Berg: Wozzeck

A gripping performance, one of the best recordings ever of this modern masterpiece, and certainly the best in its price range. Karl Böhm was one of the classic conductors of this opera from the beginning, and this is one of his most dramatic readings. Truly a legend in her own time, soprano Anja Silja recently celebrated her 70th birthday just a few months after performing in Berg’s opera Lulu! For over 30 years, she has been considered a leading vocal interpreter of Berg, Schoenberg, Weill, Janácek and Wagner. Live performance, Salzburg, August 8, 1971. "Geraint Evans’Wozzeck is a powerful, tragic presence… Balancing clarity and madness, power and impotence, nobility and crudeness, it is one of the great portrayals of the role on disc. It is Böhm’s conducting that sets this performance apart, however, thanks in large part to the Vienna Philharmonic, which has rarely been captured playing with such violence and grit…Böhm seems to have the final catastrophe in sight from the very beginning, and each climax is more harrowing than the last…do not pass up this inexpensive release; it is an extraordinary document not to be missed.” — Gramophone