It has been my observation that Wozzeck is most highly praised by people who are very into orchestral music but have little interest in opera. That is, the sort of people who like Wozzeck usually don't much care for Verdi and Puccini, and vice versa.
Not my experience. I get as many kicks from Wozzeck as I do from Traviata or Tosca, and in the opera theatre where I work (where we do just about all the big Wagner, Verdi and Puccini stuff) I find many people who feel the same. Wozzeck works on many levels: of course it's great orchestral music, but it's also great theatre and wonderfully written for the singers. And there are passages in Wozzeck that are just as romantic and sexy as anything by Puccini.
Michael Cook _______________________________________________ Finale mailing list [email protected] http://lists.shsu.edu/mailman/listinfo/finale
