Alban Berg
Wozzeck
Thursday, September 2, at 7:30PM
Conductor
Yannick Nézet-Séguin
Marie
Elza van den Heever
Margret
Tamara Mumford
Drum-Major
Christopher Ventris
Captain
Gerhard Siegel
Andres
Andrew Staples
Wozzeck
Peter Mattei
Doctor
Christian Van Horn
Production
William Kentridge
Co-Director
Luc De Wit
Projection Designer
Catherine Meyburgh
Set Designer
Sabine Theunissen
Costume Designer
Greta Goiris
Lighting Designer
Urs Schönebaum
Live in HD Director
Gary Halvorson
A co-production of the Metropolitan Opera; Salzburg Festival; the Canadian Opera Company, Toronto; and Opera Australia
Production a gift of Robert L. Turner
Act I
The poor soldier Wozzeck has an illegitimate child with Marie. She admires the handsome drum major as he passes by her window. Wozzeck tells her about the visions that he has had, frightening Marie. The doctor, who pays Wozzeck for use in his dubious medical research, dismisses the visions as mere imagination. Marie gives in to the drum major’s advances.
Act II
When Wozzeck notices a pair of earrings that the drum major has given to Marie, she claims that she found them. Wozzeck is suspicious, and Marie is overwhelmed by remorse, but when he confronts her, she defies him. Wozzeck sees her dance with the drum major in a beer garden. When the drunken officer boasts about his conquest, the two men fight, and Wozzeck is knocked down.
Act III
Marie reads the Bible and begs God for mercy. During a walk by a pond outside town, Wozzeck makes ironic remarks to her about her fidelity. When she tries to escape, he stabs her. Drinking and dancing in a tavern, Wozzeck is unable to explain why he has blood on his arm. He rushes off to search for the knife and throws it into the pond, then wades further into the water to wash the blood off his hands. He drowns. The neighbor children tell Marie’s son that his mother is dead, but he does not understand and keeps singing and playing.
The Summer HD Festival is generously supported by The Robert W. Wilson Charitable Trust.
The Met: Live in HD series is made possible by a generous grant from its founding sponsor, the Neubauer Family Foundation. Digital support of The Met: Live in HD is provided by Bloomberg Philanthropies. The Met: Live in HD is supported by Rolex.
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