''Wozzeck'' (op. 16) is a 1926 German-language opera in 18 scenes and one epilogue by

Manfred Gurlitt Manfred Gurlitt (6 September 1890 – 29 April 1972) was a German opera composer and conductor. He studied composition with Engelbert Humperdinck and conducting with Karl Muck. He spent most of his career in Japan. Life Manfred Ludwig Hugo An ...

after the fragmentary ''

Woyzeck ''Woyzeck'' () is a stage play written by Georg Büchner. Büchner wrote the play between July and October 1836, yet left it incomplete at his death in February 1837. The play first appeared in 1877 in a heavily edited version by Karl Emil Fr ...

'' by

Georg Büchner Karl Georg Büchner (17 October 1813 – 19 February 1837) was a German dramatist and writer of poetry and prose, considered part of the Young Germany movement. He was also a revolutionary and the brother of physician and philosopher Ludwig Büchn ...

. It was premiered 22 April 1926 in

Bremen Bremen (Low German also: ''Breem'' or ''Bräm''), officially the City Municipality of Bremen (german: Stadtgemeinde Bremen, ), is the capital of the German state Free Hanseatic City of Bremen (''Freie Hansestadt Bremen''), a two-city-state consis ...

, four months after the better known opera ''

Wozzeck ''Wozzeck'' () is the first opera by the Austrian composer Alban Berg. It was composed between 1914 and 1922 and first performed in 1925. The opera is based on the drama ''Woyzeck'', which the German playwright Georg Büchner left incomplete at h ...

'' by

Alban Berg Alban Maria Johannes Berg ( , ; 9 February 1885 – 24 December 1935) was an Austrian composer of the Second Viennese School. His compositional style combined Romantic lyricism with the twelve-tone technique. Although he left a relatively sma ...

had been premiered at the Berlin State Opera on 14 December 1925. The two composers were unaware of each other's projects, being among many artists stimulated by the publication of Büchner's play. Berg, unsettled by his publisher

Universal Edition Universal Edition (UE) is a classical music publishing firm. Founded in 1901 in Vienna, they originally intended to provide the core classical works and educational works to the Austrian market (which had until then been dominated by Leipzig-base ...

also publishing another opera on the same material so quickly reviewed Gurlitt's piano score, and in a letter to

Erich Kleiber Erich Kleiber (5 August 1890 – 27 January 1956) was an Austrian, later Argentine, conductor, known for his interpretations of the classics and as an advocate of new music. Kleiber was born in Vienna, and after studying at the Prague Conservato ...

noted Gurlitt's work's quality and originality, but found the "broth" watered down. This verdict reflects Berg's own Wagnerian influences, while Gurlitt was nearer to the aesthetics of

Paul Hindemith Paul Hindemith (; 16 November 189528 December 1963) was a German composer, music theorist, teacher, violist and conductor. He founded the Amar Quartet in 1921, touring extensively in Europe. As a composer, he became a major advocate of the ''Ne ...

and

Kurt Weill Kurt Julian Weill (March 2, 1900April 3, 1950) was a German-born American composer active from the 1920s in his native country, and in his later years in the United States. He was a leading composer for the stage who was best known for his fru ...

.Christopher Hailey ''Alban Berg and His World'' 1400836476 2010 p20 "In a letter to Erich Kleiber he wrote, “I've already had a look at the piano vocal score of the Gurlitt Wozzeck. I am objective enough to be able to say that it's not bad or unoriginal—but I'm also objective enough to see that the broth in the kettle of this opera, that is, in the orchestra, is too watered down, even for 'poor folks' rme Leut'." ..Gurlitt's opera, with its lean, simplified textures and stylistic heterogeneity, is far less emotionally manipulative and much more in keeping with the aesthetic of the 1920s one hears in the music of such contemporaries as Hindemith or Kurt Weill.

Recordings

*''Wozzeck'',

Roland Hermann Roland Hermann (born 17 September 1936; died 17 November 2020) was a German operatic baritone and former professor at the Hochschule für Musik Karlsruhe. A member of the Opernhaus Zürich, he performed leading roles internationally, not only in ...

, Celina Lindsley,

Anton Scharinger Anton Scharinger (born 5 March 1961 in Straning-Grafenberg Lower Austria) is an Austrian operatic bass-baritone and academic teacher at the University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna. Life Scharinger first studied with Margarita Heppe in Vi ...

, Robert Wörle,

Endrik Wottrich Endrik Wottrich (13 October 1964 – 26 April 2017) was a German operatic tenor. Life Born in Celle, Wottrich studied singing with Ingeborg Hallstein and violin in Würzburg. With a scholarship from the Studienstiftung des deutschen Volkes, ...

, Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin,

Gerd Albrecht Gerd Albrecht (19 July 1935 – 2 February 2014) was a German conductor. Biography Albrecht was born in Essen, the son of the musicologist Hans Albrecht (1902–1961). He studied music in Kiel and in Hamburg, where his teachers included Wilhel ...

, Capriccio 1993. *''Wozzeck'', Roland Hermann, Mari Midorikawa, Akiya Fukushima, Mitsuya Okubo, Saturo Omachi, Nikikai Chorus Group, Yomiuri Nippon Symphony Orchestra,

, Tokyo 7. 11. 2000, Yomiuri Nippon Symphony Orchestra 2000. Octavia Records

References

1926 operas German-language operas Operas by Manfred Gurlitt Operas Operas based on plays Works based on Woyzeck {{German-opera-stub