“Wozzeck” might be hard to listen to – the piece by the avant-garde composer is sharp like a knife and emotionally engaging.

A student of the legendary Arnold Schoenberg, Alban Berg was ahead of his time when he composed his tragic opera between 1914 and 1922.

The libretto is based on the play by German writer Georg Buchner and is said to be inspired by the real story of a German man named Woyzeck, who was beheaded for murdering his wife in an act of jealousy.

Beware: passions run high at “Wozzeck”, so stock up on antidepressants before booking a ticket.

One of the key operas of the 20th century has been brought together by the cutting-edge stage director Dmitry Chernyakov and is conducted by Teodor Currentzis according to whom “Wozzeck is a work which introduced changes into the aesthetics of the 20th century. We can talk of the pre-Wozzeck age and the post-Wozzeck age… Wozzeck is a ‘grandson’ to Mahler and at the same time the founder of modern music; it is ‘father’ to Zimmermann, Gerard Grisey, Xenakis; and ‘uncle’ to Shostakovich, who came under its spell. Wozzeck's influence extended to literature too: take Thomas Mann's Doctor Faustus, for instance, or Frank Wedekind's Pandora's Box, or Robert Musil.”

The part of Wozzeck will be performed by award-winning German singer Markus Eiche and Austrian baritone Georg Nigl. The part of Wozzeck’s wife Marie will be represented by American soprano Mardi Byers and Russian Yelena Zhidkova.