Berg: Wozzeck op. 7

• Cast: Fritz Wunderlich (Andres & whistling in Act 2/Scenes 4&5), Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau (Wozzeck), Evelyn Lear (Marie), Helmut Melchert (Tambourmajor), Gerhard Stolze (Hauptmann), Karl Christian Kohn (Doktor), Kurt Böhme (1. Handwerksbursch), Robert Koffmane (2. Handwerksbursch), Martin Vantin (Der Narr), Alice Oelke (Margret), Walter Muggelberg (Soldat), Schöneberger Sängerknaben, Chor der Deutschen Oper Berlin, Orchester der Deutschen Oper Berlin, cond. Karl Böhm

• Grand Prix du Disque, Paris
• Mark DeVoto in "The Metropolitan Opera Guide to Recorded Opera", New York 1993, in comparison with the 1951 Mitropolous/CBS recording: "The first studio recording of Wozzeck shows the considerable improvement in sound quality obtainable after thirteen years of developing technology. Both the orchestral and vocal sound are more precise and immediate, and the rich detail of the orchestration is much more easily discernable, even when, as occasionally happens, the balance has been adjusted too much to the singers' advantage. Karl Böhm's conducting is well controlled, even restrained, but at the price of a certain heaviness resulting from tempos that are often too slow. Nevertheless, his overall conception of the opera is well unified and attentive to the drama.
  Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, in the title role, can hardly be faulted for accuracy, but paradoxically his sound is too richly dramatic for this opera, and one if left with the impression that Fischer-Dieskau overacts vocally in what is essentially a lyric role. The same is true, though to a lesser extent, of Evelyn Lear, who brings to Marie's role a greater range of expression than we need to hear, when the totality of the music has so much expressivity already built into the score. Yet these criticisms may seem like carping when the performances are so intelligent and sensitive so as to sustain the drama so fully. Of the other singers, Gerhard Stolze comes across as memorably nasty captain, and Karl Christian Koln is excellent as the Doctor; it is well to remember how much raving there is in both these roles, and how careful the singers must be not to overdo it."
• "The Rough Guide to Classical Music", 1994, in comparison with the Dohnanyi recording: "Neither of these two recordings is fully satisfactory, but each offers insights into this miraculous score. Wächter is slightly too bland in comparison with Fischer-Dieskau's intense portrayal for Boehm, though the later is at times rather too aristocratic for the part of the ignorant soldier. Both sopranos are good, despite a bit of wobble in Silja's voice, and both conductors lavish loving care on the orchestral sound - Dohnanyi have the rather better sound. The main problem with the Boehm set is that it is coupled with a second-class performance of the unfinished Lulu, whereas Dohnanyi has an excellent account of Schoenbergs monodrama, Erwartung." [compared recording: Wächter/Silja/Winkler/Wiener Philharmoniker/Dohnanyi, Decca 417 348-2]
• "The Rough Guide to Opera", 1997: "Brilliant, glowing textures abound in this benchmark Berlin production. Böhm's tempi may be slow - and there is clearly some tension between stage and pit - but from start to finish the performance is marked by his conviction that the pain and suffering of Wozzeck are revealed as clearly through the orchestral score as through the solo writing. The casting is almost ideal - with lyric tenor Fritz Wunderlich in the role of Andres - and the only slight failing come with Fischer-Dieskau's baritone, which is simply too healthy and suave for the role of Wozzeck. The accompanying performance of Berg's incomplete draft of Lulu makes this a very valuable set." [on DG 435 705-2]
• José Carmona Santiago, 2000: "Tengo en la más alta estima la grabación que Karl Böhm hizo de las dos óperas de Lulu, y aún sigo sin comprender el porqué de que tantos críticos afirmen que la versión de Lulu es 'mala'. Creo que, sin ser la mejor existente, la versión que hace Böhm de la última ópera bergiana resulta espléndida y además es la única que explota a conciencia y hasta sus máximas consecuencias el aspecto circense que tiene esta obra. Böhm desdramatiza irónicamente la ópera, con lo que resulta aún más cruel. Y además, Fischer-Dieskau es el mejor Dr. Schön en discos. En cuanto al Wozzeck, es una de las referencias absolutas habidas y por haber. Tampoco entiendo el comentario de que Fischer-Dieskau es demasiado aristocrático para el papel, ya que basta escucharlo para comprobar la intensidad que aporta al pobre soldado. Böhm está maravilloso, y el lujo de tener a Stolze, Kohn y nada menos que Wunderlich (en el brevísimo pero difícil papel de Andres) en el reparto da una idea de la calidad de la versión." [on DG 435 705-2; comment submitted to this website]

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	DG 435 705-2 (3 CD, + "Lulu" without FW)
	DG LPM 138 991/992 (2 LP)
	DG SLPM 138 991/992 (2 LP)
	DG 2702 023 (2 LP)
	DG 2707 023 (2 LP)
	DG 2709 023 (2 LP)
	DG 413 797-1GG10 (as part of "Complete issued works by Berg", 10 LP)
	DG 413 797-9 (2 LP)
	DG 413 804-1GG2 Galleria (2 LP)
	Supraphon 112 0571-2 (2 LP)

Fritz Wunderlich Discography