Extraordinary WOZZECK at the CAPITOLE! VOCAL, MUSICAL AND SCENIC SPLENDOR!

CRITICAL. Opera. TOULOUSE. Capitole Theatre, November 19, 2021. A. BERG. WOZZECK. M.FAU. S. DISGUST. S.KOCH. WE CAPITOL. L. HUSSAIN.

This new Capitoline production highlights all the house qualities. The quality of the upstream work allows a deepening of the production which reaches a coherence and a perfection which leaves the public speechless between the acts to explode in the end.

Wozzeck in real Opera at the Capitole

The project managers, Michel Fau and Leo Hussain, hand in hand guide the artists of the production towards the light of a particularly accomplished interpretation. Michel Fau's bias is brilliant. He dares to seize Berg's masterpiece of modernity to open it up to the dreamlike. The whole tragic story of Private Wozzeck is experienced by the child he had with Marie. By thus insisting on the pains of the child, the somewhat abstract tragedy of this opera of the darkness of the human soul, becomes closer to us and the greatest compassion often seizes us. The decor, magnificent in its false naivety, is remarkably intelligent. The misery of the child's room is terrible, his early childhood fears are only very small compared to all the atrocities he will have to witness by force. By thus focusing on the effects on an innocent child of the persecutions of which his father is the victim and of his mother's pain, everything is closer to us and even more unbearable. As in dreams, the images take up so much space, the use of beautiful and colorful costumes allows scenes of great emotion. The characters are like images from Épinal with attitudes close to puppets. The acting is remarkable, very precise and mastered. The child's play is particularly touching and finally hearing his delicate voice at the very end of the opera reminds us that he has been silent throughout and yet so expressive. Dimitri Doré is a remarkable young actor.

Stéphane Degout's Wozzeck is a very successful role take.

The vocal and physical coherence is total. The beauty of the voice radiates humanity and the artificial gesture illustrates the internal pain of his madness. The acting is so accomplished that it manages to illustrate the background of the schizophrenic pathology from which our hero suffers. He manages to experience two contradictory emotions at the same time; his desperate, happy smile before killing the one he loves so much is absolutely stunning. The result is quite shocking. What a complete artist! Marie, his beloved who is taken from him with such perfidy, is on the same register of vocal perfection. Sophie Koch also made a remarkable role.

Doll, childish woman, tender mother, overconfident soul, Marie is seen through the eyes of her child: mother is the most beautiful. The tragedy of his fate only emerges with greater force. His acting highlights the life force that drives the character. While asking her for this puppet game which leaves her disarticulated when she is abandoned on the bed (of her son) by the drum major after her trivial sexual exploit and by Wozzeck who kills her with a smile. Sophie Koch's voice is absolutely stunning. The perverse persecutors who demolish this couple are treated with the same false naivety of Epinal image. The Drum-Major is as handsome as a tin soldier, intoxicated with his virile power. Nikolai Schukoff gives this very short role a crazy power with his stentorian voice and his brutal acting. Wolfgang Ablinger-Sperrhake's Captain is handsome as a whistle, vain as a glossy image, and personifies devastating narcissistic smugness. His voice is admirably conducted in this impossible tessitura. He is a delicately obnoxious character. But the doctor's violence and perversion are even more harrowing with a game that reveals his irrecoverable madness.

How to Start a Conversation when you have Nothing to Talk About

— CRANER Fri Mar 19 04:22:06 +0000 2021

Falk Struckmann's composition is absolutely perfect and this character is downright terrifying. Thomas Bettinger as Andres has a beautiful voice that suits his genuine liking for Wozzeck well. Anaïk Morel in Margret is a real luxury. Beautiful doll with a voice that deserves a much bigger role to be able to truly appreciate it. David Belugou's Costumes are absolutely beautiful and catch the light well, illuminating the whole scene.

The lights and especially the shadows in their so important nightmarish dimension are masterful in precision and efficiency. Joël Fabing carries out an eminent work with perfect precision. The choirs and the mastery are impeccable in their short but decisive interventions in sumptuous costumes.

The rest of the cast holds its parts well, we can only congratulate the generous commitment of Mathieu Toulouse and Guillaume Andrieux as workers and Kristofer Lundin as an idiot.

The other main character of this Opera is the orchestra, a Capitoline orchestra in sumptuous form. We know that Berg requires a lot of concentration, the great complexity of the score is well known. With the musicians of Toulouse, the sound beauty of each moment illuminates the score. Leo Hussain's direction seems to both achieve the greatest precision, while aggregating the so composite elements of the score in a terrible advance. The drama advances inexorably, and each element is of perfect precision. It is very rare to hear Berg so clearly on all levels. This is a major conductor in a difficult repertoire.

All in all, this production is perfectly coherent and allows this dark masterpiece to be opened up to a tragic light with an enriching audacity and a vocality more developed than usual, which favors sprechgesang. Michel Fau's bias is masterful, he knew how to federate his entire set (leading) and the pit (supreme musicians). If part of the public may have seemed worried by the difficulty of the work, this production demonstrates that Wozzeck is a real opera. A big congratulations to all!

Hubert Stoecklin

CRITICAL. Opera. Capitole Theatre, November 19, 2021. Alban Berg (1885-1935): Wozzeck. Opera in three acts on a libretto by the composer after the play by Georg Büchner. Director: Michel Fau; Sets: Emmanuel Charles; Costumes: David Belugou; Lighting: Joel Fabing; Cast: Wozzeck, Stéphane Degout; Marie, Sophie Koch; The Drum-Major, Nikolai Schukoff; Andres, Thomas Bettinger; The Captain, Wolfgang Ablinger-Sperrhacke; The Physician, Falk Struckmann; First Worker, Mathieu Toulouse; Second Worker, Guillaume Andrieux; An idiot, Kristofer Lundin; Margret, Anaik Morel; The Child of Mary, Dimitri Doré; National Capitol Orchestra; Chœur et Maitrise du Capitole (choir conductor, Gabriel Bourgoin); Musical direction: Leo Hussain.