Woyzeck
After the drama fragment by Georg Büchner (1813-1837)
Music by Martin Donner, Philip Glass, György Kurtág and Alfred Schnittke
Duration 1 H. 30 Min. Introduction 45 min before the performance.
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Woyzeck
Abstract
Woyzeck
Having launched our 2015/16 season with Alban Berg’s opera Wozzeck, Christian Spuck’s successful ballet Woyzeck, also based on Georg Büchner’s drama fragment, is about to return to the repertoire, having recently been enthusiastically received in Spain and Mexico. In this new version of his work created for the Norwegian National Ballet in 2011, Christian Spuck interprets Büchner’s metaphorically rich, concise language in powerful images. The narrative ballet tells the story of Woyzeck, who leads the life of a simple soldier. He loves Marie, with whom he has had a child out of wedlock, but his meagre pay is barely enough for the three to survive. In order to earn something on the side, Woyzeck occasionally shaves a captain and makes himself available to a doctor for medical experiments, which place his physical and mental health at risk. Woyzeck tries to ignore humiliations and the arbitrary behaviour of his superiors, but when Marie takes up with a drum major, the catastrophe runs its course. In a delirium of jealousy, Woyzeck stabs his beloved to death.