Berg's Wozzeck: How much expressionism is too much expressionism?
I recently bought this DVD of Wozzeck:
Viewing this production of one of the great operas of all-time made me very, very sad. I cried arty elitist tears (20% Morrocan Mint Tea). I'll be fair, the orchestra and singers were pretty damn good. The production however, was another story. Berg's masterwork is a humane work. And I'll tell you Mr. Hot Shot Opera Director, it's not a chance for you to go haywire with "Cabinet of Dr. Caligary" nonsense.
-The captain wearing a Porky Pig costume? What the hell? Mr. Hot Shot Opera Director, Alban Berg does not need you to telescope his music. We KNOW the captain is a pathetic, loony, freaked-out character. You know how we know that Mr. Hot Shot? THE MUSIC BERG WROTE FOR HIM IS PATHETIC, LOONY AND FREAKED-OUT!
-Andres and Wozzeck working together on top of a tilted mountain of cheese? Looked horrible.
-Marie and Wozzeck's boy wearing a kabuki mask and living in a dog house? Lame and obvious.
-I liked the doctor's office and his costume however. Not TOO post-modern. That's sad when a compliment for your production of an 20th century opera is "not too post-modern".
-Marie and the Drum Major went a little too far with the flirting. We know she is going to be unfaithful with him. What makes her final "Oh what does it matter!?" and submission so powerful is the curtain falls immediately after and Berg uses the last final bars of of the act to 'sum up' what has happened in the orchestra. We do not need to see Marie bury her face in the drum-major's crotch.
-Ugly puppets used in place of Marie and Wozzeck for the Tavern scene? Mr. Hot Shot Director, are you trying to create a parody of a caricature of a caricature of expressionism?
-And who the hell designed the dvd? Between each scene the camera would pan out of the square-shaped stage into a black square. During Berg's incredible orchestral interludes some crappy screensaver of a huge piece of rock floats in and out of the box. Take a cue from Abbado's excellent dvd production: show the conductor conducting the orchestra. Abbado's recording and film with the Berlin Philharmonic is still the best out there. The production is simple but solid. It's realistic but still has moments of haunting uneasiness such as the rising and falling red sun. Oh...realism. That enemy of the 21st century artist!
But I could go on and on with this dreck of a Wozzeck. The distancing that the silly costumes, the ugly sets, the exaggerated acting creates for the viewer is a betrayal of Berg's score and Buchner's revolutionary play. Berg was setting out to punch the face and knife the heart. But there is also sublime moments of sweetness. Marie's teasing her boy with the mirror's light on the ceiling and wall? Come on! Berg wasn't trying to create some nightmare of distorted imagery and grotestquery. Enough with the bullshit 'modern' productions of great opers. If you hope to produce the opera and be true to it's music and libretto you only have to do two things: listen to the music, and read the libretto.
I recently bought this DVD of Wozzeck:
Viewing this production of one of the great operas of all-time made me very, very sad. I cried arty elitist tears (20% Morrocan Mint Tea). I'll be fair, the orchestra and singers were pretty damn good. The production however, was another story. Berg's masterwork is a humane work. And I'll tell you Mr. Hot Shot Opera Director, it's not a chance for you to go haywire with "Cabinet of Dr. Caligary" nonsense.
-The captain wearing a Porky Pig costume? What the hell? Mr. Hot Shot Opera Director, Alban Berg does not need you to telescope his music. We KNOW the captain is a pathetic, loony, freaked-out character. You know how we know that Mr. Hot Shot? THE MUSIC BERG WROTE FOR HIM IS PATHETIC, LOONY AND FREAKED-OUT!
-Andres and Wozzeck working together on top of a tilted mountain of cheese? Looked horrible.
-Marie and Wozzeck's boy wearing a kabuki mask and living in a dog house? Lame and obvious.
-I liked the doctor's office and his costume however. Not TOO post-modern. That's sad when a compliment for your production of an 20th century opera is "not too post-modern".
-Marie and the Drum Major went a little too far with the flirting. We know she is going to be unfaithful with him. What makes her final "Oh what does it matter!?" and submission so powerful is the curtain falls immediately after and Berg uses the last final bars of of the act to 'sum up' what has happened in the orchestra. We do not need to see Marie bury her face in the drum-major's crotch.
-Ugly puppets used in place of Marie and Wozzeck for the Tavern scene? Mr. Hot Shot Director, are you trying to create a parody of a caricature of a caricature of expressionism?
-And who the hell designed the dvd? Between each scene the camera would pan out of the square-shaped stage into a black square. During Berg's incredible orchestral interludes some crappy screensaver of a huge piece of rock floats in and out of the box. Take a cue from Abbado's excellent dvd production: show the conductor conducting the orchestra. Abbado's recording and film with the Berlin Philharmonic is still the best out there. The production is simple but solid. It's realistic but still has moments of haunting uneasiness such as the rising and falling red sun. Oh...realism. That enemy of the 21st century artist!
But I could go on and on with this dreck of a Wozzeck. The distancing that the silly costumes, the ugly sets, the exaggerated acting creates for the viewer is a betrayal of Berg's score and Buchner's revolutionary play. Berg was setting out to punch the face and knife the heart. But there is also sublime moments of sweetness. Marie's teasing her boy with the mirror's light on the ceiling and wall? Come on! Berg wasn't trying to create some nightmare of distorted imagery and grotestquery. Enough with the bullshit 'modern' productions of great opers. If you hope to produce the opera and be true to it's music and libretto you only have to do two things: listen to the music, and read the libretto.
posted by PWS at 3:38 PM
2 Comments:
today i learned how to make it so that spam comments can't come up anymore. go to the blogger dashboard, go to settings, click on comments, and chose the word verification thing. it's pretty cool. for me.
So I started my super unexpressionist interpretation of Wozzeck today. No actors, just words projected on the screen behind me to explain whats going on. There's also a part where Marc Summers has sex with a mermaid. IT'S GONNA GET MESSY!
paz,
chaz
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