Berg Wozzeck

Separated and fragmented the scenes combine in a series of tableaux to tell the story of Wozzeck an ordinary soldier whose only solace is the love of his companion Marie However the latters fidelity is not unfailing and Wozzeck is haunted by torment His officers and comrades in arms do little to improve the situation The omnipresent tension in this profoundly romantic work unifies the fifteen scenes with their complex tonalities alternating between Verist notes and the force of ritualised actions Christoph Marthalers production provides an atmosphere of contemporaneity strongly accentuated by the choice of a single set where the mens despair is submerged in Bergs dearly soughtafter sobriety