'Wozzeck' Returns With James Levine, Deborah Voigt and Thomas Hampson; A Look at the Work's History at the Metropolitan Opera

On March 6, Alan Berg's masterpiece "Wozzeck" will return to the Met repertory with music director James Levine conducting.

The work is based on the German playwright Georg Buchner's work of the same name, which tells the story of the passionate, despairing and murderous relationship between Wozzeck and Marie.

The opera has been one of the few modern works to be performed at the Met with consistency. While the work was composed between 1914 and 1922 and received its world premiere in 1925 the Met took 34 years to bring it to the house. The opera had its Met premiere in 1959 with Karl Bohm conducting. The production was directed by Herbert Graf and starred famed soprano Eleanor Steber in the role of Marie and baritone Herman Unde as the work's eponymous character. The production was received with rousing reviews but also with boos from conservative audiences that were not open to modern music. That season the work received five performances and was performed in English as opposed to its original German language. Two years later the work would be brought back to the Met with the same cast.

Karl Bohm returned to the Met in 1965 to conduct the work again but this time with William Dooley in the title role and Helga Pilarczyk in her company debut as Marie. Another four performances would be performed in the run.

Sir Colin Davis later took on the work in 1969 with Geraint Evans as Wozzeck and Evelyn Lear. Despite great reviews and being considered one of the great works of the 20^th century, the work could not seem to attract audiences and as a result only received four performances.

In 1974 James Levine took on "Wozzeck" in five performances with Janis Martin and Peter Glossop in the title role. However, the performances were still in English.

It was not until 1980 when the conductor worked with director David Alden for the revival of the work in German. The cast included Jose Van Dam in the title role, Anja Silja as Marie and Richard Cassilly as the Drum Major. The performances received rave reviews with Opera News stating, "One of the memorable events of the season turned out to be the revival of 'Wozzeck.'"

Five years later Hildegard Behrens took on the role of Marie with Christian Boech in the title role. Levine conducted eight performances that season.

Levine later revived the work in 1989 for another five performances with Behrens and this time James King would make a special appearance in the role of the Drum Major. Gottfried Hornik also sang that run in the title role.

The opera would disappear for seven years and would return in 1997 with a new production by Mark Lamos. That season the work was conducted under Levine for five performances and starred Maria Ewing and Falk Struckman in his Met debut. The production received rave reviews with the New Yorker stating "the production over all had the virtues of coherence and consistency."

In 1999 Levine revived the work with Behrens as Marie and Franz Grundheber in the title role. That season the opera was only given three performances. Another four performances would be given in 2001 with Struckmann and Katarina Dalayman and even a telecast was broadcast.

Dalyaman would return to the role in 2005 with Alan Held in the title role and in 2011 Waltraud Meier would sing the role of Marie with Held. Stuart Skelton would make his Met debut as the Drum Major.

Three years later Levine is returning to the pit with Thomas Hampson in the title role and Deborah Voigt in the role of Marie. The cast will also include Simon O'Neill, Russell Thomas and Tamara Mumford in Mark Lamos' classic production.

The opera will receive five performances in March.