Woyzeck

After the drama fragment by Georg Büchner (1813-1837)
Music by Martin Donner, Philip Glass, György Kurtág and Alfred Schnittke

From 13. March 2016 until 20. April 2016

Past performances

Duration :
1 H. 30 Min.
More information:
Introduction 45 min before the performance.

Choreography:

Christian Spuck

Christian Spuck is from Marburg and was trained at the John Cranko School in Stuttgart. He began his dance career with Jan Lauwers’ Needcompany and Anne Teresa de Keersmaeker’s ensemble "Rosas". In 1995 he joined the Stuttgart Ballet and served as the company’s resident choreographer from 2001 to 2012. In Stuttgart, he created fifteen world premieres, including the narrative ballets "Lulu. Eine Monstretragödie" after Frank Wedekind, "Der Sandmann", and "Das Fräulein von S." after E.T.A. Hoffmann. In addition, Christian Spuck has worked with numerous prominent ballet companies across Europe and the USA. For the Royal Ballet of Flanders, he created "The Return of Ulysses" in 2006, and at the Norwegian National Ballet in Oslo, "Woyzeck" after Georg Büchner was premiered. His ballet "Die Kinder" at Aalto Ballett Essen was nominated for the Prix Benois de la Danse; the ballet "Leonce und Lena", also premiered in Essen and based on Georg Büchner, was taken up by the Grands Ballets Canadiens de Montréal, Charlotte Ballet, USA, the Czech National Ballet in Prague, and the Stuttgart Ballet. The premiere of "Poppea//Poppea" for Gauthier Dance at Theaterhaus Stuttgart in 2010 was selected by Dance Europe magazine as one of the ten most successful dance productions worldwide and was awarded the German theater prize Der Faust 2011 as well as the Italian "Danza/Danza Award." Christian Spuck has also directed operas: following Gluck’s "Orphée et Euridice" at the Stuttgart State Opera, he staged Verdi’s "Falstaff" at the Staatstheater Wiesbaden, as well as Berlioz’ "La damnation de Faust" and Wagner’s "The Flying Dutchman" at the Deutsche Oper Berlin. From 2012 to 2023, Christian Spuck was director of the Zürich Ballet. There he created choreographies for "Romeo and Juliet", "Leonce und Lena", "Woyzeck", "Der Sandmann", "Messa da Requiem", "The Nutcracker and the Mouse King", "Sleeping Beauty", and "Monteverdi". The ballet "Anna Karenina", premiered in Zurich in 2014 and based on Leo Tolstoy, was added to the repertoire in Oslo, at the Moscow Stanislavski Theatre, by the Korean National Ballet, and the Bavarian State Ballet. In 2018, Spuck’s ballet "Winterreise" premiered in Zurich, earning him the Prix Benois de la Danse in 2019. In 2019, the Zürich Ballet staged Helmut Lachenmann’s "Mädchen mit den Schwefelhölzern", recognized as "Production of the Year" and "Company of the Year" by tanz magazine. For the Moscow Bolshoi Theatre, he created the ballet "Orlando" after Virginia Woolf in 2021. His "Messa da Requiem" was not only invited to the Adelaide Festival in Australia but also adopted by Het Nationale Oper & Ballet Amsterdam and the Finnish National Ballet. Since the beginning of the 2023/24 season, Christian Spuck has been the artistic director of the Staatsballett Berlin.

Messa da Requiem20 / 22 / 28 Feb / 1 / 5 / 7 Mar / 6 Apr 2026

Music Direction:

Michael Zlabinger

Michael Zlabinger wurde 1984 in Wien geboren. Von 1998-2003 absolvierte er ein Orgel- und Kirchenmusikstudium, anschliessend studierte er Dirigieren und Klavier an der Universität für Musik und darstellende Kunst Wien sowie bei Manfred Huss. Weitere Studien folgten 2008-2010 in Luzern bei Ralf Weikert. Meisterkurse besuchte er u.a. bei Bernard Haitink und Pierre Boulez. An der Volksoper Wien betreute er als musikalischer Assistent und Bühnenmusikdirigent u.a. Salome, Madama Butterfly, Die lustigen Weiber von Windsor, Die Entführung aus dem Serail und Hänsel und Gretel. Von 2003-2015 war er Leiter der Kirchenmusik von Mariabrunn und gründete dort 2005 die Camerata Mariabrunn. Konzerte führten ihn nach Belgien, Holland, Spanien, Serbien-Montenegro und in die Schweiz. Er dirigierte er u.a. die Lucerne Festival Strings, das Luzerner Sinfonieorchester und das Orquesta Sinfonica de Las Palmas. Als Stipendiat des Ministeriums für Unterricht, Kultur und Kunst nahm er 2013 an Projekten des New World Symphony Orchestra unter der Leitung von Michael Tilson Thomas in Miami Beach teil. 2011 war er als Assistent von Christoph von Dohnányi für die Neuproduktion von Schönbergs Moses und Aron erstmals am Opernhaus Zürich tätig. Als Assistent von Ingo Metzmacher war er bei den Salzburger Festspielen und an der Mailänder Scala für Zimmermanns Die Soldaten, 2013/14 am Grand Théatre de Genève für Wagners Ring des Nibelungen und zuletzt für Die Jakobsleiter beim Deutschen Symphonie-Orchester Berlin verpflichtet. Am Opernhaus Zürich dirigierte er Das Gespenst von Canterville, Robin Hood und den Ballettabend Notations.

Stage and costume design:

Emma Ryott

Emma Ryott is from England and works internationally as a costume and set designer. Since 2003, she has collaborated with Christian Spuck in ballet and opera. Their joint ballet projects include "The Little Match Girl", "Winterreise", "Messa da Requiem", "Anna Karenina", and "Romeo and Juliet" in Zurich; "Lulu. Eine Monstretragödie" and "Das Fräulein von S." in Stuttgart; "Woyzeck" in Oslo and Zurich; "Leonce und Lena" in Montreal, Stuttgart, Zurich, and Prague; "Der Sandmann" in Stuttgart and Zurich; and "The Return of Ulysses" in Antwerp. In opera, they have worked on "The Flying Dutchman" and "La damnation de Faust" at the Deutsche Oper Berlin, "Falstaff" in Wiesbaden, and "Orfeo ed Euridice" in Stuttgart. Other opera productions include "Mathis der Maler" at the Theater an der Wien, "Manon Lescaut" at the English National Opera, "Otello" at the Salzburg Festival, "La damnation de Faust" and "The Great Gatsby" at the Semperoper Dresden, "Marco Polo" at the Guangzhou Opera, "Das Rheingold" and "Die Walküre" at the Longborough Festival, "La bohème" at the Copenhagen Opera Festival, "Roméo et Juliette" in Malmö and at the Savonlinna Opera Festival, and "Orfeo" at the Opéra du Rhin. Their theater work has taken them from the Royal Shakespeare Company through Toronto and the National Theatre London to London’s West End and the New York Broadway. For the globally broadcast 2020 New Year’s Concert of the Vienna Philharmonic, Emma Ryott designed the ballet costumes. Additional ballet projects include "Cinderella" at the Finnish National Ballet, as well as Christian Spuck’s "Orlando" and Yuri Possokhov’s "The Seagull" at the Moscow Bolshoi Theatre.

Messa da Requiem20 / 22 / 28 Feb / 1 / 5 / 7 Mar / 6 Apr 2026

Lighting designer:

Reinhard Traub

Reinhard Traub absolvierte eine Ausbildung als Grafikdesigner und Berufspilot. Von 1980 bis 1985 war er Assistent bei Chenault Spence und gestaltete anschliessend u. a. zwei Welttourneen mit den Produktionen Sophisticated Ladies und Carmen Jones als Lichtdesigner. Seit 1992/93 war er bei den Bühnen Graz tätig und konzipierte Lichtdesigns für Produktionen an den Opernhäusern von Amsterdam, Zürich, Brüssel, Hamburg, Helsinki, Hongkong, Kopenhagen, London, Los Angeles, Madrid, Montreal, Moskau, München, Oslo, für die Salzburger Festspiele, das Glyndebourne Festival sowie für das Hamburger Thalia Theater, die Volksbühne Berlin und das Burgtheater in Wien. Reinhard Traub arbeitet regelmässig mit Regisseuren wie Johann Kresnik, Martin Kušej und Christof Loy zusammen. Seit 2006/07 ist Reinhard Traub Leiter der Beleuchtungsabteilung der Staatsoper Stuttgart. Dort ist er Lichtdesigner für Produktionen wie Jenůfa, Der Schaum der Tage, Ariadne auf Naxos, Nabucco sowie Die Nachtwandlerin, Platée, Der fliegende Holländer, Parsifal und La Bohème. 2017 war Reinhard Traub für das Lichtdesign der Produktion Aida bei den Salzburger Festspielen verantwortlich, ausserdem für Tristan und Isolde (2015), Parsifal (2016) und Lohengrin (2018) bei den Bayreuther Festspielen, denen er zukünftig bei Tannhäuser und Der Ring des Nibelungen verbunden sein wird. Darüber hinaus unterrichtet Reinhard Traub seit 2001 an der Staatlichen Akademie der Bildenden Künste in Stuttgart.

Dramaturgy:

Michael Küster,

Michael Küster

Michael Küster is from Germany. After studying German studies, art, and speech science at the University of Halle, he worked as a presenter, author, and speaker at various broadcasting stations in Germany. There, he hosted numerous classical music programs and live broadcasts of major concert events, including those from the Metropolitan Opera New York, the Semperoper Dresden, and the Leipzig Gewandhaus.
Since 2002, he has been a dramaturg at the Zurich Opera House, working with directors such as Matthias Hartmann, David Alden, Robert Carsen, Moshe Leiser/Patrice Caurier, Damiano Michieletto, David Pountney, Johannes Schaaf, and Graham Vick.
As dramaturg of Ballett Zürich, Michael Küster has collaborated since 2012 with Cathy Marston, Marco Goecke, Marcos Morau, Kim Brandstrup, Edward Clug, Alexei Ratmansky, William Forsythe, Jiří Kylián, and Hans van Manen. Together with Christian Spuck, he worked on productions including «Winterreise» («Prix Benois de la Danse»), «Romeo and Juliet», «Messa da Requiem», and «The Sleeping Beauty».
At La Scala in Milan, Michael Küster was dramaturg for Matthias Hartmann’s opera productions of «Der Freischütz», «Idomeneo», and «The Queen of Spades».

Oiseaux Rebelles12 / 18 / 23 / 25 / 31 Oct / 1 / 9 / 13 Nov / 2 / 5 / 6 / 9 Dec 2025 Clara13 / 14 / 19 / 20 / 26 / 28 Dec 2025 / 11 / 12 / 17 / 19 / 24 Apr 2026 Countertime5 / 7 / 14 Sept 2025 Timeframed17 / 18 / 22 / 25 / 30 Jan / 1 / 4 / 6 / 8 / 11 / 12 Feb 2026 The Butterfly Effect4 / 13 / 23 Apr 2026 Messa da Requiem20 / 22 / 28 Feb / 1 / 5 / 7 Mar / 6 Apr 2026 Romeo und Julia23 / 29 / 30 May / 4 / 6 / 7 / 10 / 12 / 14 / 23 / 26 Jun 2026 Nachtträume20 / 25 / 28 / 30 Jun / 4 Jul 2026

Bibbi Moslet

Cast

Woyzeck Tars Vandebeek

Marie Katja Wünsche

Tambourmajor William Moore

Hauptmann Cristian Alex Assis

Margret Galina Mihaylova

Woyzeck Dominik White Slavkovský

Marie Juliette Brunner

Tambourmajor Cristian Alex Assis

Hauptmann Dmitry Khamzin

Doktor Matthew Knight

Andres Benoît Favre

Margret Galina Mihaylova

Woyzeck Tars Vandebeek

Marie Katja Wünsche

Tambourmajor William Moore

Hauptmann Cristian Alex Assis

Margret Galina Mihaylova

Woyzeck Tars Vandebeek

Marie Katja Wünsche

Tambourmajor William Moore

Hauptmann Cristian Alex Assis

Margret Galina Mihaylova

Woyzeck Dominik White Slavkovský

Marie Juliette Brunner

Tambourmajor Cristian Alex Assis

Hauptmann Dmitry Khamzin

Doktor Matthew Knight

Professor Daniel Mulligan

Andres Benoît Favre

Margret Galina Mihaylova

Tars Vandebeek

Tars Vandebeek was born in Belgium, and studied at the Royal Ballet School of Antwerp. He won a gold medal at the International Competition of Dance in Biarritz, also earning the Biarritz City Award, and went on to perform for the Cannes Jeune Ballet and Gauthier Dance. After one year with the Junior Ballet, he joined the main company for the season 2014/15. He has already made a number of appearances on the Zurich stage, such as in Marco Goecke’s Deer Vision and as Levin in Christian Spuck’s Anna Karenina; and he danced the title role in Spuck’s Woyzeck.

Dominik White Slavkovský

Dominik White Slavkovský is Slovakian. Trained at the Bratislava Dance Conservatory, he danced for five years in the Ballet of the Slovak National Theater in Bratislava, most recently as a semi-soloist. He has been a member of Ballett Zürich since the 2014/15 season. In choreographies by Christian Spuck he performed the title role of "Woyzeck", as Drosselmeier in "Nutcracker and Mouse King", Coppelius in "The Sandman", Paris in "Romeo and Juliet" and as Death in Edward Clug's "Peer Gynt". He has also danced in choreographies by George Balanchine, Uwe Scholz, Alexei Ratmansky, Jiří Kylián, William Forsythe, Crystal Pite, Hans van Manen, Nacho Duato, Marco Goecke, James Kudelka, Vladimir Malakhov and many others. In the series "Young Choreographers" he showed his pieces "How to save the world", "Conspiracy" and "Boyband"

Katja Wünsche

Katja Wünsche comes from Dresden and was trained at the Staatliche Ballettschule Berlin. She has won prizes at numerous ballet competitions. From 1999 to 2012 she danced in the Stuttgart Ballet, including as a principal dance from 2006. She danced leading roles in choreographies by John Cranko (Romeo und Julia, Der Widerspenstigen Zähmung, Onegin), John Neumeier (Endstation Sehnsucht, Die Kameliendame), Marcia Haydée (Dornröschen, La Sylphide, La fille mal gardée) and Christian Spuck (Lulu, Der Sandmann, Leonce und Lena, Das Fräulein von S.) and ballets by Forsythe, Kylián, León/Lightfoot and Goecke. In 2007 she was awarded the German Dance Prize Future (for promising young artists) and the German Theater Prize Der Faust. Katja Wünsche has been a first soloist with Ballett Zürich since the 2012/13 season. She has been seen in Zurich as Julia in Spuck’s Romeo und Julia, Lena in Leonce und Lena, Marie in Woyzeck, Anna Karenina and Kitty in Anna Karenina and Clara in Der Sandmann. She has also performed in choreographies by Sol León/Paul Lightfoot, Douglas Lee, Martin Schläpfer, Wayne McGregor and Marco Goecke. In 2014 she was awarded the «Tanzpreis der Freunde des Balletts Zürich».

Juliette Brunner

Juliette Brunner, who is a native of Switzerland, trained at the Theater Basel Ballet School, at Brenda Hamlyn’s ballet school in Florence, under Malou Fenaroli in Zurich and at the School of American Ballet in New York. After dancing with the Düsseldorf/Duisburg-based Ballett am Rhein, the Leipzig Ballet and the Monte Carlo Ballet, she joined Ballett Zürich for the 2007/08 season. Since then she has been seen in leading roles in numerous productions including Heinz Spoerli’s Peer Gynt, Bella Figura, Wäre heute morgen und gestern jetzt, Orma, Abschied and Don Juan, Mats Ek’s Sleeping Beauty and William Forsythe’s The Vertiginous Thrill of Exactitude. Most recently she has danced the title role in Christian Spuck’s Anna Karenina, Lady Capulet in his Romeo and Juliet and the governess in his Leonce und Lena, along with choreographies by Martin Schläpfer, Wayne McGregor and Marco Goecke.

William Moore

William Moore is British and studied at the Royal Ballet School in London. He has won prizes at international ballet competitions. He has belonged to the Stuttgart Ballet since 2005 and was appointed as principal dancer there in 2010. Important roles were Siegfried in Schwanensee, Lensky in Onegin and Lucentio in Der Widerspenstigen Zähmung (all by John Cranko), Armand in Neumeier’s Kameliendame, Leonce in Christian Spuck’s Leonce und Lena, the title role in Marco Goecke’s Orlando, Albrecht in Giselle by Anderson/Savina, Colas in Ashton’s La fille mal gardée. In 2012 William Moore was awarded the German Theater Prize «Der Faust». Since the 2012/13 season he has been first soloist with Ballett Zürich. Important roles include Romeo in Spuck’s Romeo und Julia, Vronsky in Anna Karenina, the Nutcracker in Spuck’s Nussknacker und Mausekönig, Mephisto in Faust by Edward Clug, Petruschka in the choreography by Marco Goecke, and Diaghilev in Goecke’s Nijinski. He has also appeared in pieces by Wayne McGregor, Sol León/Paul Lightfoot, Douglas Lee, and Jiří Kylián. In 2018 he received the «Tanzpreis der Freunde des Balletts Zürich».

Cristian Alex Assis

Cristian Alex Assis is a native of Brazil. He studied at the Mannheim University of Music and Performing Arts, on a scholarship awarded by the Brasilia International Dance Seminar. He was a member of the Munich-based Bavarian State Ballet from 2010 to 2012, and came to Ballett Zürich for the 2012/13 season. Since then he has been seen in various roles including Wronski in Christian Spuck’s Anna Karenina, Tybalt in Spuck’s Romeo and Juliet and the drum major and the captain in Spuck’s Woyzeck, in further choreographies by William Forsythe andEdward Clug and in Martin Schläpfer’s Forellenquintett. In the reconstruction of Swan Lake by Alexei Ratmansky he was seen as Rotbart.

Cristian Alex Assis

Dmitry Khamzin

Dmitry Khamzin is from Russia. After training at the Perm Ballet School, he performed as a soloist for the Stanislavsky & Nemirovich-Danchenko Musical Theatre in Moscow, where he danced leading roles in choreographies by John Neumeier (The Seagull and The Little Mermaid), Coralli/Petipa (Albrecht in Giselle), Pierre Lacotte (James in La Sylphide), August Bournonville (Gennaro in Napoli), Vasily Vainonen (the prince in The Nutcracker) and Vladimir Burmeister (Swan Lake). He has also appeared in choreographies by Jiří Kylián, Nacho Duato and Jorma Elo. He has twice been nominated for the “Golden Mask” theatre award. After performing with Aalto Ballett Essen from 2013 to 2015, he has joined Ballett Zürich for the 2015/16 season. He has been seen as Spalanzani in Christian Spuck’s Der Sandmann and presented his choreography Work Space as part of the company’s Young Choreographers programme.

Matthew Knight

Matthew Knight is British. He completed his training at the Elmhurst School and the Royal Ballet School in London. After a season with the Junior Ballett, he joined Ballett Zürich in the 2014/15 season. He presented Jane Doe and Mocambo as part of the «Junge Choreografen» series. He has danced in choreographies by Mats Ek (Cavalier in Dornröschen), William Forsythe, Marco Goecke (Moor in Petruschka), Jiří Kylián, Douglas Lee, Sol León/Paul Lightfoot, Hans van Manen, Wayne McGregor, Ohad Naharin, Crystal Pite, and Filipe Portugal. He was Leonce in Christian Spuck’s Leonce und Lena, Nathanael in Spuck’s Der Sandmann and the Clown in Spuck’s Nussknacker und Mausekönig. In 2018 he also appeared as the title roles in Edward Clug’s Faust and in Marco Goecke’s Nijinski. In 2016 he was awarded the «Tanzpreis der Freunde des Balletts Zürich».

Daniel Mulligan

Daniel Mulligan comes from Great Britain and studied at the Royal Ballet School in London. After two seasons with the Junior Ballett, he joined Ballett Zürich in the 2009/10 season. He has appeared as a soloist in many of Heinz Spoerli’s choreographies. He danced Mercutio/Benvolio in Christian Spuck’s Romeo und Julia as well as in ballets by Mats Ek (Dornröschen), Hans van Manen (Solo, Kammerballett), Edward Clug (Chamber Minds, Le Sacre du printemps), Sol León/Paul Lightfoot (Skew-Whiff, Speak for Yourself), William Forsythe (Quintett), Jiří Kylián (Gods and Dogs, Stepping Stones, Sweet Dreams), Ohad Naharin (Minus 16), Marco Goecke (Petruschka), Filipe Portugal (Corpus), Douglas Lee, and Crystal Pite. Recent leading roles have included Mephisto in Faust by Edward Clug, Fritz and the Clown in Spuck’s Nussknacker und Mausekönig, as well as Stiva in Spuck’s Anna Karenina.

Benoît Favre

Benoît Favre is from Switzerland, and trained at Neuchâtel’s Académie de Ballet and the Zurich Dance Academy. He has earned several awards at the Solothurn International Dance Competition (including a gold medal in 2010), and won gold at the Tanzolymp in Berlin. He was also a finalist (and won the Best Swiss Candidate Prize) at the 2011 Prix de Lausanne. After two years with the Junior Ballet, he joined the main Ballett Zürich company for the 2014/15 season. He has already been seen in a number of productions including Marco Goecke’s Deer Vision, and has presented his own works Shift and Identities under the company’s Young Choreographers programme. He won the Friends of Ballett Zürich Dance Prize for 2014; and earlier this year his work broken_line earned him the first-ever choreography prize at the Tanzolymp in Berlin.

Galina Mihaylova

The Bulgarian dancer Galina Mihaylova completed her education at the Bulgarian State Choreographic School and the Swiss Professional Ballet School, where she was a Nureyev Foundation scholarship holder. In the 1999/2000 season she became a member of the Ballett Zürich. She danced here in numerous choreographies by Heinz Spoerli. She has appeared as Effie (La Sylphide), Amor (Don Quixote), Helena (A Midsummer Night’s Dream), in Wäre heute morgen und gestern jetzt, as Odette/Odile (Swan Lake) and Henriette (Raymonda). She has also performed in ballets by William Forsythe, Jiří Kylián, Twyla Tharp, Uwe Scholz, and Jiří Bubeniček. She danced the Nurse in Romeo and Juliet, Margret in Woyzeck and Dolly in Anna Karenina (all by Christian Spuck). She has also appeared in choreographies by Wayne McGregor, Marco Goecke, and George Balanchine.

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Ballett Zürich

Junior Ballett

Philharmonia Zürich

Abstract

Having launched our 2015/16 season with Alban Berg’s opera Wozzeck, Christian Spuck’s successful ballet Woyzeck, also based on Georg Büchner’s drama fragment, is about to return to the repertoire, having recently been enthusiastically received in Spain and Mexico. In this new version of his work created for the Norwegian National Ballet in 2011, Christian Spuck interprets Büchner’s metaphorically rich, concise language in powerful images. The narrative ballet tells the story of Woyzeck, who leads the life of a simple soldier. He loves Marie, with whom he has had a child out of wedlock, but his meagre pay is barely enough for the three to survive. In order to earn something on the side, Woyzeck occasionally shaves a captain and makes himself available to a doctor for medical experiments, which place his physical and mental health at risk. Woyzeck tries to ignore humiliations and the arbitrary behaviour of his superiors, but when Marie takes up with a drum major, the catastrophe runs its course. In a delirium of jealousy, Woyzeck stabs his beloved to death.

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