Wozzeck

About

Wozzeck is an Opera written by native Austrian, Alban Berg. First performed in 1925, the story is based on the classic play from the late 1800s entitled Woyzeck. Berg designed the music to be mentally fatiguing so that the audience can relate the the mental fatigue and eventual madness the main character experiences. The strings sound as if they're constantly on edge, even in the legato passages of interludes it feels as though they could drastically change pace at any moment and go twirling off into the ether. The opera generally lasts about an hour and a half, but is full of unrelenting dramatic energy.