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Wozzeck Digital House Program

Wozzeck Digital House Program

April 25 - May 16, 2025 Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts

Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts

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Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts

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Please note: There is no intermission for Wozzeck. Latecomers may not be admitted once the performance begins.

Please allow ample travel time and check for local road and transit disruptions to avoid disappointment.

Tormented by visions and humiliated by his superiors, the soldier Wozzeck (baritone Michael Kupfer-Radecky) discovers that his lover, Marie (soprano Ambur Braid), has entertained the advances of the Drum Major (tenor Matthew Cairns)—a revelation that will culminate in murder, madness, and self-destruction.

This landmark of 20th-century music is brought to life in a new production from the extraordinary imagination of South African artist William Kentridge, offering audiences an immersive, interdisciplinary experience described as “a breathtaking masterpiece... a work of art across many genres."

Synopsis in a Minute

Wozzeck, a common man—trying to make the best of the worst that life has given him—finally snaps when the woman he loves betrays him.

View full synopsis

Performance Information

  • Performance time is approximately one hour and 30 minutes, with no intermission
  • This production contains scenes of violence and sexual assault, as well as strobe-like lights and projections
  • Sung in German with English SURTITLES™
  • Washrooms are located on every level except the ground floor
  • Enjoy free Wifi at the opera house by using the network name Free Wifi - COC
  • There is no dress code at the opera! We do ask that you kindly refrain from wearing scented products and fragrances
  • Concessions open before the performance and at intermission

Prefer to read this house program as a PDF?

Download Program PDF

A portrait of composer Alban Berg

Composed By Alban Berg

A portrait of composer Alban Berg

Alban Berg

Born in Vienna, Austria on February 9, 1885;
died in Vienna, Austria on December 24, 1935

Alban Maria Johannes Berg was born in Vienna on Feb. 9, 1885. His father was a salesman in the export business and his mother was the daughter of a Viennese citizen.

Initially inclined to become a writer, Berg began to teach himself music as a teenager and completed his first compositions at age fifteen. After completing his studies in 1904 he entered the Viennese government office, headed for a career as a civil servant. 

At this time Arnold Schoenberg was living in Vienna and teaching theory and composition. Having seen an advertisement for Schoenberg's services, Berg’s brother urged the musically talented Alban to study with him. Schoenberg accepted Berg as a student and taught him the principles of traditional music: harmony and counterpoint. Berg soon gave up his bookkeeping job and dedicated himself full-time to composition.

Between 1915-1918, Berg served in the Austro-Hungarian Army, beginning work on the opera that would become Wozzeck during a period of leave in 1917. The opera was first performed in 1925, after which Berg began work on his second great opera, Lulu.

Despite increasing difficulties imposed by Nazi cultural ideology, which denounced modernist works as well as Jewish associations (such as Berg’s friendship with Arnold Schoenberg), Berg continued to develop the orchestration for Lulu until his death by blood poisoning in 1935. In time, Berg’s works, along with those of Schoenberg and Webern, would come to be known as belonging to the Second Viennese School—Haydn, Mozart, and Beethoven having made up the First.

Cast

A portrait of Michael Kupfer-Radecky

Michael Kupfer-Radecky

Wozzeck
A portrait of Ambur Braid

Ambur Braid

Marie

Matthew Cairns

Drum Major
A portrait of Michael Schade

Michael Schade

Captain

Anthony Robin Schneider

Doctor
A portrait of Krisztina Szabó

Krisztina Szabó

Margret
A portrait of Owen McCausland

Owen McCausland

Andres
A portrait of Michael Colvin

Michael Colvin

The Fool

Korin Thomas-Smith

Second Apprentice

Marcel d'Entremont

A Soldier

Ryan Downey

A Townsman

Duncan Stenhouse

First Apprentice

Northern Ireland-born Duncan Stenhouse is a Calgarian bass and composer who recently completed his Advanced Operatic Diploma at the Royal Academy of Music under the support of the Sybil Tutton Opera Award and Philip Hattey Prize. Stenhouse is also a proud alumnus of the Memorial School of Music in St. John’s, NL. While living in London, England for his studies, Stenhouse performed in various summer festivals including Longborough Festival Opera, Garsington Opera, Opera Holland Park, and Hurn Court Opera. During this time, he sang in operas by Britten, Dvorák, Mozart, Puccini, Rossini, Strauss, Stravinsky, and Verdi. He was named one of CBC’s “30 hot classical musicians under 30” in 2024 and won the Sarah Harrison Prize at the Hurn Court Opera Singer of the Year Competition. This season with the COC, he performs the role of High Priest of Baal in Nabucco, First Apprentice in Wozzeck, and Zaretsky in Eugene Onegin. 

Creative

A portrait of conductor Johannes Debus

Johannes Debus

Conductor

William Kentridge

Production

Luc De Wit

Co-Director

Sabine Theunissen

Set Designer
Full Credits

With the COC Orchestra and Chorus

A co-production of Canadian Opera Company, The Salzburg Festival, The Metropolitan Opera, and Opera Australia

Sandra Horst and the COC Chorus are generously underwritten by Tim & Frances Price

Johannes Debus is generously underwritten by Riki Turofsky & Charles Petersen

The COC Orchestra is generously sponsored by The Schulich Foundation and by W. Bruce C. Bailey

Wozzeck is generously underwritten, in part by Phil Lind

With additional major support from
Philip J. Boswell
Ira Gluskin & Maxine Granovsky Gluskin
The Hal Jackman Foundation
Cheryl Atkinson & Don Schmitt, C.M.
The Schulich Foundation
Jay Smith
Anonymous (3)

William Kentridge is generously sponsored by Kristine Vikmanis & Denton Creighton

Duncan Stenhouse is generously sponsored by Joy Levine & Dr. Eudice Goldberg

Korin Thomas-Smith is generously sponsored by Catherine Fauquier

Learn More

5 Things to Know about WOZZECK

Alban Berg’s unrelenting account of one man’s descent into madness brought forth a new musical language that captured the hopelessness, absurdity, and cruelty of a broken world.

WOZZECK Q&A: William Kentridge

This season’s stunning original production of Berg’s WOZZECK is the brainchild of South African multidisciplinary artist William Kentridge, who recently took the time to answer a few of our burning questions about the creative process behind staging this landmark of 20th-century music.

The Many Faces of WOZZECK

From the opera’s dark inspirations to the rich interpretations that have followed in the century since its premiere, we’re sharing just a few of the many faces of this challenging and timelessly relevant tale of trauma, vice, paranoia, and madness.

The Music of WOZZECK

Join COC Music Director Johannes Debus as he explores the haunting and groundbreaking music of Alban Berg’s WOZZECK ahead of its highly anticipated run at the COC.

Land Acknowledgement

Through ongoing consultation with the Circle of Artists, we are developing a practice around land acknowledgment that is more reflective of our commitment to moving forward together in the spirit of creativity, respect, and reciprocity.

Ticket Policies

Everything you need to know about your ticket purchase—all in one spot!
Presented at

Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts

145 Queen Street West Toronto, ON M5H 4G1
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