Event as part of the Art:walk Festival
Alban Berg's opera based on Georg Büchner's "Woyzeck" tells of marginalisation, despair and human denaturation. Inspired by a real criminal case, the result is a haunting work of music theatre of oppressive topicality.
In 1821, a real-life criminal case shakes the city of Leipzig: the unemployed wigmaker Johann Christian Woyzeck kills his lover. The subsequent trial drags on for years. Despite multiple tests of his sanity, all appeals for clemency are rejected and Woyzeck is sentenced to death. This historical case inspired Georg Büchner to write his famous drama "Woyzeck", which was later adapted into an opera by Alban Berg. Berg saw Büchner's play at the Vienna Kammerspiele in 1914 - right at the beginning of the First World War. The experiences of this time had a lasting effect on his musical interpretation. In his opera, Berg combines personal despair, social pressure and the increasing dehumanisation of the time to create a haunting work of music theatre. The result is not a simple social critique, but a multi-layered portrait of human abysses and inner turmoil. (Source: Art:walk Festival)
