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Alban Berg’s Wozzeck is one of the 20th century’s groundbreaking operas alongside Berg’s Lulu. If you saw William Kentridge’s triumphant direction of Lulu at the festival last year, Wozzeck is a must see for this year, with star performers Florian Boesch (bass-baritone) and Asmik Grigorian (soprano) playing Wozzeck and his wife Marie. Broadcast in the NTR Saturday Matinee, the Netherlands Radio Philharmonic Orchestra, the Netherlands Radio Choir and the Netherlands National Children’s Choir will give a concert performance of the opera, with conductor Markus Stenz at the helm.

When Schoenberg (and a few others) introduced their atonal music a century ago, it was met with precious little sympathy. Schoenberg's student Alban Berg however achieved great success with his atonal opera Wozzeck, based on Georg Büchner’s 1837 drama Woyzeck. Through the tragic Wozzeck, the opera shows us the abuse of power by society's elite and the misery of the common people. It was a topical theme in the socially turbulent 1920s.

When Schoenberg (and a few others) introduced their atonal music a century ago, it was met with precious little sympathy. Schoenberg's student Alban Berg however achieved great success with his atonal opera Wozzeck, based on Georg Büchner’s 1837 drama Woyzeck. Through the tragic Wozzeck, the opera shows us the abuse of power by society's elite and the misery of the common people. It was a topical theme in the socially turbulent 1920s.

With the Radio Philharmonic Orchestra's chief conductor Markus Stenz at the helm, you will be able to experience how Berg's expressionist music perfectly matches the tragic story. The score is an expressive, highly effective soundtrack, yet at the same time the music has a sensual late-romantic glow about it. The extensive symphonic intermezzos the composer uses to connect the separate scenes betray Wagner's influence. The scenes themselves however are generally compact and succinct, almost neo-classical in nature. The same can be said about the complex musical structure, full of archaic musical forms, including passacaglias, fugues and baroque dances.

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credits

music Alban Berg conductor Markus Stenz bass-bariton Nathan Berg, Florian Boesch bass Richard Wiegold bariton . soprano Asmik Grigorian alto Cécile van de Sant tenor Peter Tantsits, John Heuzenroeder, Thomas Piffka, Endrik Wottrich, Ioan Micu boy soprano Mathis Raykov choir Groot Omroepkoor, Nationaal Kinderkoor orchestra Radio Philharmonic Orchestra

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