Carlos Kleiber had a particular familial connection to Berg’s Wozzeck, his father having conducted the premiere. Kleiber’s own musical voice, however, differed markedly, favoring a more organic approach to the orchestration over the sharper angularity associated with his father’s interpretations. Though the organization of Berg’s tone rows can at times suggest an academic rigor, Kleiber inspires the players to shape them with an almost extemporaneous quality, at moments recalling the flexibility and spontaneity of jazz more than conventional twentieth-century classical performance.

In this performance of Wozzeck, the result is an interpretation that counterbalances the weight of both the drama and the score with a playfulness that acts as a kind of palate cleanser. Theo Adam brings to the title role a sense of stoic suffering and quiet nobility, qualities that underscore the opera’s underlying observations about class within a rigidly hierarchical world. Wendy Fine’s Marie is overwhelming in its intensity, conveying a character burdened by trauma and despair.