Alban Berg's Wozzeck is a landmark of 20th-century opera. Shaped by the composer's personal experiences, the opera captures the disorienting and dehumanizing experience of war through the stark tale of a soldier’s slow descent into madness. This spectacular co-production comes to life through the extraordinary creative direction of South African artist William Kentridge, offering audiences an immersive experience described as “a breathtaking masterpiece... a work of art across many genres" (Financial Times). Wozzeck runs for seven performances at the Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts on April 25 and 27, and May 3, 8, 10, 14, and 16, 2025.

 - An operatic experience unlike any other -

William Kentridge is globally renowned for his innovative and multidisciplinary body of work; in this visually arresting production of Wozzeck, he uses a rich array of media to transport audiences directly into the mind of a deeply traumatized soldier pushed to the brink of violent outburst. Together with co-director Luc De Wit, set designer Sabine Theunissen, projection designer Catherine Meyburgh, and video control Kim Gunning, Kentridge has brilliantly merged painting, archival footage, film montage, and puppetry to create an apocalyptic sensory experience unlike any other. Original lighting design from Urs Schönebaum, revived by Mikael Kangas, sets the tone for an exploration into humanity’s darkest impulses, while costumes from Greta Goiris draw the story’s timeline forward into the period between the First and Second World Wars.

 - A new musical language -

Alban Berg’s score marked a significant shift in the operatic landscape, as Wozzeck’s premiere delivered a new musical language that shrewdly captured the hopelessness, absurdity, and cruelty of a broken world. COC Music Director Johannes Debus leads the COC Orchestra through an unrelenting 90 minutes of musical modernism, together with Price Family Chorus Master Sandra Horst leading the COC Chorus.

Leading the cast, and fresh from a recent starring role in the COC’s Salome (2023), Michael Kupfer-Radecky returns to Toronto, bringing his “intensely formidable” (La Scena Musicale) baritone to the dramatic title role, alongside soprano Ambur Braid, who stars as Wozzeck’s lover, Marie following her “extraordinary performance” (Opera Canada) as Salome. Wozzeck’s tormentors, the Captain and Doctor, are performed by tenor Michael Schade, who “[stole] the show” (La Scena Musicale) in his last COC appearance as Herod in Salome, and bass Anthony Robin Schneider, making his COC debut. Tenor and Ensemble Studio alumnus Matthew Cairns also returns as the Drum Major pursuing Marie—a final insult that sends Wozzeck veering towards murder and self-destruction.

Several other current and graduate members of the COC’s Ensemble Studio are featured in this remarkable cast: mezzo-soprano Krisztina Szabó is Marie’s judgemental neighbour Margret; tenor Owen McCausland is Wozzeck’s fellow soldier Andres; tenor Michael Colvin performs the role of The Fool; and bass Duncan Stenhouse and baritone Korin Thomas-Smith sing the roles of First and Second Apprentice, respectively.

Wozzeck is sung in German and presented by the COC with English SURTITLES™.

For tickets visit www.coc.ca.