With a gripping blend of drama, murder mystery, and social commentary, Alban Berg revolutionized the opera tradition in 1925. In Graz, Volksoper stars Daniel Schmutzhard (Wozzeck) and Annette Dasch (Marie) join principal conductor Vassilis Christopoulos at the helm of the Graz Philharmonic Orchestra to bring this expressive world of sound to life. Director Evgeny Titov, who attracted international attention after his successful Austrian debut in Graz with Wagner's Tannhäuser and work in Vienna and Salzburg, returns to the Graz Opera with one of the most important operas of the 20th century.
Berg's first opera, Wozzeck, begun before World War I and completed in 1922, is considered a groundbreaking work of atonal music and a key composition of modernism. Based on Georg Büchner's fragmentary drama, Berg creates a "human experiment" in which healing and hopelessness inexorably converge. The simple soldier Franz Wozzeck is shamelessly exploited by the captain and a doctor—both exaggerated as archetypal figures of power—and abused for medical experiments. His partner Marie seeks comfort and validation from the drum major, further reinforcing Wozzeck's isolation.
The tighter the world closes in around him, the deeper Wozzeck sinks into mental turmoil. Berg presents Marie's femicide as the tragic culmination of a man who desperately tries to regain control of his life – and is broken by the attempt. Berg's dissonant, relentless musical language condenses this inner turmoil into an oppressive atmosphere that poignantly renders audible both the abyss of human existence and its fragile fragility.
Premiere February 13,
Further performances: February 26 and 28, March 4, 13, 15, and 18, 2026
