Raw and still edgy

MORE than 80 years after its premiere in 1925, Alban Berg’s expressionistic first opera, “Wozzeck,” can still rattle an audience. The atonal music keeps the ear alert and off balance, and the raw subject matter of a soldier driven to murder by his superiors’ cruel treatment, a mad doctor’s experiments and his common-law wife’s betrayal continues to offend a sense of fairness and moral order.

It’s a work, in short, for our time.

San Diego Opera opened a four-performance run of “Wozzeck” -- the first in the company’s 43-year history -- Saturday at the Civic Theatre.

Karen Keltner conducted a taut, 90-minute-plus performance without any intermissions. Des McAnuff, the Tony Award-winning artistic director of La Jolla Playhouse, directed the new production with realism and economy.

Robert Brill designed a rotating, amphitheater-like unit set that served effectively for all 15 short scenes, whether barracks, a tavern, a doctor’s examination room (complete with medical students taking notes), a sparsely furnished home or the pool in which Wozzeck drowns, pinned on a pivoting central circle.

German bass Franz Hawlata made a powerful company debut in the title role. He was expert and sympathetic in tracing the character’s psychological disintegration, snapping to a rigid, distorted posture of attention whenever his name was barked out by an officer, expressing bewilderment at his strange, apocalyptic visions or venturing tenderness toward his common-law wife until driven to complete madness by jealousy.

Even better, unlike some of his colleagues, Hawlata sang the difficult music without any sense of strain or effort, no matter what the range or dynamic level.

Nina Warren made her company debut as Marie, who has borne Wozzeck’s son out of wedlock and who betrays him with a thoughtless short fling with the Drum Major. Warren was attractive, brassy and vulnerable as she shifted from self-sufficiency to anguished remorse for her actions.

An edge of vocal strain surfaced now and then in the demanding role, but perhaps it was intentional or inevitable.

Ditto for Chris Merritt, who was also making a strong company debut as the edgy Captain, who could just barely keep his own hysteria under control by controlling others, the character’s voice occasionally betraying him in the stratospheric heights.

The one person he couldn’t control was his “friend,” the sinister Doctor, who enjoys playing on everyone’s weaknesses. Dean Peterson sang the role with relish.

Jay Hunter Morris was a virile Drum Major, whether seducing Marie or taunting Wozzeck in the barracks, easily hurling him against a pole and bloodying his nose in a fight.

The secondary roles were credibly cast. Joel Sorenson was Wozzeck’s single friend, Andres. Susana Poretsky was Marie’s judgmental neighbor, Margret. Joseph Frank was the poignant Idiot.

Scott Sikon and Daniel Hoy were the Journeymen. Chad Frisque was the Soldier. As Marie’s child, Kayla Stults inevitably broke hearts by failing to comprehend his mother’s death at the end of the opera.

“Wozzeck” was sung in a gritty English translation by Richard Stokes, who also created the supertitles.

Video projections on a scrim that served as a curtain between scenes depicted dark, wind-blown clouds and close-ups of Wozzeck’s face and eyes, effectively chronicling his mental collapse. They were designed by Dustin O’Neill and executed by UCSD-TV and Kreklow Film & Television.

Catherine Zuber created the well-researched costumes, which revealed the various social classes of the post-World War I era in Germany. Howell Binkley lighted the proceedings sensitively.

“Wozzeck” may not be a work that everyone will enjoy. But it is a shattering, perhaps even unforgettable, experience.

chris.pasles@latimes.com

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‘Wozzeck’

Where: San Diego Opera, Civic Theatre, 1100 3rd Ave., San Diego

When: 7 p.m. Tuesday, 8 p.m. Friday, 2 p.m. Sunday

Price: $27 to $152

Contact: (619) 533-7000

or www.sdopera.com