acting in the opened-out setting, much of it outdoors (as in the willow-cutting scene, or Marie's murder). The lip-synching is nigh perfect and the acting is really quite wonderful. I was especially impressed by the acting (as well as the singing) of Toni Blankenheim as Wozzeck. His face, often shot in close-up, is perfect for the part, with his hangdog, suffering look. He conveys Wozzeck's puzzlement and despair with graphic immediacy. Marie, played by a the ripe-figured and beautiful Sena Jurinac, is also extremely well-done. Richard Cassilly, a wonderful tenor but usually a so-so actor, is terrific as the strutting Drum Major. And possibly best of all, is Hans Sotin, still quite young in 1970, as the cruel and sardonic Doctor. And his singing is hors de concours.

Each scene, of course, is followed by an interlude; in the opera house each is often played with a closed curtain or a static tableau. In this production the interludes accompany silent scenes that add much to the development of the drama. For instance, after Wozzeck's murder of Marie is filmed from a distant vantage point looking through some sparse woods; in the interlude that connects it with the final scene -- the one with the children gossiping about Marie's murder and about finding her body on the path by the water -- we come closer and closer to Marie's corpse lying on that path. Visually this helps accentuate the almost unbearably tense music that accompanies it, thus heightening the horrific effect.

I have not seen the other two currently available DVDs of 'Wozzeck' but I can't imagine abandoning this one. Musically it is wonderful. Scenically it is spectacular. And though it was filmed in 1970, the sound is quite good, although in mono. Bruno Maderna, a thoroughgoing modernist if there ever was one, understands the score completely and the Hamburg Opera orchestra play brilliantly for him.

Sound: Mono; Subtitles: English, German, French, Spanish, Italian; Picture format: 4:3; Region code: 0 (worldwide); TT=106mins; No extras

Strongly recommended.

Scott Morrison

This DVD has quite a bit going for it. It is indeed a magnificent film, and as a film deserves 5 stars. Visually it is superb. The action is set in most realistic places and the costumes are very good. All the singers look their parts, particularly our drum major. All act extremely well and the singing good to excellent. but I do not have a score. So why not 5 stars? On occasion the orchestra overloads the sound track causing some distortion, and secondly, it is a film. As a staged opera during interludes the curtain is down and there is only the music for one to concentrate on. Here these interludes are filled with action - usually Wozzeck walking from place to place - and one is drawn to attend to the action instead of just listening to the music. A small point. I still await a modern staged Wozzeck in Hi-Fi sound. But I will not be throwing away this DVD in any case. Despite any faults it has moments of true greatness.

I'm a fanatic of Alban Berg's music. His unique style of composing atonal music and his brilliant ideas for his operas made him one the most known avant-grade composers of modern music.
I can say this performance of Wozzeck is one of the best ever filmed.
This is an entirely different way of experiencing operas. you'll be transmited to the story in a such vivid way, is amazing.
But you may think this might not be a good perdomance because it was filmed in the 70's, or because it audio format is Mono. But this is nothing to do with the experience it grants. The sound is clear and deep.
The singers play and exellent role and the location is perfect for the dramatic story. You will not be dissapointed.
An applause for Arthaus Musik.

Berg's Wozzeck is quite possibly the greatest opera of the 20th century. This video is a film version made by artists connected with the Hamburg Opera during the period when composer Rolf Liebermann was the company's imaginative and effective Intendant (General Manager).
Generally I prefer to see a live performance when an opera gets filmed, but this version is an amazingly effective example of a film with the soundtrack pre-recorded and the singers lip-synching to it as they act. I've read (I don't remember where) that the film follows Berg's own prescriptions as to how he wanted the opera to be filmed if it should ever happen -- after all, he lived into the age of the "talkie". In practice this means that the orchestral interludes mostly seem to move between the locales of the scenes they connect, so that the production has a seamless quality as the tragedy unfolds.
The film was made in an old German fortress that looks like a seedy town of the mid-19th century in which the source drama takes place. The acting is extremely good and very naturalistic, which makes for wonderful and effective contrast with some other video versions that are far more expressionistic. (I've used both to contrast different approaches in a course I was teaching.)
I first saw this production about 35 years ago, when it was only available on film; the transfer to DVD is very well done, and though the sound may not be the absolute latest in fidelity, it is excellent for the period. I was delighted to find that it is now available on DVD.
This DVD is a first-rate version of "Wozzeck," and one that presents the opera very effectively and with excellent singing and acting.

I first saw this as a film in the 1970s when it was shown here in Australia by the
Goethe-Institut and thought it magnificent. My opinion has not changed. This is a
dramatic masterpiece. Being freed from the confines of a stage production makes it
more than just an opera. Toni Blankenheim is superb in the title role and the close-up
shots of his hang-dog face just add to the overall impression of a downtrodden man.
Hans Sotin (then still young and slim) is perfect as the sinister Doctor and Richard Cassilly
impressive as the swaggering Drum-Major. Sena Jurinac is well cast as Marie.
There are one or two blemishes in the DVD but these are understandable since it has
been recreated from old film. The sound, although only mono, is really quite good.
I would recommend this to anybody. In a word - magnificent!

I first saw this film in the 70's I thought it was wonderful and have long awaited its commercial availability. The singing acting is first rate overall. I am still impressed how the entire cast, especially Unger (the Captain) refrain from the exaggerations and histrionics that normally accompany these roles. For me, however, the real superstar of the performance is Bruno Maderna, a composer-conductor who consistantly projects a complete grasp of Berg's music and how it should be performed. Anyone who loves Berg should not hesitate to pick the audio CD of his Lulu. It's only the two Act version, but he EASILY beats out all recorded competition. One more thing: the Italian Wozzeck with Gobbi, Dow...etc is also incredibly good. Nino Sanzogno, a student of Hermann Scherchen, is nearly as good as Maderna! One CD manifestation contains as act from the BBC broadcast with Boult conducting from the mid-30's which Berg heard before he died and was very impressed by its quality.

Ever since I first watched one of Petr Weigl's opera/movies I have been a fan of that type of treatment -- when it is done well. For example, a major problem is lip-synching, but this can easily be taken care of by having the actors sing on set while the sound track is playing. The freedom of the setting and camera treatment add a new dimension. There have been many extremely successful movie versions: in addition to those of Weigl, there are, for example, Ponnelle's "Rigoletto", Karajan's "Pag & Cav", Simerda's "The Greek Passion" to name but a few.

I have often wondered what goes on in the imagination of composers and librettists. My suspicion is that they "see" their production very much as a movie, in the real world -- such as in a well crafted movie.

All this preamble leads me to this "Wozzeck". Everything seemed so right about the cinematic treatment. I felt that I was there. Mind you, by the end I wish I wasn't. This is one powerful production. It grabbed and held me from beginning to end. It is very moving and unforgettable. If this is what you are looking for in an opera, do not miss this production.

************
December 4 2010

My review above is all too short. Since I wrote more at length about this first rate production in my review of Calixto Bieito's production, I thought that I should copy it here.

I have read about Calixto Bieito, and have long wanted to sample his work. Since there are only two of his productions out in DVD, and one was resoundingly panned (Don Giovanni); and since Wozzeck is a wonderful opera, I bought this. I now have 4 DVD's of Wozzeck, two of which I will probably not watch again.

Unfortunately, I made the mistake of having another look at the Rolf Liebermann film of Wozzeck before this arrived and that certainly coloured my impression of the Bieito production -- unfavourably.

Bieito's production is limited to a stage; but he handles the limitations very well to cope with this episodic opera. He uses lighted segments of a darkened stage, several levels, and a lowered container-home for Wozzeck and Marie (with a small patch of grass as a contrast to everything else). The set is "a maze of industrial tubes, recalling innards exposed in a sliced-open abdomen, a symbol of the environment of contamination -- both physical and mental in which [Wozzeck] is struggling to survive." (--from the notes) The action is taken out of the military and moved into the world of industry with interchangeable extras in orange jump suits (not all that original or effective to warrant moving away from the composer's concept). And pretty much everyone is deranged from the start. Unfortunately from my point of view, that includes Wozzeck himself. So the whole world is mad and where can one go from there? It is almost as though Bieito is following the old Hollywood dictum of "start with an explosion and build from there". Maybe, as Mr. Padillo writes in his review, the naked cast advancing towards the audience can be seen as a purification of sorts, but in the final scene the child of Wozzeck and Marie is apparently stoned and left alone as the curtain falls. "Hop hop."

There are, however two great positives. First is the orchestral music. Sebastian Weigl has done a superb job controlling the orchestra through all the different moods and modes. The second is, perhaps a mixed blessing. Angela Denoke is a wonder in her spirited acting and singing. She is seemingly the only sane person on stage making do as best she can, although her mostly optimistic spirit is at odds with everything else. Maybe that is what Bieito wanted, because it makes her mechanical killing by Wozzeck so horrible. So, perhaps 3 stars.

Now I realise that it is unfair to do a critique of a production and compare it to another, but this is a DVD and others are available. I am sure that had I seen this in the theatre I would have come out raving with enthusiasm. It is a powerful production. But I did watch the Liebermann film just before and cannot help myself.

Being a film, there is a great liberation from set constraints. The filming was done in an old castle and buildings in Southern Germany. It is stark and real. Each of the scenes takes place in a real setting and there is movement from one to the other giving momentum and continuity to what is going on. I think that this is important and emphasises what to me is the weakness of Bieito's over-the-top set. His has nothing for contrast (other than perhaps Ms. Denoke). Whereas here, it looks as though things should be normal -- and it is certainly not. No wonder Wozzeck starts off puzzled and is gradually driven mad. It is the steady progression the assaults on him and his deterioration which makes the horror of the end all the more moving. And then when one adds in the misty, lonely, but peaceful setting for Marie's murder, and Wozzeck's slow walk to his death into the lake, it is almost too much. Needless to say the photography is excellent. Rolf Liebermann wrote in his autobiography that this was his favourite filmed opera. Little wonder.

To conclude, therefore: If you only will buy one Wozzeck, get the Liebermann version. However they are so different that I would recommend both, if for no other reason to see how much the Bieito interpretation fails in contrast.