Photo credit: Pete Woodhead 

My last flutter in London would be a third and final night at the Southbank Centre for further Multitudes fare. In what might have been the most fascinating piece out of these events comes great power and also flaw. The London Philharmonic Orchestra have truly had remarkable, crushing moments in Alban Berg’s Wozzeck, an opera not for the faint of heart. This for me, is a first in opera, where the experiments made in the pit and voices meets the dramatic tension of the narrative. Berg was rather clever and his atonal scores remain an alluring mystery. 

I often look back at the Olivier Award winning, Welsh National Opera production from Richard Jones, the first new feat at the Wales Millennium Centre. My intro to the opera has never left me and the horrendous sense of dread and pain in this never leaves you. Conductor Edward Gardener is such a good man, young at heart and firm on the podium. For this remarkable feat, this one off concert would crackle and blast thanks to the vast orchestra. Any one familiar with the play Woyzeck by Georg Búchner, will know the story, Werner Herzog’s film version echoes this. 

This spirit tearing drama is in three tight acts, roughly ninety minutes straight through. Wozzeck the solider is pushed around by all who know him: the Captain, his Doctor, his wife Marie and many others. Treated like muck, he never catches a break, his mind breaks and after discovering Marie has cheated on him with the Drum Major, only bad things could happen. As the title character, Stéphane Degout is dark and a ticking time bomb, the baritone role is bloody hard work for anyone who dares. Annette Dasch as Marie had moments of seduction yet I feel she was over shadowed here (we will come on to the video side of things shortly). Another dense role, Dasch comes and goes in the plot, she shone in the horrendous murder scene in the last act. I shall discuss supporting role shortly. 

My heart sunk when seeing some of the promotional material for the video work for Wozzeck: Wretches Like Us. Ilya Shagalov and co-creator Nina Guseve have taken a gamble and this has not reaped reward. A slideshow of artificially generated imagey was not on my bingo cards to see at the opera this year. It would appear that AI is becoming such a homestay in our culture. I’m worried about this. The lack of creativeness, the environmental issues and more. Most of these slides saw a contemporary take as Wozzeck is doing various key worker roles, as we see council houses and other British culture staples. Photos as film maker Chris Marker might be envisioned or perhaps the raw, grunginess of Richard Billingham. I was left cold by most of it, amazing how so much AI material is made online, you just don’t want to know. Some of the subtitles were not visible at moments due to the frequency of the image change and the colour of the words. 

A large cast got down and dirty in this operatic masterpiece. Peter Hoare is always a great comedic Captain, a role he has done for years. A sour Doctor from a rough and strict Brindley Sherratt is another fine supporting part. Christopher Ventris is the seducing Drum Major, Eriik Grøtvedt as Andres is the worried friend of Wozzeck, singing with a rising determination. Margret played by Kitty Whately was catty and nosey, as the brief neighbour, vocally quite refined and the wittering sprechgesang also wonderful. Adrian Thompson gets a disquieting solo as The Fool, one highlight of many in this mini opera. The London Voices are bar patrons and their ladies too, got on as a harsh and vengeful mob. The Tiffin Boys Choir break our hearts with the final scene, which remains unforgettable. Just no to AI, if you please! 

Mulituides continues till 30th April 2026.