Crew
One of opera’s greatest depictions of impossible love, Werther is based on Goethe’s epistolary novel The Sorrows of Young Werther. Massenet thought long and hard about adapting Goethe’s story of a melancholy poet whose love for a married woman and general disaffection with the world lead to his suicide. Initially declined Opéra Comique, Werther had its premiere in Vienna in 1892. The portrayal of an artistic, brilliant and doomed young man rebelling against the establishment has resonated through the ages in music, literature, theatre and film. Croatian National Theatre in Zagreb’s new production is in safe and cinematic hands: Pier Giorgio Morandi, chief conductor Croatian National Theatre in Zagreb, and the stage director, set and costume designer is Dante Ferretti. With Oscars to his credit, Ferretti has worked with some of the greatest names in cinema including Pasolini, Fellini, Zeffirelli, Scorsese to name just a few.
Werther loves Charlotte, but she promised her mother on her deathbed that she would marry Albert. After the marriage Charlotte suggests that Werther should travel - but not forget her. In addition to the singing and orchestral accompaniment, the entire cast acts very convincingly. And, there's no backstage mugging, entrances and spoken nonsense to spoil the experience of the drama.
A short film by Heather Perluzzo
Star tenor Jonas Kaufmann brings aching intensity and vocal charisma to the tortured title hero of Massenet’s Goethe adaptation. Sophie Koch, in her Met debut, is an appealing and elegant Charlotte, the object of Werther’s passionate affection that will lead to tragedy. Lisette Oropesa as Sophie, David Bižić as Albert, and Jonathan Summers as Le Bailli co-star. Richard Eyre’s atmospheric production is conducted by rising maestro Alain Altinoglu.
Forbidden love, wrongdoings and anguish: the Opernhaus Zürich ventures into late nineteenth-century French romanticism with Werther by Jules Massenet. A loose adaptation of Johann Wolfgang von Goethes epistolary novel 'The Sorrows of Young Werther', the opera is conducted by Germanys Cornelius Meister. It tells the story of the impossible union of poet Werther to Charlotte, a woman of duty already promised to a wealthy businessman. Goethes drama is echoed in Massenets score by emotionally wide-ranging vocal parts written on a grand scale. Juan Diego Flórez is undisputedly one of the best belcanto tenors of our times and embodies a tortured and nuanced Werther. 'Its not a profane appearance of any singer it is an epiphany!' gushes the Neue Zürcher Zeitung in a rave review. At Flórezs side, Franco-British mezzo-soprano Anna Stéphany sang her role début as Charlotte. The one-room staging by Tatjana Gürbaca cleverly makes the social stranglehold of oppression tangible.
Werther loves Charlotte, but she promised her mother on her deathbed that she would marry Albert. After the marriage Charlotte suggests that Werther should travel – but not forget her. Benoît Jacquot’s production of Massenet’s tragic opera explores the conflict between duty and our most passionate desires.
