enoa - European network of opera academies
From Fledermaus to Wozzeck the Viennese spirit in masterpieces of the fin du siècle
Thursday 17th November 2016 - Wednesday 23rd November 2016
Queen Elisabeth Music Chapel, Waterloo, Belgium
The music of Wozzeck and Lulu is not thinkable without the experience of the Viennese style of music, theatre, philosophy, life. The portrait of a society given by an Operette like Fledermaus is important for the understanding of Alban Berg’s portraits of the social outsider Wozzeck as well as of Lulu, the lady who confuses and blows up the society around herself.
There are many theatrical and musical parallels between Johann Strauß and Alban Berg, from the inspiration by the Wiener Walzer up to the sarcasm of the story, from intoxication to frenzy of individuals and societies. As much as Strauß’ and Lehar’s Operette are describing the feeling of the fin-de-siècle epoch in a light and sparkling way, as intensely is the psychological description of this epoch by Berg leading to its different conclusion: the real ending. The musical parameters, though, are nearly the same.
© M. Cooreman
From Fledermaus to Wozzeck the Viennese spirit in masterpieces of the fin du siècle
Thursday 17th November 2016 - Wednesday 23rd November 2016
Queen Elisabeth Music Chapel, Waterloo, Belgium
The music of Wozzeck and Lulu is not thinkable without the experience of the Viennese style of music, theatre, philosophy, life. The portrait of a society given by an Operette like Fledermaus is important for the understanding of Alban Berg’s portraits of the social outsider Wozzeck as well as of Lulu, the lady who confuses and blows up the society around herself.
There are many theatrical and musical parallels between Johann Strauß and Alban Berg, from the inspiration by the Wiener Walzer up to the sarcasm of the story, from intoxication to frenzy of individuals and societies. As much as Strauß’ and Lehar’s Operette are describing the feeling of the fin-de-siècle epoch in a light and sparkling way, as intensely is the psychological description of this epoch by Berg leading to its different conclusion: the real ending. The musical parameters, though, are nearly the same.
© M. Cooreman