Elizabeth – In the premiere of Wozzeck Thursday evening, Matthias Goerne stepped in for Thomas Hampson in the titular role. Initially I was disappointed to hear the news as I adore Hampson and was looking forward to hearing him in this new role. But Hampson’s loss was the Met’s gain as the German stepped in this morning after sleeping on the Met’s offer overnight.
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How likely was it that Goerne saw the dress rehearsal so he knew the blocking, and had just sung Wozzeck in concert Friday with the Vienna State Opera therefore was ready for his debut as Wozzeck at the Met? Also, why is it that he apparently hasn’t performed at the Met in close to a decade? I thought he was terrific. He has a different sound than Hampson, fuller, warmer. There was also something about his pudgy, balding self that fit with the life situation of the poor soldier, Wozzeck.
Wozzeck has a child born out of wedlock to a loose woman, Marie (Deborah Voigt), who apparently is sleeping with most soldiers who look her way, then later regretting it and her infidelity. She looks to the bible for consolation and perhaps hope that her life can be turned around. Voigt was solid and her voice was strong; at points where the orchestra drowned out other singers, she could still be heard. Her acting was very good. It made me cringe, seeing her go from being affectionate and loving with her son to then yelling and pushing him away.
Wozzeck is so strapped for cash he makes ends meet by allowing a doctor to experiment on him. Clive Bailey, in his debut at the Met, was terrific as the Doctor—a great actor and lively, with a good voice. The doctor frequently made statements about what was healthy: certain thoughts, sounds, etc. It was fascinating, and perhaps a peek into Weimar German ideas on health. And the Doctor’s prescribed food for Wozzeck seems cruel, as the poor man is further humiliated by being told he can only eat beans and is not allowed urinate. This control of thought and action seems to foreshadow the horrific experiments that were to come in just a few years.
I’m not usually a big fan of atonal music, but the atonality of the music grabbed me. I liked the motifs, particularly the marching theme. The sound was full and I loved the crescendos of cacophonous drums drowning out the other instruments and filling the theater. Levine, as always, was terrific. I feel he is really back at the Met. And it’s great to see the full orchestra stay in the pit for the applause after the show. Often the orchestra players are gone by the time the conductor receives his accolades.
The bare scenery was fitting for the bleak emotional landscape and poverty of Wozzeck. Massive shifting walls and the use of light created the majority of the scenes. A couple scenes had musicians playing onstage. Those scenes really came to life in front of the minimal staging.Wozzeck slowly loses his mind as he is further beaten down. Goerne navigated all of it thoughtfully, his intensity of emotion increased and his hopelessness and frustration was palpable. By the end I couldn’t help but feel horribly for his character. Kudos to Goerne for stepping in on a day’s notice. I do wonder how Hampson would do as Wozzeck. Hopefully he will recover soon so we will be able to find out.
Shawn – Less than twenty four hours before curtain, “German star baritone” Matthias Goerne stepped in for Thomas Hampson in the season premiere of Wozzeck at the Metropolitan Opera Thursday night. Hampson, who was ill, was to premiere the role.
Deborah Voight was impressive as Marie, a roll that could end up shrieky I would imagine. And Clive Bailey in his Met debut as The Doctor whose experiments may very well be responsible for Wozzeck’s disintegrating sanity, was fay, evil and excellent.
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| Matthias Goerne |
In a bizarre fluke, Goerne happened to be in town for a concert of Wozzeck with the Vienna State Opera last Friday at Carnegie Hall AND a solo concert at Carnegie last night. Hampson attended Goerne’s Wozzeck concert last Friday AND Goerne happened to attend the Met’s Wozzeck Dress Rehearsal on Monday morning, so he had seen the staging. The Met’s Peter Gelb was quoted as saying, “It’s the fraternity of Wozzecks.”
Goerne was asked by the Met Wednesday night to step in the next day, but waited until Thursday morning to commit to the performance. After a quick run through with Levine and the directors Thursday afternoon, and a series of lightning fast costume fittings, Goerne took the stage for the Met’s season premiere of Wozzeck. Goerne whose Met debut was Papageno in 1998, had not sung at the Met since 2005. All this did make me wonder what happened to Hampson’s original cover. Did he get his fee? I hope so.
I couldn’t tell Goerne was just walking into this performance the day of. Goerne has done Wozzeck many times and knows the part well, but still walking into a new staging and conductor and orchestra the day of a show is no small feat regardless of how well one knows a part.
This was my first time seeing Wozzeck, so I have nothing to compare to, but I found Matthias Goerne’s performance to be harrowing. His Wozzeck was both terrifying and pathetic yet sympathetic. A disturbing yet appropriate combination. His barreling physicality lent a man-child aspect to the performance that only deepened my compassion for him, even as it repulsed me. And although I am not an aficionado of atonal music and singing, I thought he sounded great vocally. Although I could not hear him over the orchestra a few times, but I assumed this was by artistic device. Speaking of artistic device, James Levine and the Met Orchestra sounded wonderful, even with a brand new lead on the stage.
Deborah Voight was impressive as Marie, a roll that could end up shrieky I would imagine. And Clive Bailey in his Met debut as The Doctor whose experiments may very well be responsible for Wozzeck’s disintegrating sanity, was fay, evil and excellent. There were many empty seats in the house. Entire rows in Dress Circle had only four or five people in them. Whether this was from people not showing due to Hampson’s cancelation or lack of ticket sales I do not know. But the audience roared as if at capacity for Matthias Goerne at the final curtain calls. I am interested to see what Hampson will do with the role and plan to return and see it with him if possible.
Finally, for whatever reason, there was more coughing in the audience at this performance than any I have ever been to in my life. I thought perhaps it was sympathy coughing for Thomas Hampson’s bronchitis. Additionally, someone said Placido Domingo was in the audience, but we didn’t see him.
– Elizabeth Frayer and Shawn E Milnes
(Photos Courtesy of Metropolitan Opera Facebook Page)
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