All these folks would certainly have made more of their chances in a simpler, clearer, sparer staging, with a director who tried to develop the drama through exactitude of character behavior in an environment of some verisimilitude, even of a stylized kind. And of course the orchestral performance, under Yannick Nezet-Séguin, would have registered more strongly, too. I had a hard time paying it much heed, with all the carryin’-on. Of course the orchestra played technically well, and so of course there were impressive moments, whenever one could really take them in. I don’t believe I’ve ever heard a Wozzeck quite so dominated by the brass and percussion, or taken at quite such consistently quick tempos, and between these two factors the music never quite developed the needed gravitas. In some of the lighter sections, such as the dialogue and trio of Act 2, Scene 2, I thought the right lilt, the right play between stage and pit, was captured, but then it would either lose the pulse, or I would lose track of it amidst the distractions. And why did not N-S, the Met’s Music Director, draw some red lines to at least give his forces, and Berg’s most eloquent music, a fighting chance in the Interludes?

This game is now being played under protest.

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NEXT TIME: Not quite firm yet, but I’m inclining to a discussion of two fascinating sopranos who have had recent major CD retrospectives, Marjorie Lawrence and Lotte Lehmann, who crossed paths briefly at the Metropolitan in the 1930s. As preparation, you might want to refer back to Lotte Lehmann and the Blending of the Registers (9/29/17 and 10/13/17), based on Marston’s survey of her early recordings.

I will also be appending a list of the bibliographical references used in today’s post, for which there isn’t time right now. All this in three weeks’ time, which is to say on Friday, Feb. 21.

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