A femme fatale so dangerous she had to be censored for decades — and she's STILL unfinished.
Since its premiere on 2 June 1937 in Zurich, Alban Berg's second opera "Lulu" has the reputation of being surrounded by scandals. On the one hand, this is due to the dubious character of the subject, the man-eating femme fatale, which Berg had taken from Frank Wedekind's two Lulu tragedies – "The Earth Spirit" and "Pandora's Box" – and combined into one opera libretto. On the other hand, Berg's widow had (for personal reasons) repeatedly refused to have the opera completed, which was unfinished when Berg died. This video is of the unfinished two-act torso of "Lulu."
Direction
Grimm stages the missing third act as haunting absence.
Acting
Aikin's Lulu: terrifyingly vacant, irresistibly dangerous.
Production
Zurich's stripped-down staging lets the music confess.
Director
Thomas Grimm
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Berg's widow blocked completion until 1979 — she feared the 'depravity' would damage his reputation. It became his most performed work.
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