Lyric Opera of Chicago to Present Berg's WOZZECK, 11/1-21

Lyric Opera of Chicago presents Alban Berg's Wozzeck in a new production this fall. It opens on Sunday, November 1 with six performances through Saturday, November 21. Performance dates are November 1 at 2pm, and November 4, 7, 12, 16, 21 at 7:30pm

Sir Andrew Davis will conduct this harrowing masterpiece for the first time in his latest collaboration with director Sir David McVicar. Their most recent collaborations at Lyric include triumphant new productions of Rusalka and Elektra. Tomasz Konieczny (debut) is the downtrodden soldier, the opera's title character. Angela Denoke (debut) is Marie, with whom Wozzeck has a child out of wedlock, Gerhard Siegel (debut) is the Captain, Stefan Vinke (debut) is the Drum Major whose affair with Marie drives Wozzeck to murderous madness, Brindley Sherratt is the Doctor who pays Wozzeck to submit to his medical experiments, David Portillo is Andres, a fellow soldier, and Jill Grove is Margret, Marie's neighbor. Vicki Mortimer is set and costume designer, with lighting design by Paule Constable. Michael Black is chorus master and Andrew George is choreographer.

"Alban Berg is one of my favorite composers - I fell in love with his music when I was 14," says Davis, who has conducted virtually everything but this opera in Berg's oeuvre. "There's great variety in the Wozzeck score; some parts are angular, others haunting, with moments of relief that are supremely well timed. The last scene is unbelievably touching. It's one of the greatest operas of the 20th century."

Says Anthony Freud, Lyric's general director, "Wozzeck has extraordinary immediacy and dramatic impact. Anyone who enjoys theater, anyone who enjoys film, shouldn't miss Wozzeck because it's utterly theatrical. It delivers an enormously powerful punch. Tomasz Konieczny is an electrifyingly dramatic bass-baritone who's one of today's most successful Wotans and Alberichs, and Angela Denoke is an extraordinary dramatic soprano who has thrilled European audiences in this role. Their debuts here will be riveting."

For tickets and information call (312) 827-5600 or go to lyricopera.org/wozzeck

This new Lyric Opera production of Wozzeck is generously made possible by
The Monument Trust (UK) and Stefan Edlis and Gael Neeson, with additional support from Robert L. Turner.