Isarphilharmonie, Munich, 5 October 2025
Alban Berg: Wozzeck
I wondered what it would feel like to experience Berg’s Wozzeck—which premiered in Berlin a century ago, in 1925—one of the most complex and psychologically intense operas, performed without staging, sets, or scenery, but only in concert form. On an opera stage, singers can rely on acting to bring their characters to life. In a concert version, however, the challenge is reversed: it calls for sharper focus, closer attention to musical detail, and vocal expressiveness vivid enough to replace the traditional opera stage.
Few could guide such an undertaking better than Sir Simon Rattle, conducting the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra. In a three-night run in October at the Isarphilharmonie in Munich, he combined structural clarity with a deep instinct for psychological drama. Rattle’s recent Wozzeck in Aix-en-Provence was praised for his special affinity with Berg’s dark world, and this concert version was no “second best.” It felt instead like a revelation of the opera’s musical and dramatic core. The BRSO across all its sections, Kinderchor der Bayerischen Staatsoper, and Chor des Bayerischen Rundfunks, performed at the peak of their artistry.
At the heart of the evening was Christian Gerhaher, arguably the greatest Wozzeck of our time. His performance was intensely personal, shaped by insight into both the score’s detail and the character’s pain and passion. Each phrase revealed fragility, confusion, and dignity. Gerhaher doesn’t just sing Wozzeck—he is Wozzeck. Malin Byström’s Marie was just as compelling: sensual, vulnerable, torn by guilt. Her mysteriously dark, richly colored soprano caught every contradiction in the role—at one moment tender and lyrical, the next dramatic with raw intensity. She also mastered the Sprechgesang with high expressiveness.
The rest of the cast met the same high standards: Nicky Spence (Hauptmann/Narr), Brindley Sherratt (Doctor), and Eric Cutler (Tambourmajor) were outstanding, and the rest of the ensemble delivered sharply defined portrayals too.
The result was a performance of the very highest caliber—musically overwhelming, emotionally gripping, and fully alive. With Rattle’s direction, the orchestra’s precision, and the singers’ ultimate commitment, this Wozzeck felt monumental. If a recording emerges from these October performances, it could definitely stand as a modern classic.
